Cyclades: Legendary Edition Review by Greame Johnston

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Quick Look: Cyclades: Legendary Edition

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Designers: Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc
Artist: Miguel Coimbra
Publisher: Open Sesame Games
Year Published: 2009

“Sing to me of the game, Muse, the game of twists and turns…”  by Homer (re-written by me- well, If Nolan can do it, so can I).

Ah, the magnificent Cyclades islands, shimmering above the azure waters of the Aegean Sea, offering adventurous romantics stunning beaches, breathtaking vistas and a haven from the harsh realities of the world beyond, and also the perfect setting for Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc’s colourful opus ‘Cyclades: Legendary Edition (LE).’  Let’s get into it.

Cyclades: LE is a swords and sandals epic, evoking fond memories of Ray Harryhausen’s bangers such as ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ and ‘Clash of the Titans’.  If there is a game where the Ancient Greek myths and legends theme is more masterfully utilised I haven’t encountered it.  Create your own Odyssey as you negotiate a maze of seaways and islands where the monsters and heroes of Greek legend appear from the heavens to interrupt your quest for glory, maybe even immortality.

LE takes Cyclades v1 from a 7.5 to a 10. Its various mechanisms now blend together to deliver a play experience that is ‘butter’.  The designers have clearly learned from years of testing and feedback that less can be more.  The result: Cyclades LE will hold you in the world it creates for the duration of the experience and for this, it gets a standing ovation.

“Zeus, who rules the world, brings us ruin or success.”  Homer.

Here are four reasons you should play Cyclades: LE as soon as…:

1. It looks marvellous on the table.  The artwork is clean and vibrant, successfully navigating that treacherous line between ponderous painting and kiddie cartoon. Swirling waves leap off modular map tiles, offering the promise of an epic adventure into uncharted waters and undiscovered lands.  The cards boast a robust linen finish.  The graphic design, especially the iconography overhaul, immeasurably improves playability from v1.  All in all, a superb production (except the box insert- you’ll see).
2. The story arc.  You will begin the game with control of a few land areas, some coins, a handful of soldiers and ships and dreams of victory.  As the game progresses the fickle and petulant Greek Gods will, depending on your devotion, intervene in earthly matters to aid you in executing your plans.  Monsters and heroes from Greek legend will begin to appear, at the whims of the players, to lead your armies into battle, steal your hard earned coin or hurl rocks at your ships.  And for some reason, it is now tradition at our table for everyone, in a variety of Pythonesque tones, to holler ‘release the Kraken’ whenever this aquatic aberration appears (must be from a film I haven’t seen).  The competition sharpens as more metropolises (metropoleis?) are built to honour the Gods.  Have the most metropoleis at game end and you win a seat in Mount Olympus, next to mighty Zeus, he who thunders on high.  Win or not, you’ll have a lot of fun and an epic tale to tell, worthy of Homer himself.
3. The auction system, perhaps the most ‘fun’ part of the game, is a competitive outbid- displacement auction (à la Phillipe Keyaerts’ EVO) that encourages a soupçon of ´take that’ and a smidgen of unseemly banter.  Let me tell you that, in Cyclades’ most recent outing, the plastic auction token that flew across the room was not propelled by accident, despite Rob’s protestations.
4. It’s Ancient Greek dudes on a map.  As armies and navies manoeuvre into the seas and islands of the Cyclades, the competition intensifies and nerves begin to shred. Unlike Kemet however, this is not a game where carnage is king.  In Cyclades:LE it is possible to quietly build an engine through the game which will, in the final moments, allow you to unleash the dogs of war in an orgy of cardboard violence to snatch victory from the grasp of your overly aggressive chums who have fought themselves to a standstill.  Plus, there is a team mode.  You can make up legendary team names and chant songs to intimidate your opponents, or at least annoy them a bit.

“Endure, my heart; you have suffered worse than this.” Homer

If we were discussing Cyclades v1 I’d be offsetting my likes with a bunch of gripes. After a flurry of plays v1 was consigned to the back of the cupboard waiting for the fixes that, despite a bunch of expansions, never really materialised.  I think Cyclades: LE has fully rectified all of my complaints to the point that my only issue is that the designers, while integrating some of the ideas from the old expansion into LE, did not find a place for Hades himself, without whom, imho, the ancient world of Greek Gods and heroes is incomplete.  In saying that, since I have the v1 expansion, I’m going to have a go at using the Hades tile at some point, see what happens.

“The journey is the thing.” Homer (apocryphal).

I recognise that Cyclades:LE will not be everyone’s cup of nectar.  It’s a dudes on a map game.  Nathalie doesn’t like them (she’s a turtle, albeit a cute turtle- hey, what do you want me to say, she reads these) and I have to consider whether the fleeting joy of victory is worth the weeks of suffering I will endure if my winning comes as a result of taking or smashing her stuff up.  It’s at its best with higher player counts which means that a game can take 3+ hours, and there is a lot to think about.  Some gamers (and I get it) just don’t want to have to work hard for their fun.

Anyway, if some YouTube influencers are to be believed, you should save your wallet a trip to the cinema to see Christopher Nolan’s latest and treat yourself to a copy of this bad boy instead; it’s mythological Greece in a box.

Coda: buying advice

Of course, I recommend buying Cyclades: Legendary Edition.  The game is baked to perfection.  So, if you’re holding tightly to v1, just…let go.

The expansion, Maelstrom, will add further variety and expand the pantheon of heroes and monsters that you can call upon.  It also includes the promo cards that were offered as part of the kickstarter campaign.  It’s reasonably priced but it’s not essential.

If you want to maximize your experience then buy the Ultimate Edition, if it’s available.  Or you can buy the Cyclades: Creatures and Heroes ‘add on’ to upgrade the standees in LE to the plastic stuff.

However, if you’re someone who wants it large but at an affordable price then you could do worse than buy LE and a cheap copy of v1 and cannibalise the plastic, Cyclops style (heh, heh).