It’s hard to criticize small publishers for production quality given their limited resources and often DIY enterprises but it does bear mentioning in a discussion of a $50 game. The production of ORIGINS is adequate at best, but given that Sierra Madre Games typically ship in a Ziploc bag with “cut ‘em out yourself” components it’s a vast improvement largely thanks to the German publisher Mr. Eklund has allied himself with to put the game out on a larger scale. The rulebook, as you can probably guess, is almost a disaster- I had no idea how to play the game after I read through it the first time. It isn’t very long (12 short pages with lots of examples) and the game really is no more complex than a “heavy” Eurogame, but because the concepts are somewhat arcane and everything is codependent, it takes a little working out to comprehend. The biggest complaint about the components is that the layout of the cards is a surrealist nightmare- there’s no rhyme, reason, or graphic design justification for the way information is presented on them and it looks like either a slapdash or totally amateur approach. They work, and once players are used to them it isn’t an issue but nonetheless the layouts provide another barrier to an otherwise great game. Standard-issue paper, cardboard, and wood components round out the package and everything is in English and German- which unfortunately does add a little visual clutter.

Sadly, the biggest knock has to be on the decision to not include the 4th era cards with the base game. The 4th era would be the modern age, so the game as shipped ends in the third. For some reason, Mr. Eklund has decided to do the 4th age cards as a separate expansion and I think that was a big mistake because it makes the game feel naturally incomplete. It isn’t that it’s not wholly satisfying to play an ORIGINS game through the third age and be done (in fact, it’s probably pretty rare to make it that far for a lot of gamers), it’s that simply being aware that the game is incomplete makes the otherwise immense scope of the game feel unnaturally abbreviated. Hopefully, releasing the 4th era cards as an expansion will give Mr. Eklund the opportunity to further tweak, refine, and adjust the gameplay- I’m expecting that the gameplay will have a significant change, much as the shift from the Bicameral era to the 1st Era in the game as published represents.

The day after my group’s first game we had an extensive email discussion about the game where we discussed strategy, rules, ideas, and even how it all fit together in a socio-cultural context. The discussion was almost as fascinating as the game and I found myself thinking about it constantly over the next several days- much like a great film or novel. I believe that what really makes ORIGINS something special is not only that it is so academic but that it is also Mr. Eklund’s interpretation of concepts and facts through the medium of game design. A large part of my fun was encountering these ideas and agreeing, disagreeing, and even counter-proposing rules solutions for larger real-world ideas. I’d definitely recommend ORIGINS to anyone with an abiding interest in anthropology, cultural history, or the development of Homo Sapiens as well as anyone interested in the qualities of the best CIVILIZATION style games. It is a game that will not please everyone and will likely scare away gamers more accustomed to the ease and accessibility of Eurogames and it also isn’t the kind of thing you’d want to take over to the in-laws’ house. If you’ve got the patience and inclination to really explore how a board game can represent things much larger than the entirety of the hobby- and indeed of human culture- then ORIGINS will provide a tremendous amount of satisfaction.

Questions or comments for Michael? Send them along to gameshark.feedback@yahoo.com .

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