We're huge fans of the flip & write game Hadrian's Wall (designed by Bobby Hill and published by Garphill Games). So were very excited to play The Anarchy, a spiritual sequel which builds on the mechanics and mouthfeel of Hadrian's Wall to offer a more complex and challenging experience. - ThreadSky

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social • 28 days ago

We're huge fans of the flip & write game Hadrian's Wall (designed by Bobby Hill and published by Garphill Games).

So were very excited to play The Anarchy, a spiritual sequel which builds on the mechanics and mouthfeel of Hadrian's Wall to offer a more complex and challenging experience.

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Comments

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

I liked it. But I would not suggest trying this out of the gate unless or until you have played Hadrian's Wall first. The teach is essentially "it's like Hadrian's Wall, except there's a lot more new stuff going on." So if you are fluent in playing Hadrian's Wall, this will be an easier game to grok

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

Having played Hadrian's Wall 20+ times I found that I wholly ignored certain areas. Namely, the Gladiator Arena where you train workers to fight via (luck of the) card draw.

After spending tons of resources to build & train workers over multiple rounds, the juice was never worth the squeeze.

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

The Anarchy doesn't have that problem. Everything is useful, even mini-game areas where you are subject to the vagaries of card draws. I liked that there was an embarrassment of VP riches. I do have a few "on rails" strategies w/Hadrian's but w/the Anarchy it feels like there are multiple VP paths.

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

In Hadrian's Wall a single card included starting resources each round, and random outcomes of several "minigames" including a tetris shape for the Scout board, a number from 1-6 for the Trading House, the Gladiator strength, & Pict attacks. This multi-usefulness of cards is upgraded in The Anarchy

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

Starting resources is now in its own deck where these cards are drafted by players to start each round. They also include one of the 5 endgame goals you will lean into at the bottom of each.

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

And there's now a separate deck that lists random outcomes for all the various minigames whenever you opt in and need to draw to see how you did.

derscheid.bsky.social•28 days ago

how long is it compared to Hadrian's Wall?

tiffanyleigh.bsky.social•28 days ago

1st full play including the teach (2p). So not really an accurate runtime. Our games of Hadrian's are quick after achieving fluency so I bet this gets quicker, but possibly a bit longer per game than HW b/c more resources + "tower defense" element, which is more detailed than the Pict attacks.

derscheid.bsky.social•28 days ago

That makes a lot of sense. I have only played Hadrian's Wall a couple times but I'm less AP prone than the guy who owns the game, so I stayed on par.

Thank you for posting, that sounds great!