Contents:

Introduction
Components and Theme
Rules
Strategy
Variants
Representative Comments
My Take


Introduction

Odin’s Ravens (2002), by Thorsten Gimmler, is one of the better known Kosmos 2 player games. It is often compared to Lost Cities because apparently many a non-gamer woman can be seduced by its smooth and easy game play, if not by the man himself. Less romantic comparisons have been made with Elfenland, because of its mechanic of matching travel cards to terrain types. Despite these similarities, Odin’s Ravens is its own game (pardon the cliché). In my opinion it is one of the better Kosmos 2 player games, and offers a fair bit of depth and enjoyment in a little package.

Components and Theme

When you look at the cover of the box you might be a bit confused. Who is this Odin fellow, and why should I care about his ravens? Time to brush up on our Norse Mythology.



Perhaps we first need to explain the names of these ravens. Hugin means "thought," while Munin means "memory." These ravens travel across the world, gathering news and information for Odin. I wonder if it’s this bit of mythology that influenced Tolkien’s depiction of the ravens and other birds, but that’s a different question. And who’s Odin? Well, he’s the chief God in Norse Mythology, your average Zeus you might say.

Now, if you really know your mythology you’ll take a second look at the box cover and say: "Wait a minute, something’s not quite right here. Odin’s not supposed to have two eyes. He sacrificed one to get the Wisdom of Ages. And anyway, the Vikings didn’t usually wear horns on their helmets so what’s the likelihood that their gods did? And ... is that pathetic looking tree meant to represent Yggdrasil, the world tree from which Odin hung for nine days and nights? What is going on here?" But of course you will buy the game anyway because you really need to complete your Kosmos collection, and no one will see the cover anyway once it’s stacked on your book case.

So what’s inside the box? Let’s have a look.



Okay, so we get a couple of Raven markers, an Odin marker with a lightning bolt on it, and four different types of cards. On the back side they look something like this:



What are the cards for? Well, the flight path cards are used to create the "race track" as in this example of the start of a race:



Each player also gets a series of flight cards and Odin's Cards. So your opening hand might look something like this:



The flight cards are pretty straight forward, but you might like to have a closer look at some of the specialized Odin cards:



And that’s really it for the components. Nothing to "ooh and ah" over, but nice and functional enough.

Rules



Usually in my reviews I try to give a general overview of the general rules, but here I’ll just refer you to the excellent review by Neil Thomson, which includes a comprehensive explanation of the rules. But before you go there, be sure to scroll to the top of this page and give me a thumbs up, because once you’re reading his review you might never come back.

For those of you still with me, I will briefly summarize the main mechanisms of the game.

- The flight path. The ravens always have to stay on their own side. Players may lengthen the track at the end of their own turn.

- The Auxiliary stack. Players can play cards from their hand onto an auxiliary stack, where they can be used later in the game. Since you can play up to three cards from your hand and up to three cards from your auxiliary stack per turn, using this storage solution is a good idea to optimize future moves.

- The Magic Way. Not only can you score points by winning the race, but it’s also possible to score three points per race by matching the most cards to the top most card of the Magic Way stack.



- Winning. Whoever gets 12 points first over the course of several races (usually) wins the game.

As an addendum, I should mention the following file: "Odin's Ravins Rules Questions Answered". Of particular interest in this document is a rules correction to one of the first English editions of the game, concerning some confusing explanations of the Magic Way cards.

Strategy



Not much has been published on strategy in the game. The two brief posts under the strategy section of the database both simply ask some questions about the rearranging (by an Odin's card) or purpose of the auxiliary stack (How to Use the Auxiliary Stack).

On the other hand, when you read through the various personal comments people have posted, you’ll often hear the refrain that this game contains "quite a bit of strategy." Then again, the further down the ratings you go the more that turns into "probably mostly luck, but still fun," until you end with "too light for my taste - traded away." So is there any real strategy to speak of?

That’s a tough question. I suspect that each player will have his own favourite moves, and so I can’t speak with any authority, but I thought I’d at least give you a few suggestions. I’d be interested to hear your response. So here we go...

1.Don’t despise the Odin cards; none of them are useless. There is some talk that the one Odin card that allows you to rearrange your auxiliary stack OR add two cards to the end of the race track is really a waste of time. What’s the point of it? I try not to use it for its first purpose unless absolutely necessary (like when my opponent rearranges the terrain and throws my plans into disarray) - however, its second option is quite powerful. Combined with the option of adding a card at the end of your turn you now have the chance to decide the terrain for three consecutive spaces. It’s quite likely that you will get a couple of matching terrain types to speed your journey, whereas you can hinder your opponent with terrain for which they have already played a number of cards, or terrain that matches the current type on the magic way (forcing them into a tough decision about where to use their cards). In other words, this Odin Card in actuality has the same effect as the one that allows you to move your marker forward OR your opponent’s backwards. Not too shabby.

2. Don’t use your Odin cards too quickly. For instance, try not to rearrange terrain unless you are traveling over it during the same turn. Otherwise your opponent might just undo your action because your plans are too obvious. Also don’t be too hasty to put the Odin marker in front of your opponent. So often it will happen that they will reply with the same Odin card and put the lightning bolt right in front of you. If you had waited you would have been the one to yell out "Huzzah!"

3. Don’t neglect the Magic Way. In a close race those three points are well worth aiming for. However, don’t add cards recklessly. The best time to add is when you know you’re going to lose the actual race, or if you don’t really need the cards much for the actual race. Whatever you do, don’t let your opponent win both races. It’s never a bad thing to cut your losses.

4. Always try to play as many cards from your hand, but be choosy about how to use your Auxiliary stack. In the past I’ve played a lot of Magic: the Gathering, and there one of the best strategies is to keep up your card draw. Card advantage is a very important. Make sure you are drawing three cards EVERY turn. Don’t use the discard option unless you absolutely have to (for instance, if you made a mistake arranging your aux. stack).

5. Try not to remove terrain if it’s in front of your opponent as well. Use this option primarily if you’re behind and you can remove terrain between the two of you.

6. Don’t try to extend every race in the vain hope that you might still catch up. What you’re doing by adding those extra cards is simply giving your opponent more points. Again, always be ready to cut your losses.

7. Watch what your opponent plays. Having a general knowledge of the card distribution will help quite a bit.

8. Be the master of the Auxiliary Stack. Often your cards won’t cooperate with you, or at least not immediately. Don’t worry too much if your opponent plays three cards straight from his hand every time. There is time to catch up. The auxiliary stack not only gives you a chance to wait for the right cards to come into your hands (so that you can minimize the number of jokers you use), but it also allows you unleash a sudden move that allows you to surge to victory. I would caution against stashing too many Odin’s cards in the aux. stack however. These are best kept in your hand to react to changes in terrain, so that your aux. stack works like a machine. Best to be flexible.

9. Don’t get greedy. If you can snatch one point from a race, but think you might get more if you just lengthen the race, don’t do it! Your fortune can change in a hurry.

10. And lastly, inject steroids into your raven.

Variants

Only a few variants have been suggested for this game, but they are worth pointing out. The first two deal with the same issue, namely adding cards to the flight-path to lengthen the race.

Here, first, is a suggested variant by Gabriel Kitterman:



I can see the reasoning behind this variant, but there are actually times when you might not want to add track (for instance if you are ahead and are close to finishing). Since it's thus not "always" a good idea to lengthen the track I don't have an issue with the rules as stated. However, Gabriel is certainly not alone in thinking that the game extends races unnecessarily.

The poster of our second variant writes,



This suggested variant drew a few responses, with most of the posters agreeing that some form of this variant should be implemented. The unlimited track aspect of the game is even called a "major flaw" in the game by one of the posters.

A similar version is also posted under the variants here.

Brian Bankler also suggests a variant in his review:



Brian also suggests giving points for ties in the magic way to speed the game up.

I’ll let you decide whether this works for you.

And then there’s also a children’s variant that you’ll find in Sifu’s personal comments:

Odin's Ravens is a superb children's title. Don't be put off by the age 10 rating. The game can easily be simplified by removing the auxiliary and/or magic way elements, created a much more straightforward race game that even a 5 year old can grasp and excel at. Also, removing those more strategic elements appropriately handicaps the adult player - but the game retains much of its tactical flavor (so it's still fun for the adult!). - Sifu.

I will say that I’ve played a simplified version like this with my oldest children (aged four and five) and they certainly enjoyed it quite a bit. They’re now able to play by themselves.

In sum, I hope these variants give you some ideas for adapting the game to your likes and dislikes. Enjoy!

Representative Comments

To give you a bit of a flavour of what people think of the game (before I give my own opinion) I will sample a range of comments, some insightful, and some just because they crack me up:









Here’s a rather funny misplaced comment:







My Take

So what do I think? I quite enjoy Odin’s Ravens. It’s great when you can use you Auxiliary Stack to surge ahead into the lead. The use of successive races is nice (as it fixes the problem of getting stuck with the wrong terrain cards), as is the Magic Way, which works well as a balancing mechanism.

The theme seems somewhat thin, but there’s just enough flavour to make it work. And the tactical options are just open enough that it has the feeling of depth without turning the game into a heavy Euro-game.

The components are decent, although I’m still getting used to the long and narrow cards - they’re a bit of a pain to shuffle. The insert, however, is excellent, since it allows you to keep the three main sets of cards separate.

I prefer this game to some of the other Kosmos 2-player games I’ve played. It lacks the randomness of Tally Ho! and the pretence of strategy of Caesar and Cleopatra. I would rate it at a similar level as Jambo in terms of complexity, tactics, interaction, and fun.

Happy Gaming!