Game: Freya's Folly

Thread: Set up at beginning of the game

SteadyTeddy — 2008-11-22T17:54:44+00:00

Hi, Are one or two brisingamen cards placed face up at the beginning of the game. I have read two different ways in the reviews posted. My rules copy says one, but two are pictured in the example.
Everything I have read refers to 18 action tokens. My game came with 24. Do I use all 24 or limited to 18.
Thanks,
Joe K.

Thread: Freya's Folly for $25.50 [Sold Out]

kneumann — 2008-11-14T03:57:39+00:00

Superhero Gameland: $25.50

Link: http://www.superherogameland.com/product_p/jkl61825.htm

Sold Out.

Thread: Bat

GeoMan — 2008-11-11T00:59:44+00:00

I assume that:

1. I can use the Bat to get for example 2 large Gold cubes from two different mines and

2. The dwarf carrying the (now used) Bat can keep moving and collect gems as part of the same action.

Right?

Thread: Re: Review: Freya's Folly

Ori Ironarm — 2008-10-15T11:52:09+00:00

- 7 “Brimisgagen” cards: these are a special type of setting cards that can only be completed with specific combinations of the yellow gem type. The yellow gems are only used to complete Brimisgagen cards.

Thanks for a great review. But shouldn't this be "Brisingamen"?

Thread: Re: I didn't know there was a boardgame version of Dig-Dug!

Angra — 2008-09-14T10:19:13+00:00

It looks more like Bagitman to me, and the theme is similar as well:

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darkskies — 2008-09-09T22:50:17+00:00

Unpunched free action tokens

Thread: Re: Where can I buy red cubes?

Awfki — 2008-05-22T16:21:37+00:00

I never did find a US supplier of 8mm cubes (there's an opportunity there for someone) but someone passed me Don Bone's e-mail and he's going to get me the cubes.

Thanks, Don!

Thread: Re: [Review] Freya's Folly

Hendal — 2008-04-30T15:31:14+00:00

This one looks interesting, but you got me wanting to know more about

Sunda to Sahul

I see it is not sold in the states? That is a bummer.

Nice review by the way, I did check out your collection and am very impressed - It says a lot that you have Heroscape rated a 10 ( for me it means you are a serious game - cause HS rocks ). So do you have 2 rooms just to store games?

Thread: [Review] Freya's Folly

TomVasel — 2008-04-30T13:42:01+00:00

I'm a very big fan of Don Bone's Sunda to Sahul, which is one of the most innovative games I've ever played - an exploration game in which players build a puzzle to create the board. So for a couple of years, I've been hoping to acquire a copy of Don's second game - Freya's Folly (Sagacity Games and FRED Distribution, 2005 - Don Bone). Freya's Folly is a game in which dwarfs are making fine jewelry for this goddess, after mining it out of a network of shafts containing jewels.

Freya's Folly isn't the groundbreaking game that Sunda was; but it is an entertaining game that I found interesting, if only because the delving into mines is quite interesting. There is a leapfrogging aspect to the movement in the game - something that gets really interesting with more players involved, and the players seem to never have enough actions to do everything they want. The theme works - I enjoyed how going deeper in the mine gave better rewards, and it's a good, solid game that takes about an hour to play.

The board shows a network of rooms, connected by tunnels, that all start from one mine shaft. Each room holds a certain number of random jewels (red, green, blue, and pink) of either small or large size, although amber (yellow) jewels are placed in specific spots around the board. The rest of the jewels go in the "black market". Three decks of cards are shuffled with eight Setting cards placed face up, three ability cards face up, and two Brisingamen cards face up. The remainder is shuffled together in specific ways to form a draw pile. Each player is given a mat of their color, which shows six numbered spaces and corresponding wheel barrows. Twelve ability markers and eighteen free action tokens are placed near the board, and each player places a dwarf disk of their color on the corresponding spaces on their mats. One player is chosen to go first, and then play proceeds clockwise.

On a player's turn, they may take two actions from the following list:
- Movement: The player may move a dwarf piece. The pieces move into the mine from the entrance and then jump from lantern to lantern (each lantern is in a hallway or room). A player may pass up to two other dwarfs when moving, so a player can leapfrog to go farther. If the dwarf ends their movement in a room, they may take all the jewels there and place them in the corresponding dwarf's wheelbarrow, as long as it is currently empty. Once the dwarf moves out of the mine, the player takes the jewels from the wheelbarrow and places them in front of the player - who now can use them to complete Settings.
-Take a Setting card: These cards show a piece of jewelry and the types and sizes of the jewels needed to complete it. A player can take any Setting card they want, which is then replaced.
- Complete a Setting or Brisingamen card: If the player has all the jewels required to complete one of their Setting cards, they may place the jewels on the card, removing one of their dwarves from the game. If a player has all the amber needed to finish one of the Brisingamen cards, they discard the amber and take the amount of free action tokens indicated on the card.
- Trade at the Black Market: The player may trade jewels at the Black Market with the ones in front of them. They may trade up to two of their own jewels - trading with a ratio of one big = two small and one small = one small.
- Take an ability card: The player may take one of the face-up ability cards, which is replaced if possible.
- Use a thief card, if they have one, to steal one large or two small jewels from another player.
Players may take more than two actions on their turn, discarding a free action for each extra action that they take.

The ability cards give players special abilities or actions - such as the thief card above. When a player has a dwarf enter the mine, they may use one ability card on that dwarf, using an ability marker to denote this. The abilities are:
- Bat - a dwarf may use the bat to carry two jewels directly out of the mine from any cave that they are in.
- Stamina - the dwarf may collect the jewels from two caverns before leaving the mine.
- Speed - the dwarf may make two moves as one action - this lasts until the dwarf leaves the mine.
- Stealth - the dwarf can pass up to four other dwarves when moving - lasts until the dwarf leaves the mine.
- Strength - no other dwarf may pass this dwarf - lasts for two turns
After using an ability card, it is discarded.

Play continues until one player has discarded their last dwarf, or when four Brisingamen cards have been completed. At this point, players receive one point for each small jewel they do not have in a setting and two points for each large jewel. Players score points for each completed Setting card but lose points for uncompleted Settings. (For example, a pin that requires one large blue and one small pink jewel scores twelve points, if complete, but loses six points, if incomplete). If four Brisingamen cards have been completed, then unused free action tokens are worth six points; otherwise, they are worth three points each. The player who ended the game gets six points, and then the player with the most points wins the game!

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: Everything tends to rattle around in the box, although the components tend to give off a distinct "Eurogame" vibe. There are wooden cubes and octagonal prisms of various colors, cardboard tokens, small cards, etc. This sounds a bit mundane; but it's all of good quality, and the board is really where the game shines. The tunnels are clearly laid out, and the use of lanterns to designate how far players can move is a nice aesthetic touch, while remaining very functional. The card shuffling at the beginning is a little convoluted, and I’m not sure why it's all completely necessary; but the player mats make up for it. They clearly show the player their choices for each turn, but they also allow players to keep the jewels for each dwarf separate. The game has a bright, cheerful look with decent artwork and a great board and will be attractive to first-time players on looks alone.

2.) Rules: There are five pages of rules, in full color with diagrams and examples. My only problem is that the rulebook is very wide, making it fairly awkward to use during the game. The game rules are fairly easy to understand, with only a few small quirks. First of all, explaining the ability cards is simple; but the cards themselves use only symbols, so new players will likely forget what each one does. Secondly, the free action token scoring and Brisingamen cards are a bit confusing for new players, although experienced gamers won't have any problems. The game is at a medium level of complexity, comparable slightly to the popular Ticket to Ride.

3.) Movement: The movement in the game has a "leapfrog" effect, as players utilize other dwarves to move their miners farther down in the tunnels. This has a direct correlation with the number of players in a game, since more players will result in crowded shafts, allowing the dwarves to move more quickly. In three player games, you will often find one player using their dwarves in tandem to get down to a particular gem stash quickly. In a five player game, a player can use one dwarf if other players are in the same shaft. This does bring out one minor problem, in that a foolish player can allow the player after them to do fantastic movement if they happen to allow their dwarves to be aligned just right. This usually only happens once; since when a player takes advantage of it, everybody is now on the alert. I'm not sure how the leapfrogging effect makes sense thematically; but as a mechanic, it's quite enjoyable.

4.) Setting Cards: Maybe I play Ticket to Ride too much these days, but the setting cards in Freya's Folly certainly reminded me of the tickets in the aforementioned game. Yes, they have fewer harsh penalties, since players lose only half the points that they could possibly gain, but they are also quite a bit easier to complete. There is some interaction here, because the number and types of jewels are limited; and players are quick to grab cards that other players need. Even more annoyingly, a player can do their best to stop another player from completing a valuable setting by stealing a jewel, emptying the Black Market of the type that player needs, etc. Now it's really almost impossible to completely stop a player; but you can slow them down, although it's often at cost to your own goals. This keeps the game from becoming "multiplayer solitaire" and adds to the enjoyment for me.

5.) Choices: The amber pieces are the only ones with preset locations, and they are helpfully scattered across the map, making collecting them difficult. But the rewards for the Brisingamen cards are enormous. Not only does the player get to use the free action tokens, which are unbelievably handy in the later stages of the game; but these same tokens are also worth points at the end of the game, giving them a double value. However, a player who completely concentrates on amber will find themselves spending more time to complete their goals, while other players may complete settings and gain more points. The different options (Should I grab more special powers or just run down into the mines?) provide the main meat of the game, while also increasing replayability.

6.) Fun Factor: I don't want to repeat my last point, but I have to state that the variety of choices a player has on their turn is my main source of entertainment. I like having the option to send in a pile of dwarves slowly - but as a team, or trying to use one dwarf to quickly hop over the other players' dwarves to quickly get to the lower hoards of gems. I enjoy that I can grab setting cards, special ability cards, or simply just run and gather gems. These aren't agonizing strategic choices, but they are enough to keep it interesting without bogging the game down into strenuous details. The speed of the game (about an hour) certainly helps, and it seems to play just as well with three players as with four or five.

Freya's Folly is a game that may not have appeared on your radar, but I would recommend it as an enjoyable, solid family game. The theme of collecting gems certainly works, and the level of interaction is there, although not stifling to those who don't enjoy personal aggression. Plenty of choices, an engaging look, and fast simple game play will keep this one on my short play list. Teenagers and adults should look past the ugly cover of the box and find the excellent game within.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com

Thread: Re: Where can I buy red cubes?

GeoMan — 2008-03-18T18:12:38+00:00

http://www.spielmaterial.de/english/

or

http://bedi-spielematerial.eu/

Thread: Where can I buy red cubes?

Awfki — 2008-03-18T11:42:14+00:00

My copy of Freya's Folly didn't include any red cubes. I've been using the ones from Yspahan but I'd like to get some to keep in the box.

E-mail to Sagacity haven't gotten any response. Does anyone sell cubes and other game parts?

Thanks

Thread: Re: I didn't know there was a boardgame version of Dig-Dug!

NateStraight — 2008-03-06T12:18:27+00:00

Reminds me of Oils Well, too:

Thread: Re: I didn't know there was a boardgame version of Dig-Dug!

JVKhoury — 2008-03-06T08:27:38+00:00

tool wrote:
In practice Freya's Folly does not feel particularly similar to Dig-Dug since everything is pre-dug.

Don't be such a tool!

Thread: Re: I didn't know there was a boardgame version of Dig-Dug!

tool — 2008-03-06T06:11:19+00:00

In practice Freya's Folly does not feel particularly similar to Dig-Dug since everything is pre-dug.

Thread: Re: I didn't know there was a boardgame version of Dig-Dug!

kevtor — 2008-03-06T04:39:36+00:00

No doubt!

It's quite a good game, too, especially with three players.

Watch out for Fygars!

Thread: I didn't know there was a boardgame version of Dig-Dug!

JVKhoury — 2008-03-06T04:19:32+00:00

Is it just me, or does this:

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Look eerily similar to this:

Thread: 2-player variant possible

ropearoni4 — 2008-03-02T07:35:22+00:00

Any chance on a 2-player game variant?

Well, I tried it as is for a 2 player game. The game fails a little in the interaction. If areas were cut off it might work better that way. The other way is the player before they begin their turn chooses a non-player color and moves it using one action. This non-player color _can_ take gems at the end of the move, but has to leave in order to dump them off in order to go back in. The non-player color doesn't keep a playermat, but just removes he gems taken into the black market, unless yellow - which is placed above the yellow needing card (bringis..)if enough yellow exist from being removed this way to fill a B-card, it is accomplished and moved down into the row as normal, no extra action tokens are given out in this case. This is a way the game could end.
The token moves around until taking gems, and then is flipped gem side up until it can leave the cave.

There's my two cents on a 2 player variant.
Cutting out part of the caves might also be needed even when using the variant, but I'm not so sure yet.

Thread: Re: Review: Freya's Folly

gamesbook — 2007-02-27T12:05:49+00:00

Getting there (the price) - US$45 from unhalfbricking.com as at Feb'07.

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Ceryon — 2007-01-31T00:25:09+00:00

Thread: Free Action and thief

Thaur — 2006-10-28T15:31:57+00:00

The English rule says: "At the end of a player's normal turn they may, if they so choose, use up to three Free Action tokens. Each token entitles them to complete on of the actions above (1-5)..."

Does it mean that you can't use a Thief Card (6. actions) as a Free Action, only the 1-5. actions (Moving, Taking a Setting Card, Complete a Card, Trading, Taking an Ability Card)?

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the_pirate — 2006-08-03T11:13:26+00:00

Don Bone at Essen '05

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snoozefest — 2006-07-23T20:32:30+00:00

Player mat.

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snoozefest — 2006-07-23T20:14:05+00:00

Setup

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GeoMan — 2006-05-08T00:34:21+00:00

Thread: Correction pack for Freya's Folly now available

DonB — 2006-01-13T09:55:45+00:00

Hi all you sagacious gamers

The original copies of Freya's Folly released at Essen Spiel '05 had some errors on some cards (the Bat card was the main one but there was also an inconsistency between the mnemonic on the theif card and the description in the rules).

We therefore held off widespread distribution of the game until these errors could be corrected. These have now been corrected. However some copies of the game were sold at Essen and some were also sold through a small number of retailers who bought copies of the game at Essen or shortly afterward.

If you have one of these copies of the game then we can send you a correction pack. Just go to

http://www.sagacity.aires.com.au/Freya-CorrectionRequest.htm...

and fill in your details.

Please make sure you double check the email address you provide so that we can contact you if we need to confirm anything.

Best regards

Don Bone

Thread: TVB - 3 Player - A spelunking we shall go.

RPardoe — 2005-11-27T00:05:54+00:00

First a hearty welcome to Sheryl who joined Dave and I for games tonight. Sheryl had found the group via a web search for local gaming groups - so nice to know we aren't "invisible".

Our first game of the evening was the recently released Freya's Folly by Sagacity Games (Australia). Having liked Sagacity's first game - Sunda to Sahul, I was interested in this their second game. Realizing that the cost of getting Sagacity games in the US can be a bit expensive, this was a natural game to add to my Essen purchase list. As the rules were available online pre-Essen, a quick scan of the rules confirmed that I had made a good choice adding this to the list. Tonight, we would get to play it to see if the actual game play lived up to my expectation.

Each player has a team of dwarves that go into the mines to bring back jewels that can be used to create jewelry or to create a part of the Brisingamen - a necklace for the Goddess Freya herself. While the "normal" jewelry uses various mixtures of sapphires, rubies, amethyst, and emeralds (wooden cubes in blue, red, purple, and green); the Brisingamen uses amber (yellow cubes). In addition to gem type (colour) the gems also come in small and large sizes.

During set-up, the game board - a depiction of a branching mine network illuminated by lanterns with each branch eventually ending in a cavern - is seeded by placing gems into the caverns. The amber (yellow) gems are specified while the rest of the gems in a cavern are randomly drawn and placed in the caverns so that each cavern has the correct number (and size) of gems in it. The extra gems are set to one side to form a "black market" where players may trade gems if desired.

In addition to the gem seeding, another source of variability in the game is the "settings" deck. This is a deck depicting various pieces of jewelry and the required jewels that are needed to complete the item. From this deck, 8 possible settings are placed face up so players know what types of gems are required for the initial pieces. Depending on the gem mix - each piece has a number of victory points to be awarded to the player that completes that setting.

The settings that use the amber gems are special cards forming the Brisingamen. From the Brisingamen cards, one is turned face-up next to the board. The final cards are "ability" cards, which can be used to give a dwarf a special ability either while in the mines or in the players "home area". The abilities include such things as the ability to move more quickly, to block a mine passage, to steal gems from another player, or to transport (via bat) gems from the mine while the dwarf continues to spelunk. Three ability cards are turned face-up and 6 are placed face-down to form the initial "ability" draw deck. Finally, the left over Brisingamen cards and ability cards are shuffled into the top half of the settings deck. So future Brisingamen settings and ability cards can only be revealed as players draw jewelry settings from the possible choices.

The key tension in the game is in timing....from a list of possible options, a player can only do 2 each turn. Moving a dwarf, getting a jewelry setting card, making a piece of jewelry, getting an ability card, trading in the black market are all single actions. So at a minimum moving into the mines to get gems, then out of the mines, selecting a jewelry card, and then setting that piece of jewelry would take 4 actions (2 turns). But not all the gems are a single move from the entrance of the mine - so multiple moves in and out of the are necessary. If the right mix of jewels aren't in hand, a trip to the black market might be needed, again adding time to complete the jewels.

Movement in the mines is a simple point-to-point movement where a dwarf simply moves until he reaches the next lantern. In the process of moving, a dwarf can jump over 2 occupied lanterns, but would need an ability card to jump over more. Therefore, a chain of 3 dwarves in a mine effectively blocks the shaft for other players, while the trailing dwarf can jump over the other two to move the 3-dwarf chain through the mines.

In order to set acquired jewels into the desired setting, a player needs to have a dwarf "out" of the mines. That dwarf is sent to the jeweler's "never to return" as for each piece of jewelry set, the player has to set aside one of his dwarves. This has the nice feature of making it a bit harder for the "leader" to keep piling on the points as the leader will have less dwarves with which to complete the possible actions.

While mechanically, the players are dwarves rushing to complete jewelry, the winner of the game is the player with the most victory points. Jewelry settings completed are worth positive points if complete, but negative points if the player has selected the card, but not completed it.

The Brisingamen settings yield victory points, but indirectly. For the completion of a Brisingamen setting, a player receives a number of "extra action" tokens. Up to 3 such tokens can be used in addition to a player's normal 2 actions to get a series of actions in a single turn. But unused "extra action" tokens are worth victory points at game's end...so one needs to justify the cost of the VP's spent for the VP's gained (hopefully) by spending those extra actions.

Finally, the game ends either when a player has used all their available dwarves to set gems into jewelry or when the 4th Brisingamen setting is complete.

Rich was the first into the caverns, quickly sending in 2 dwarves to gather the closest gems in the right hand shafts. Sheryl and Dave starting in on the left hand shafts. The initial turns were spent getting dwarves into the mines and positioned. Early on, Dave and Sheryl had 4 dwarves in the mines while Rich had 3...with most loaded with gems. No settings had been selected and the ability cards were yet to be utilized.

Dave was the first to select two setting cards followed by Rich who selected one. But while Dave seemed to be banking his settings for a future turn, Rich actually set his jewels for a nice 16 point piece of jewelry (and one less dwarf).

When a thief card was revealed, Rich used that ability to thieve away Dave's large amber gem so that Rich would be the first person to set a piece of the Brisingamen. Sheryl and Dave soon followed by setting pieces of their own also.

As the game progressed, Dave and Sheryl continued to explore the "left" side of the mines having to go deeper and deeper to get gems. Rich continued to work the "right" side solo, but the gems weren't as deep. As a result, Rich could get more gems set into jewelry.

Late in the game, Rich grabbed a setting requiring 4 green gems to set....but when he checked his gems, he had 4 red gems to set with the required green gems deep in the mines. Sheryl, David, and the Black Market had 1 such gem each, so it would be difficult for Rich to complete that piece. Rich did grab the 4 red gem setting that he had meant to grab before his mistake.

At this point in the game, Rich had 4 complete settings, Dave had 3, while Sheryl had a nice stock-pile of gems, but only 1 complete setting. Each player had set part of the Brisingamen, so each had extra actions to spend if desired. Furthermore, a final setting for the Brisingamen would end the game - but none was available by the board. But with the end so close, the pace towards the end game accelerated just a bit as players looked to use a few extra actions to increase their gains. Rich started to use extra action item tokens to get settings and trades ready. The others tried to get their jewels in position, but Rich quickly set two final pieces to end the game.

So tallying the scores:
[c]
Rich Dave Sheryl
Game End 6
Small Gems 2 1 8
Large Gems - - 6
Settings 94 41 20
Un-settings -10 - -
Extra Action 3 12 9
==== ==== ====
TOTAL 93 54 43[/c]

One aspect I noticed (and I believe this was a mistake in our playing style) is that we each had the freedom to explore our own sections of the mines. While Dave and Sheryl were going deeper and deeper into their side of the board, I was working the shallower caverns on my side of the board. I did set up a 3 dwarf convoy which did pick up a nice lot of gems to allow me to finish off the settings. We didn't really use the ability cards much - but could have probably tried to interfere with each others dwarves a bit more.

I suspect, but need further plays to bear this out, that one aspect of the game is around seeing the gems others have accumulated and playing a bit more defensively around the black market (not leaving desired gems in the market) and/or taking settings to avoid others from completing them. While one might worry that having unfinished settings is negative points - one does get 6 VP's for ending the game which can offset some of that loss.

On aspect I did like was the black market. With its inclusion, all the gems in the game are available. They are either in the mines or in the black market. The random set-up give play variability as each set-up (and setting deal) would require a different optimisation path to complete efficiently.

Having played the game, I am glad I purchased it. (Yes, some of the cards are misprinted - bat ability labeled via text as thief, but that didn't hinder play at all.) I also enjoyed that the game played relatively quickly. It does have a nice decision space around requiring thought and optimisation. It might be prone to over-analysis but with only a couple of actions each turn - I would hope that would not be the case. So the first of my Essen purchases gets a nice thumbs-up and I hope that I can play it again, but I do have a bunch of other Essen games to play though.

Thread: Review: Freya's Folly

fubar awol — 2005-11-22T01:17:24+00:00

Overview

In Freya’s Folly each player employs a team of 4 to 6 Dwarves (depending on the number of players) to collect gems from a mine. He then uses those gems in specified combinations to complete pieces of jewelry called “settings”. Each setting is worth from 8 to 20 victory points depending on its size and complexity. Each time a setting is completed, one of the players’ Dwarves is removed from the game. When all of one player’s Dwarves have been used to complete settings, the game ends and victory points are tallied. The player with the most victory points wins.

Game Components and Rules

In the box you find:

- The game board (the mine)
- 100 wooden cubes in two sizes and 5 colors (the gems)
- 30 wooden disks in 5 different colors (your dwarves)
- 15 special ability cards (to “super-charge” your dwarves)
- 50 or so “settings” cards, each of which defines a combination of sizes and colors gems that are necessary to “complete” a piece of jewelry.
- 7 “Brimisgagen” cards: these are a special type of setting cards that can only be completed with specific combinations of the yellow gem type. The yellow gems are only used to complete Brimisgagen cards.
- 5 player displays and 5 player key cards
- a rules booklet

There are only a few minor complaints about the components:

1. The “bat” special ability cards have the wrong text on them (they incorrectly say “thief”)
2. The “pink” gem cubes (which are clearly pink on the setting cards) are purple.
3. One of the special ability markers was a different size and shape than its mates.

Otherwise the components are highly functional, attractive and well made.

[ImageID=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/92327]

The game board that depicts a complex of tunnels (like a root system with many branches) and a single mine entrance. There are lanterns every few inches along each tunnel. A movement from one lantern location to the next consumes one “movement” action. During set-up, a pile of gems is placed at the end of each tunnel. The number and size of yellow gems is specified on the game board for each location. Only the size and number of gems is specified for the other four colors - color placement is done by random draw. In this way gems are distributed throughout the mine with bigger more valuable piles in the deeper locations.

The rules are well-written and very clear. We had no difficulty playing this medium-complexity game straight out of the box.

The player aids for this game are superb, the functionality of the components is excellent. Someone did a very thorough job of development. Each of the player displays has 6 locations to place your chunky half-dollar-sized wooden dwarf tokens, when they aren’t in the mine. Beneath each location is a drawing of a wheel barrow – this is where you place gems when your dwarf arrives at the end of a tunnel deep in the mine and picks them up.

Each dwarf token is two-sided, on one side is an identifying number (1-6) corresponding to its “home” location the player aid. On the other side is the same number, surrounded by gems. The “gem up” side is used while the dwarf is in the mine to designate that he is carrying gems and the corresponding gem load is placed in the wheel barrow on the player aid beneath that dwarves designating number. Since each dwarf can only retrieve 1 load of gems per trip, this makes it easy for all players to see at-a-glance which dwarves are on there way down, and which are on their way back up to the surface.

The Action Options

Also on the player aid is a list of the action options that each player may take during his turn. Each player is allowed 2 actions per turn in any combination with one exception. They are:

Move: Move one dwarf from one lantern location to the next, or if there is a dwarf on an adjacent lantern location then jump over him. Each dwarf is allowed to jump over a maximum of two other dwarves (of any player) for a maximum total move of 3 lantern locations per move action. Picking up gems and putting them in your wheel barrow is not a separate action, it is free to a dwarf when he arrives in a gem location.

[ImageID=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/92332]

Take a setting card: at the start of the game 8 setting cards are placed face-up next to the board. For this action, the player may choose any one of these setting cards and place it face-up in his play area. It is then not available to the other players; only a player who has taken it may fulfill that particular setting card. When a setting card is taken, cards are immediately drawn from the draw pile until there are again 8 setting cards face-up next to the board.

Complete a setting or Brimisgagen card: The player uses specific combinations of gems that he has retrieved from the mine during previous actions to fulfill a setting card. In order to do so, he must have at least 1 dwarf on the surface (i.e. not in the mine) and must then remove that dwarf from the game. Alternatively, if he is using yellow gems to fulfill a Brimisgagen card, the dwarf is not removed from the game.

Only one of the Brimisgagen cards is available at the beginning of the game, the other 6 are shuffled into the top half of the “settings card” draw pile and will be revealed as settings are taken and replenished. When a Brimisgagen card turns up, they are placed next to the board and are available for any player to fulfill as soon as he has the called-for number of gems to do so. Unlike the setting cards, players do not need to first “take” the Brimisgagen card and then fulfill it. Instead it takes only a single action to fulfill.

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Each Brimisgagen card, when fulfilled does not award VP directly, but rather, awards from 3-7 “extra-action” tokens commensurate with the number and size of yellow gems required to fulfill it. These tokens can be exchanged at any time to purchase additional actions during your turn, or may be saved until the end of the game, at which time they are worth either 3 or 6 victory points depending on how the game ended.

I have already mentioned that the game ends when one of the players has completed a setting for each dwarf he has in play (5 in the 4-player game). The other way the game can end is if 4 of the Brimisgagen cards are fulfilled. If the game ends by a player fulfilling the required number of settings then the tokens are worth 3 points, if it ends by fulfilling 4 Brimisgagen cards, then they are worth 6 points. The player that causes the game to end earns an additional 6 VP.

Trade with the black market: After set up, there will be 15-20 leftover gems. These gems are placed in the designated location on the game board and make up the “black market”. When a player chooses this action, he may exchange up to 2 gems with the black market – hopefully yielding the right combination of gems to fulfill one of his setting cards. Yellow (Brimisgagen) gems are not available in the black market.

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Take a special ability card: there are 3 each of 6 different types of special ability cards, each of which comes with a corresponding token. “Bat”, “Stamina”, “Speed” and “Stealth” are assigned to a specific dwarf as he enters the mine and stay with him until he leaves the mine, at which time the card and token are removed from the game. “Theif” and “Strength” function a little differently. When a dwarf with a Bat-card arrives at a gem-location in the mine, he may choose two gems and send them back to the surface with the Bat instead of picking up the load. This is a one-time event. Stamina allows a dwarf to pick up 2 loads during one visit to the mine, stealth allows a dwarf to jump over up to 4 other dwarves in a row during a move action and speed allows a dwarf to take 2 moves for the cost of one action. Strength is assigned to any dwarf currently in the dungeon as part of a move action. The dwarf is then able to block his passage for two full rounds – during which time no opposing dwarf may pass.

Three of the 15 special ability cards are placed face up for the players to draw from, Six are placed in a draw pile and the rest are shuffled into the top half of the settings draw pile, to turn up randomly after the nearby draw pile of 6 are depleted. Taking a special ability card is the only action that may only be taken once per round by each player.

Playing the thief requires a separate action during a players turn. This activity occurs above-ground. The player may steal two cubes either from the black market or from an opposing player, but must have a dwarf above ground to do so. He may not steal from a completed setting or from a wheel barrow.

Game Play

Freya’s Folly is a set-collection game coupled with a Cartagena-style movement-puzzle race game. It’s got special abilities; the usual tension associated with limited action selection games (you always want to do more than you can) and “strategic” options on what path to take toward ending the game. It is a perfect-information game, everything is face-up and out in the open. This of course comes with the usual peril for players prone to Analysis Paralysis. Another potential down-side is a runaway leader problem. Other than the “strength” special ability and the “thief” card, it is difficult to restrain the leader’s progress toward victory. Fortunately, if everyone plays quickly, the game ends easily in 60-90 minutes.

Everything fits together quite nicely. The game plays smoothly and fluidly and is a lot of fun. The theme-to-mechanics link is really quite good. This is a very nice medium-weight game with a novel combination of mechanics. I like it and want to play it again… but I’m not sure that I want to buy it or play it more than a few times. Especially at the current funagain price of $60! If the game were selling for a $30 internet discount price, I might consider the purchase more seriously.

Thread: Freya's Folly: Session Report

Anonymouse512 — 2005-11-15T20:42:31+00:00

Ward Batty, the organizer of our group, had a new game for us: Freya's Folly. We end up with 4: Ward, myself, my wife Janet, and another gentleman whose name escapes me. Ward explains the rules, and we start off.

I manage to grab a pair of gems near the top on my first turn by jumping and using a bat. I acquire a thief my next turn, and concentrate on maximizing my movement down the main right shaft. I get blocked in as Ward leapfrogs 3 guys after me, but I manage to get first pick at the bottom. I eventually work my way back up with my booty.

Between the big one from the bottom and a few smaller loads I managed to acquire enough for a 25 point 3 small 1 large red. A few more trips down and a 15 point blue is completed. Using my Thief, I get enough gold to complete the 4-gold necklace right before Ward can attack me with his Thief to do the same.

I pick up a few cheap jewelery cards and force the last Thief to be used to prevent me from ending the game immediately. But I am able to send a Speed dwarf down to grab some quick easy gems and trade my way to victory, using 3 of my necklace tokens to finish it up.

My final score was (I think) 77, Janet had 70, and the rest weren't very close (~40-50 I think).

The key seems to be acquiring a whole lot of gems quickly - therefore, whoever can maximize their movements down the shaft while not making it too easy for the others to do the same. As is typical in this kind of game, the 2 actions are critical, but most are necessary (picking up and completing cards) - how much movement you can save (using cards or jumping others) seems to be the critical factor at first impression. (Trading may also be a factor, but from this game, I would say not very large - I think the only trading was done on the last turn.)

Having said that, I could be missing a good part of the game, and I would welcome a chance to try it again. If you put any stock in ratings, my initial impression would be about 7.5.

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Walt Mulder — 2005-10-25T16:31:06+00:00

Greg and Freya (the game, not the other guy!) at Essen 05

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buergerberatung — 2005-10-24T04:41:01+00:00

Thread: Freya's Folly

ssmooth — 2005-10-21T05:24:38+00:00

Next out of the box was Freya's Folly. In this one there is a board showing a tunnel branching out from a single entrance/exit to a couple dozen different spots where some randomly distributed colored cubes wait to be picked up. You have four runners (since we had five players -- with fewer players, you each get more runners) who go down into the tunnels to pick up the cubes and bring them back to the top.

Then, to turn the cubes into victory points, there are eight available contracts, and one of the actions you can take on a turn is to claim one of the contracts. You have to have the right combination of colored cubes to cash the chosen contract, and you also have to spend a runner -- one not presently down in the tunnels -- who'll be out of action for the rest of the game. When one player has fulfilled four contracts, the game ends. Leftover cubes count VPs for you, but contracts you've claimed but not yet been able to fill when the game ends count against you.

At the same time this is happening, though, there are a limited series of public contracts which can only be fulfilled with yellow cubes. These pay off in markers that can be saved for VP at the end of the game or can be spent for extra actions while the game is in progress. You have to have a runner outside the tunnels to fulfill one of these, but unlike the regular contracts, the runner stays in the game after fulfilling it. If four of these special contracts get filled (total, by all the players), that's the other way the game can end.

Further complicating matters are the special powers that can be claimed. Most of these have different effects to give your runners additional mobility or carrying abilities, but there's also a Thief which lets a player steal cubes that another player has already gotten out of the tunnels -- which naturally means that it's impossible to be sure that even your most carefully plotted ideas may not work out as planned. This was a great annoyance to those of us who didn't pull either of the two Thief cards, and I'm not convinced it belonged in the same game with the rest of the ideas. Maybe I'll see it differently when I've played the game again or when I'm the one with the Thief.

Nevertheless, it was interesting trying to get things to work out to pick up the cubes and bring them back so as to fill the contracts. This is more like a scramble through an anthill than a typical routes game, but I've got nothing against originality, so I'm perfectly willing to try it again and see if we all start getting the hang of it. With all the rules questions I think we spent more than 90 minutes at it tonight, but I expect it'll be more like 60 now that we know the rules for what we're doing.

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warlock — 2005-10-18T05:12:20+00:00

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msaari — 2005-10-18T04:45:24+00:00

Designer Don Bone explaining Freay's Folly.