Matthew Cordeiro
United States
Cumberland
Rhode Island
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After perusing the mostly tepid Candamir reviews, I realized that there were a few good ones written by players that maybe haven’t played the game a lot. Maybe they had a bad initial impression. Maybe it’s just not their type of game. Well, I’ve actually played this game quite a few times, probably because my wife really likes it. (See her favorite games here.) I’m not sure exactly how many times we’ve played, but I’d ballpark it at 30 to 40 times. So, here’s a rosier review from an experienced player.
Overview
Candamir is a spinoff of The Settlers of Catan, focusing entirely on the life of a collection of settlers in Catan’s first settlement. The characters come from Rebecca Gable’s novel, Die Siedler von Catan (or so I’ve heard – I don’t know German, so I can’t verify this). Other than collecting resources and trading them in for victory points, the mechanics are nothing like the original Settlers.
The Characters
Each player starts the game with a character card. Players have 4 attributes – strength, prowess, agility, and charisma. The attributes' levels vary from character to character, ranging from 0-2 in each category, and can be improved throughout the course of the game. Additionally, the characters have special abilities that allow them to operate more efficiently in certain circumstances. The character cards give the game a nice RPG feel without getting bogged down in number crunching or dice rolling. The game comes with 4 different male characters and 4 cards with identical attributes, but with female characters instead. If you’re the creative type, you can even make your own character card using the Candamir Character Editor. (This really is a great tool that allows you to highly customize your character yet still keep your character’s power in check.)
http://www.catanadventures.com/Candamir-Editor_Eng/
The Character Board
After choosing a character, you place your character onto your own little character board, which allows you to track attribute upgrades, your potions supply, and your health level. It also includes a handy guide on the bottom to explain the pros and cons of the various creatures you’ll encounter along the way.
The Game Board, Part One
The game board is compact, yet not crowded. It’s divided into two sections. The larger section represents the wilderness surrounding the settlement and is divided into squares. The settlement itself takes up 1 square space in the middle of the board. The left portion of the board is the forest, where settlers go for lumber. The middle section is the plains, where settlers capture animals for their hides. The right section of the board is the mountains, where settlers mine for ore. The squares are covered by tiles that provide resources, experience points to upgrade your attributes, and victory points. The number of tiles varies depending on the number of players – the more players, the more tiles.
Choosing which tiles to go for is where the strategy comes in. I’ve read a few reviews that have pooh poohed the strategy in this game, but I honestly believe Candamir can get strategic, especially if you pay attention to where the other players are going and what your trading options are. Pay attention to your special abilities as well. They usually allow you to move a greater distance depending on what section of the board you’re in. Before heading out into the great unknown, you get to peek at 2 of the facedown tiles. You may choose to head towards any tile on the board, even if you haven't seen it yet. This is again another opportunity for strategy. For example, do you go for 2 resources or 1 resource and 2 experience points? Memorization is key in this stage of the game. If you can remember all of the tiles you look at, you’ll not only know where the best options are for future moves, but also what your opponents are going after.
The Movement Cards
Once you pick your destination, you’ll need to actually travel there. It’s not as easy as it sounds because there are all sorts of creatures and adventures you’ll encounter along the way. Each movement card gives you 4 choices – up, down, left, and right – and some of those choices force you into an encounter.
Most of the encounters involve killing an unfriendly wild animal that’s blocking your path. Apparently, the island of Candamir is infested with snakes, wolves, and bears. This is where your attributes come in to play. To kill one of these animals, you’ll need to add one of your attributes to a die roll. If you roll high enough, you’ll defeat the animal and continue along your merry way, often with a fresh hide or two for your troubles. However, if you fail to slay the beast, you’ll suffer a decrease in health, which slows your movement rate.
Besides animals, you may encounter Candamir himself. (Yes, Candamir is a settler, not the name of the settlement.) My wife refers to this option as “fighting Candamir” because if you choose to move in that direction, Candamir compels you to help him chop wood; you don’t have a choice in the matter. This is another attribute plus die roll situation. If you’re successful, you get some lumber. If you fail, it’s another hit to your health level.
The final type of encounter is the Adventure. If you choose to undertake an adventure, you’ll have to select one of the 4 available adventure cards, which come with a nice, little story. Again this is an attribute plus roll situation. If you’re successful, you get the reward on the card. If you fail, you suffer the penalty. The adventures get more difficult as the game progresses.
Some reviewers have said that the encounters really slow you down, especially if you fail them. I respectfully disagree. True, if you choose to avoid the encounter and move in a safer direction, you may have to wait until your next turn to reach your destination. But if you’re willing to take some calculated risks, the encounters can really speed up your game. Once you build up some experience, you can actually get more resources from encounters than from your destination tile. And after taking a few health hits, it’s better to rest for a turn and completely restore your health than grind out the rest of the game at reduced health.
Besides encounters, the movement cards also allow you to pick up ingredients – herbs, mushrooms, and honey – that can be combined later to give you a boost.
The Game Board, Part Two
Now that you have a handful of resources and ingredients, it’s time to head back to the settlement and trade them in for victory points. This is where the second part of the game board comes into play. Several settlers have offered their services (represented by victory points) in exchange for fulfilling items on their wish list. Apparently, everyone wants swords, chests, and window coverings. Luckily, all of those items can be made from the resources you collected in your travels. As you fulfill their wish list requests, you place victory points onto the board. The wish lists must be fulfilled in order, so the items you can build and trade in will change as the game progresses. It’s important to make note of what’s available now and what’s available later so you can plan your future destinations accordingly. Some of the settlers also grant you a bonus victory point if you’ve filled more wish list requests than other players have. Again, this is an opportunity to plan ahead and maybe take a risk. Do you focus on one settler’s list and guarantee a bonus point, or do you spread out and keep your options open? There’s also a bonus spot for the player who has completed the most adventures, so that’s another angle to play up. Besides trading with the settlers, you can also trade with other players. This is one of the only opportunities for player interaction, and it honestly doesn’t happen that often.
While you’re in the settlement, you can also use those ingredients to brew up one of Bridgitta’s potions (to increase your die roll), a healing potion (to increase your health), or some mead (to get your opponents drunk and reduce their health as they recover from their hangover). The mead is the only direct attack on opponents, and it only works if you’re tied or behind. (Maybe the Settlers robber is also in charge of brewing the mead.)
The game ultimately ends when one player has placed all 10 victory points on the board.
Play Time and Scalability
The play time increases as you add more players. I would say it’s in the neighborhood of 30 minutes with 2 players, 45 minutes with 3 players, and an hour with 4 players. The 3-player and 4-player tiles provide more stuff to speed up the game a bit. With 2 players, it has a faster pace but can feel like an arms race at times. With 4 players, the game tends to drag a little due to a lot of down time in between turns. Plus, the best tiles disappear quickly. I feel that 3 players strikes the best balance. You can also adjust the play time by choosing a different number of victory points. However, the game speeds up a bit as you go along due to increased experience levels.
Overall Impressions
Candamir feels like an RPG version of Settlers. I like this game, probably more than the average player, but I wouldn’t consider it a favorite. The components are wood and good quality cardboard. No real complaints there. Overall, I recommend this game, whether you’re a Settlers fan or not.
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Brian M
United States
Grand Ledge
Michigan
Tasteless Brute
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Thanks for the review. There are a lot of Settlers spin-offs out there, and I have found that most of them are bleh. So far, I've only enjoyed Catan Card Game, but I have not yet tried Candamir.
Again, thanks! 
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Matt Cross
United States
Stoughton
Massachusetts
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Wow. If I could bang this game out in 45 minutes with 3 players I'd probably like it more. In practice I find that the 3 player game takes well over 90 minutes and the 4 player game almost always takes 2 hours.
The game is a good time for about 30-45 minutes but it overstays its welcome after that in my group's opinion. Our feeling is with all the great games out there this one doesn't seem to deserve the time investment.
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Andy Andersen
United States
Newark
Delaware
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Thank you for this review
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