Oak

Whisper it gently (and with the caveat that my answer could very well change depending on which day of the week you asked the question) but after very positive experiences with Gùgōng, Stroganov and now Oak, I think Game Brewer may well be my favourite publisher of these splendid carboard parcels of joy…

Oak
Designer: Wim Goossens
Publisher: Game Brewer
2022

How to Play:

“Oak puts you in the role of the leader of one of four different druid orders, with you attempting to establish that your order deserves to be chosen by the Arch-Oak's spirit to stay and learn its secrets”

…which in practice will see you doing lots of worker placement and climbing up a big oak tree. The End. Oh, ok you have twisted my arm – I shall try to explain in a little more detail:

Grab one of five player boards. At first glance they look identical but on closer inspection you will see that each one has its own subtly different artwork and unique worker placement spots that only you will be able to access during the game. As well as offering a little strategic steer / nudge, your player board also houses three druid workers as well as markers for the games three main resources - feathers, runes and mistletoe. Quite fortunate really seeing as the main worker placement spaces on the main board are also feather, rune and mistletoe ‘temples’. You also start the game with three ‘Moot’ cards - you’ve guessed it, feather, rune and mistletoe cards!

These Moot cards drive the game of Oak forward and can be used in one of two ways:

• You will see on the main board that each of the temples worker places areas (feather, rune and mistletoe) has three spaces available for your druid(s) to occupy. Your matching Moot cards show you what action you can take in each of those spaces and what the cost will be. So for example: play your ‘feather’ moot card to place one of your druids in to the second space of the feather temple - pay X amount of feathers as displayed on the card and take the action. The card has now been used for this round and can’t be used again. Want to occupy a space that is already occupied by your opponent or one of the dummy workers that provide some additional competition throughout the game? Sure thing, but you are going to have to use TWO workers for the privilege - one to place on your chosen temple space and then giving up a second one completely. Groan.

• Alternatively, you can choose to use your card to climb the Oak tree – the centrepiece of the main board. The Oak has three paths you can climb – once again, ‘feathers, rune or mistletoe’ - and you will have to pay a cost each time you take a step on the tree. Use your card to take a worker from the your pool of additional druids who are gathered at the foot of the tree and take a step on the relevant branch. Each step closer to the top will get you some VP and more importantly when you reach the final section on your branch you will score a larger chunk of VP based on how well you may have performed in a specific area of the game - for example, ‘1VP for every 5VP that you have already scored during the game’. Little point therefore in trying to race to the top as soon as possible as the rewards will be a lot smaller than if you were to slowly stagger your ascent. Don’t dawdle too much however as you are going to want to reach the final space before the other player(s). Gulp. Three main paths to take and you can climb all three if you wish with each of them branching off into a choice of different rewards. Which reward will you chase? Most likely the one(s) that match with your chosen strategy if you are wanting to win the game!

Use a card to place a worker or use it to climb the tree. Fairly straightforward stuff, though the complexity of the game comes in the sheer volume of different actions that you can potentially take from the large number of worker placement spots. The worker placement actions that you will be taking during the game will broadly see you:

• Building new spaces for more druid workers.

• Gaining new druid workers so that you can use them on future turns!

• Obtaining ‘Artifacts’ - a new, powerful and unique worker placement spot only available to you. It gets you 4VP when you first obtain it, but it then loses you points every time you choose to use it. For example, I could pick up an Artifact that gains me six feathers every time I place a worker there. Wonderful – I do need quite a lot of feathers to pursue my current strategy. Aaargh, it’s going to lose me 1VP the first time I use that space, 2VP the second and 3VP the third. I want feathers but to I want them that much?!?!

• Finding ‘creatures’ who will help you throughout the game with some tasty ongoing bonuses.

• Brewing potions: a unique combination of ‘ingredients’ that you gather at the end of each round can be used to cast potions usually offering a strong one-time bonus, action or some tasty VP.

• Grab new Moot cards into your hand – new actions, cheaper costs, more variety.

• Upgrade your Druids: a lot of images of Oak show some pretty cool plastic upgrades that attach to your druid workers. As well as looking really good, they change your druid from a regular druid do a super-duper ‘Elder Druid’ – gaining a permanent ability such as ‘pay one less resource when taking an action’ or ‘cast potions using one less ingredient’. Have one upgraded druid and it’s going to be quite helpful. Have five or six? You’re going to feel like some sort of god!!

While there are five rounds, there aren’t a fixed number of turns – you keep playing until either you have ran out of things to do (placing workers / climbing the oak) or you choose to pass. Either way, at the end of the round you can start gathering ingredients (unless other players passed early and beat you to it) which can be used to cast potions or to trade for resources in future rounds. Lots of points being earned for almost every action that you take during the game, more points being earned for each step of the Oak that you climb, a bigger chunk of points if you reach one or more of the final branches on the Oak. You’ve guessed it, the player with the most points wins.

My usual caveat: I have given a very simplistic overview and I have left out a few wrinkles here and there so you may want to take a look at the rulebook or a playthrough video. Regardless, while Oak on the face of it is a straightforward medium weight game, I personally think it strays more towards the mid-heavy side purely because of the volume of options available on any given turn. It’s unusual but not unheard of to have 20+ worker placement actions to consider each turn, six routes to consider climbing on the Oak tree, tight management of resources and a need to find good synergies. Consequently there are a lot of symbols to get familiar with.

Solo Headlines:

The first thing to flag up here is that at the time of writing (August 2023), Oak’s designer, Wim Goossens, has proposed a couple of (very) minor changes to the game’s solo mode. While I think that the solo mode out of the box is perfectly fine for the casual player, the updates do add some welcome options to increase difficulty as well as address a slight issue where the human player could choose to end the game very abruptly if they were winning. While the changes may be tweaked further and make their way into an official revised rulebook I would still recommend using these proposed changes in the meantime. Either way…

Your opponent, Broichan, is just the kind of solo mode that I like. Extremely low maintenance, very quick ‘at a glance’ turns, chases preferred strategic goals to give some simple sense of intelligence, scores points - the perfect sweet spot between a cumbersome bot that feels like hard work and a more basic beat your own score game.

Broichan uses six easy to understand cards. Flip the top one and either:

• Place one of Broichan’s workers on the displayed worker placement space and gain the displayed item / bonus along with its associated VP.

• If you can’t place one of its workers in the space (maybe you got there first!) then instead you move one of its workers up the indicated branch of the Oak, again scoring the usual VP as it climbs.

At the end of each round Broichan will gather potion ingredients just like the human player and if he ever finds himself with three of a kind (tip: you would be advised to choose your own ingredients carefully to stop him doing so) he spends them to climb another step on the Oak – and crucially, moving up the branch that would eventually gain him the most points. So for example, if his turns thus far have meant he has been stockpiling Artifacts then you better believe he is going to want to be climbing the branch that rewards him with VP for Artifacts.

…and that is about it – some crude blocking of spaces, some arbitrary item gaining and point scoring, some limited direction to his chasing of strategic goals. Turns take a matter of seconds making the solo game feeling snappy and keeping me firmly thinking about my own turns. There is something else going on though that I really like about this particular solo mode - and as I explain it I am aware that some readers might feel a little prickly and turned off by it. But hear me out: Broihcan has a level of predictability that can be exploited.

Examples:

One of Broichan’s cards loses him -4VP (meant to replicate the VP that a human player would lose when using an Artifact). He loses it if he has to place his worker in a specific temple area. So you better believe that I am going to try to keep that space free and not use it myself. I might have initially wanted to use the space but I reckon I am going to pivot my plans and make sure he HAS to use the space instead and take the -4VP hit.

Once he has used all of his cards he reshuffles and starts again, but before that I can see what has already been drawn and I know what is (or isn’t) still to come. That influences my choices: “Phew, I was going to rush to use that worker placement spot but I’m going to hold off for now as I know for a fact it’s also going to be free the next turn as I know what cards Broichan has left in his hand”.

I know that by default Broichan will climb a particular tree branch if he isn’t able to place a worker. I don’t want him to climb a tree branch as he is getting too close on the same branch that I want to reach. I better keep these worker placement spots free for him if possible to force him into not climbing the Oak.

Now none of that is especially game breaking. I’m not always able to exploit and bend him totally to my ways to the point that the game becomes irrelevant and uncompetitive. But generally speaking, you do spend a good amount of time considering both your own moves as well as actively trying to ‘game the system.’ It just adds an excellent added dimension to this particular solo game – an extra thing to chew over, an extra thing to be mindful of, an extra thing to be elated about when I get to sabotage Broichan, or crumple in a heap over when my dastardly plan goes wrong.

Minimal upkeep and an enjoyably snappy but satisfying 45 – 50 minute solo play time. Nice.

General Headlines:

Whether I am enjoying a game or not, for better or worse I aim to play it at least 5 times before writing any review. Most games tend to make it to 7 – 10 plays as there is something inherent in the kind of mid-heavy euros that I enjoy that requires repeated plays to fully see all the moving parts and strategies. And the there are the games I just can’t seem to scrape off the table, finding themselves getting an uninterrupted 15 – 16 straight plays (Golem, Teotihuacan, Gùgōng, Praga Caput Regni). Oak made it to 17 straight plays. Within a week I had it back down on the table for play number 18. I’ll probably play more over the coming weeks. Let that speak for itself. Oak has a few idiosyncrasies here and there for sure, but in spite of them it is well on its way to becoming my ‘go to’ game when I want that board game equivalent of comfort food. It’s subjective of course – one person’s favourite game could be loathed by the next person, but if I try to explain why Oak sang to me then perhaps you might be able to better decide whether it is going to sing for you.

First thing to say is that despite Oak largely being about either placing a worker or climbing a branch on a tree, every single game felt totally fresh and different. A large part of that is down to the five asymmetric player boards that offer a unique worker placement spot – and credit for there being five when this is a 1 – 4 player game. One player board might let you snaffle creature cards for free and enjoy the subsequent ongoing bonuses, another might let you gather ingredients and cast potions, another might let you freely upgrade your druids into Elder Druids etc. The player boards give each game a nice strategic focus and by the time I had explored each of them once to grasp their secrets and then another time to try and play well with them, well there was the first 10 games under my belt. It wasn’t just the player boards that kept things fresh. Druids can be upgraded and with six Elder Druids to potentially gain in differing combinations = even more freshness game to game. There is a stack of 30+ Creature Cards that can offer ongoing bonuses - just one on its own can bend the game a little but get two or three (or more) working in harmony and your game is playing out a little spicier than the last. Same with the Artifacts that you can grab - there is a stack of 15+ and each one has a unique action. The 15 or so potions that you can brew each game are different and combine into a different ‘menu’ to choose from. Some games panned out where I gained more and more workers and used them everywhere to do lots of little things, other games I kept a small but focussed amount of workers and used them to trigger tighter synergies. Some games I tried climbing all three branches of the Oak and worked towards all of their strategic goals, other games I only focussed on heavily exploiting one branch. All of those thing individually made games feel different game to game. Collectively they just kept bringing me back for more and more knowing that even after 18 plays I still couldn’t tell you how game #19 might play out.

As much as I gush there about the variability of the game, it does result in two very minor criticisms With such variety comes a lot of symbols to try and wrap your head around – indeed the rulebook (helpfully) has about four pages or so dedicated to all of the symbols that you will encounter. Expect your nose to be buried in the rulebook for your first couple of games and even as I headed towards play #18 there was still occasions that I reached for the rulebook to double check a symbol here and there. The symbols aren’t particularly complex or unintuitive, it’s just the sheer volume that might feel a little overwhelming at first for what is otherwise a straightforward game. Another small gripe is that in a game with so much variability it was surprising that the rewards gained from reaching the end of the branches on the eponymous Oak tree are fixed, so every time I choose to climb the ‘feathers’ branch it will always be the same two rewards that I have to choose from. It’s a very minor point and there may indeed be well thought out balance reasons behind the decision but it does feel like a missed opportunity not to allow these rewards to be randomised game to game to allow for different strategic combinations to happen. Neither of these grumbles detract too much from what is an excellent game and in addition to the games variability there are other things here to enjoy…

I always like dual use cards and the lip-licking decisions about how best to use one on any given turn – whether to use a card here to take a worker placement action or give up that action completely and instead use the card to climb up a branch on the Oak. That choice becomes even more thorny when you realise that getting the timings of your oak climbing could be the difference between you winning the game or not. Just racing to the end of the tree as quickly as possible isn’t going to do you much good at all if the rewards at the end are based on how much of a given thing you have achieved during the game. You are wanting instead to stall until the very last point so that you maximise the potential VP. All well and good though until you realise your opponent is creeping up the same branch(es) as the ones you have your eye on! Now we have a nice game of cat and mouse going on - not wanting to race but potentially finding yourself doing exactly that. Additionally (and I neglected to mention this in the earlier ‘how to play’ section), as you or your opponent reach certain spaces on the tree it moves an ‘eclipse’ marker which could reward you with a bounty of resources but only if the eclipse marker moves ahead of your current VP marker. Find your VP is ahead of that eclipse marker instead? No tasty bounty for you! Timings everywhere on an Oak tree that at first glance looks like a straightforward ‘get to the end of the track’. I do like a game that doesn’t just make me focus on what to do but also makes me focus on when to do it. Excellent.

The ‘powering up’ of your druids into Elder Druids and adorning them with their individual outfits is fun for sure – and there are some excellent choices to be had in deciding which Elder Druid(s) to morph into as each one of them has pretty nifty benefits. But there is something else going on with the workers in Oak that lifted this above the usual worker placement experience. I can easily (and relatively cheaply) gain more and more workers throughout the game but crucially I only start the game with three houses for three druids and if I want more not only will I need to use an action to gain the druids, but I am also going to have to ensure I have built enough new spaces for them to live on my player board (and navigate the wrinkles in the game that make this easier said than done). No sooner though have I made some space for new workers, I very quickly realise that my upgraded Elder Druids can’t just live in any old space - they have to live in special elder druidy places. Urgh. Here was me thinking ‘just get more workers and be able to do more stuff’. Oak has other ideas and it makes for an excellent meta-puzzle.

It’s also a tight economy in Oak. You will start with six of each of the game’s main resources and at the start of each round you gain another three. But powerful actions in this game can cost six resources and a climb up one step of the Oak costs three so resources very swiftly start to dwindle. Each round you have to focus and hone in on the one or two key actions that you are able to take with your limited resources. Some great balancing between what you want to do and what you can afford to do. I do also like frequently seeing plans having to pivot as your pesky opponent takes the precise worker placement spot that you had your eye on! I guess therefore that you will need to be making good use of the personal worker placement spot on your player board as well as any further personal ones on those Artifacts that I mentioned earlier!! Talking of those Artifacts and having to lose VP every time you use them – what an excellent twist. At first glance you think ‘why on earth would I want to lose VP to take an action?!?!!’. But if your overall machine is well oiled and all of your cogs are working in harmony then that 2VP hit might just result in you getting 5VP on a later turn or just let you do the one thing that you really need to do but otherwise cant. I haven’t see this enough in games: ‘take a juicy action but lose an ever increasing amount of VP each time you use it’. Do let me know in the comments section if there are other games that that I am clearly missing / forgetting that do this?

Oak isn’t a game of bursting combos. Instead it’s a game of trying to create the perfect scenario - having the right workers, grabbing the right Artifacts, exploiting the specific potion that works for you, adding that creature card whose ongoing bonus complements your strategy, finding just the right ingredient at the end of each round, snaffling that extra card that lets you take an extra step up the Oak tree on your preferred branch. Once the five rounds are over there isn’t any big end game VP to score up - the points you score during the game are it. But there is one final tense twist that I enjoyed – the ability to win or lose the game right at the very last by either some great planning or some carelessness. You see, each player gets to brew one final VP making potion with any leftover ingredients that they have and it can earn them anything from 3 – 7VP. More than enough for you to leapfrog your solo opponent and snatch a last-gasp win (or vice versa!). Tense right to the last – and there were more than a few games where I snatched a satisfying win from the jaws of defeat with this final move after some careful planning.

While I have so far focussed all but exclusively on gameplay I did want to give a shout out to Maciej Janik for some excellent artwork once again (I also enjoyed Stroganov) which lifts an otherwise basic but quirky and enjoyable enough theme. Particular praise for the 30+ creature cards each having individual artwork on them.

At a glance:

What a superb game from first time designer Wim Goossens. I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for the upcoming Oak expansion as well as any future designs from him and from Game Brewer.

+ So much replayability – every game feels fresh.

+ Quick, straightforward solo mode and a snappy 45 -50 minute playtime.

+ A simple enough premise but an abundance of options every turn.

+ Tight resource management leaves you needing to plan carefully.

+ Quirky theme, intriguing artwork and those outfits for the druid workers are a nice bit of gimmicky fun!

- A lot of options every turn and consequently a lot of symbols to internalise.

- I’d like to see more variability on the Oak Tree itself in an otherwise highly variable game.

Final Score:

9 out of 10 (Reviewed after 18 plays)

(Please note that the photos in this review show the deluxe version of the game which has different box art, a two sided main board – one side displays an alternative ‘night’ version of the retail version’s ‘day’ board - screen printed workers, double layer player boards, wooden components rather than cardboard etc.)

Oak

How to Play:

Solo Headlines:

General Headlines:

At a glance:

Final Score:

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