Sumer

I'm writing this review after spending many hours playing the Kickstarter beta version. We're a big fan of board games, and really like multi-player party games like this. We learned of this game through one of the developers, Josh Raab, who seems to have great skill at developing simple games that have great depth. The game mechanic is largely worker placement and auction. During the worker placement phase you're trying to earn as many points as you can. You collect resources and can sacrifice them, or 'invest' them in ways that will earn more points later. There is a racing element to it as well. You try to get to buildings before the other players, so you can block them, but there area always alternative ways to earn points if you get blocked. The auction phase is a lot of fun. You bid excess resources to gain bonuses or extra buildings. There are a lot of ways to try to trick each other to get a better price or force them to spent too much. You can also 'overbid' which is to sacrifice points to try to win a bid that is key to your strategy. Once you buy your buildings you get to place them on the temple, which has strategy as well, trying to block other players or trying to claim a bigger part of the temple for yourself. The game is simple enough that our 5 year old wins the short games frequently. The longer games have enough depth that my wife and I are still figuring out new ways to beat each other. A short '2 year long' game is usually done in 10-15 minutes, or you can go up to an 6 year game that will have a lot more depth and cool power-ups. It lets you plan ahead further for bigger bonuses at the end. The 6 year games seem to take about 30 minutes. The game has an awesome theme. Love the art and quality of the look. We've played the game with our keyboard, mouse, and an SNES style gamepad, they all work well."

[b]A Lets Play of Sumer was featured on my youtube channel[/b] http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=878096973 and now onto the review [h1]Short Review[/h1] Sumer is a digital boardgame loosely based on M.U.L.E. and ancient poetry from the civilization of Sumer (modern day Iraq). There are two phases, harvesting and sacrificing for the Goddess Inanna and bidding for goodies the Goddess. -Gameplay- There are four players, if not enough human players are entered the game will automatically add AI to the mix, who start off randomly in the lower regions of a temple. The narrator lets the players know whats happening, then buildings rise randomly from the temple and players must then wake up to start doing their sowing. In the first year you are given very limited options for you and your followers(2 game pieces), to raise goats (currency) or harvest barley (used for sacrifices, baking, other materials). The goal is to have the most FAVOR from the Goddess as at the end of the game she will choose the player that paid their dues to her. How you do that is the strategic portion of the game. Absolutely everything you do from the beginning counts towards the favor you will need to impress Inanna. After the players have met the sacrifices at the top of the temple. The game year will end and the players will be pushed into the bidding phase, where you can use the goats you cultivated to win prizes such as buildings, more servants (or game pieces), statues, wings (that make you faster) among other advantages. The players engage in a bidding war, how you wish to spend is up to you. (personally I love making my opponents spend way more money than they need to for an item) After the bidding is over if you are playing the 2 year portion you are ushered into the last year where the sacrifices on the top of the temple are much greater. Players rush to be the last person to place their sacrifise and get a bonus for doing so in FAVOR. After all the rituals and sacrificing is done, the game is over and Inanna places her judgement on the four participants. Like I said previously, there she will judge you for everything. How many goats you have. How much material you have left over. What sacrifices you did over the course of the game. How much FAVOR you have. The Statues you have. EVERYTHING. Finally players are floating towards the Goddess and one by one will drop until the winner of the game is announced and declared the new ruler of Sumer. -Graphics, Sound & Artstyle- Sumer's overall feel is absolutely astounding, the simplicity and perfectly crafted artwork of the board game and pieces combined with the awesome 7 song soundtrack bring the ancient civilization back to life in front of our eyes. -Price- The retail price is 14.99 USD -How many hours estimated?- Being a board game afficianado I can honestly say that this will be a game I will pump hundreds of hours into especially once Online is a feature. There are three different game lenghts. 2, 4 and 6 years. 2 taking about 15 mins. 4 taking about 25 mins and 6 taking around 45-50 mins. -Buy it Now? Wait for Sale? Don't Buy?- It will come to no surprise when I say [b]BUY IT NOW![/b], it's been a damn long time since I've found a board game that makes me feel like I did when I was a kid. I feel absolute happiness when playing, strategizing and plotting my way to victory. It truly is an amazing experience and while I did receive the game from the developer, it in no way changes the way I feel about Sumer. In my books, Sumer is an early runner for INDIE GAME OF THE YEAR and it's still in Early Access. I cannot wait to see what Sumer has in store for us when the game is fully released. [b]BUY IT NOW![/b]

I played this game several times during early development. Fast-paced, strategic, simple to get into with depth for repeated play-throughs. The auction mechanic is a fantastic addition. A must-have in your local multiplayer library (with online coming soon!)

Love the idea of this game. Can't wait for multiplayer. Board game that requires quick thinking and platforming.

January 2019: Love this game, but wish development would go a bit faster... Edit December 2020: Seems like they gave up on this game, no news in 18 months, shame :( Not worth the €15 but still a fun game

If you are perchance noble sumerian you are at the right place. This game have sacrifice, goats, bread and pots. You name it and it's here. Please the god, rule the people and screw rest of the elite. It's heaven really. On the other hand we modern humans may find it confusing at first. But it's fun to jump around. Probably even more so with three other just as clueless contemporaries. Game runs well and controls are ok. Minor annoyance is the inability to skip some parts (e.g. score animation). Imagine crack addict that have to wait for long elevator music score to stop so that he can get high again. Truly unpleasant thing but could be solved easily, for example skip cutscenes if all human players hold action button. Btw some guy on reddit is claiming that his 5yo kid is really good player. Either both of them don't know how to play or I am on the lower side of the intelligence spectrum but this game is certainly not easy.

One of the nicer local multiplayer games I've played lately. Easy going yet deep enough. Digital Board Game is a great description for this game.

Le jeu est inspiré du jeu de plateau M.U.L.E pour ceux qui connaissent. Il s'agit d'un jeu type placement d'ouvriers avec un gameplay de jeu de plates-formes puisque tout le monde joue en temps réel, le principe étant de récupérer différentes ressources (bière, blé, porterie,etc...) afin de marquer des points par différents moyens (sacrifice à offrir à la déesse, en fabriquant du pain ou des briques par exemple) en payant avec son cheptel de chèvres. Il va donc falloir faire des choix stratégiques rapidement sous peine de se retrouver avec les moins bonnes options. Entre chaque manche une phase d'enchère opposera les joueurs permettant de récupérer des améliorations/nouveaux systèmes de production. C'est très malin et ça fonctionne vraiment bien, il s'agit de trouver le moyen d'optimiser son tour mais également adapter sa stratégie en fonction des deux rituels à compléter (puisque lorsqu'ils sont tout les deux terminé la manche prend fin). Le fait que chaque tour se joue en direct oblige, parfois, à modifier son plan initial en fonction de ce qu'il y a comme emplacement disponible ou des ressources des adversaires. Il y a plein de petits trucs qui permettent de gagner différents bonus (bonus de chèvre, réduction des coûts lorsqu'un bâtiment nous appartient,etc...) et peuvent permettre de faire la différence. Les différents bonus sont expliqué via un tutorial et un menu permet de voir un résumé des différents bonus et manières de faire des points. Le côté plate-forme est très agréable et rajoute un petit plus, ça répond au doigt et à l'oeil. Le jeu se joue à la manette/clavier ou la souris ce qui facile les choses quand on veut se faire une partie avec des ami(e)s. L'ambiance et les animations sont vraiment très réussis on rentre tout de suite dans l'univers. Le jeu est assez accessible, les règles sont simples mais il y a tout de même une certaine profondeur de jeu à maitriser pour réussir à bien optimiser ses tours. Bref pour tout amateur de jeu de plateau, je le recommande chaudement. Pour le moment le jeu n'est jouable quand local (ou contre l'IA qui se défend pas trop mal), mais la version online est prévue.

Awesome music and great couch multiplayer.

Sumer hits all the beats of a boardgame but in realtime fun. Game works fantastic on SteamDeck, just mentally remember the position buttons with the icons in game but everything works fantastic. The game itself is brilliant short stints of fun in 10 minute blocks. Easy to pick up and enjoy as much as you want. Praise holy E-Anna!!