Last weekend my wife and I went to our very first Gen Con. The entire weekend we were repeatedly asked by friends and each other how it was that we live only about thirty minutes south of the event site and yet we have never been. We never actually figured out an answer.
We did, however, come home with enough games to keep us busy for a while. One of them was a game I actually sought out: Seasons.
I had seen the game explain in a video online and that was enough to make me want to check it out last weekend. I never got in there to actually demo it, but I did watch part of a game. I was impressed enough that I wanted to try it myself. The first thing I immediately noticed about it was how much I loved the art. It has a sort of whimsical fantasy vibe to it and every piece is bright and colorful. It begs to be stared at. I don’t recommend that though, lest you fail to pay attention to what’s happening.
One thing I do admit is that a first glance through the instruction book was a little intimidating. Before you get an understanding of what’s going on, it seems like there is a lot happening. But that’s just an illusion. Once we had played a few rounds, we really started to get the hang of it and plan for the future. Honestly, the most intimidating part of the game is the very beginning where you pass cards back and forth choosing which ones you want for your hand. The cards themselves, beautiful though they are, didn’t mean much to us until we had a few rounds behind us and understood how they worked.
Fortunately, the instruction book actually includes a recommended hand for your first play. It lets you jump into the game and get familiar with them on your first outing. Now that we’ve done that, I think our next game will include the initial phase of choosing which cards we want to have access to. Also good is the cards really aren't that difficult once you understand the mechanics of the game. Each card has a value in the upper left-hand corner. This is how many points you will gain if you have that card in play at the end of the game. The cost to play or activate the card is shown directly below the image, and the benefit of the card directly below that. Another icon in the bottom left indicates when the benefit takes place. (Some take place immediately when played, others can be activated once per turn by paying the cost again, and some have a perpetual benefit for the rest of the game.)
But playing cards requires resources. And that’s where the season wheel and dice come in.
There are four sets of dice – one set for each of the four seasons. During a turn, you only roll the dice corresponding to the current season (which is indicated on the season wheel). The number of dice rolled is equal to the number of players plus one. So at the beginning of each round, the dice are rolled and each player chooses which one they will use for that round. These season dice are how you collect crystals, resources, and summoning power. Crystals are mainly for points, though some cards do require you to sacrifice some in order to be played. Resources are your season tokens which are mostly what you’ll be spending to play cards. Further, you have a very limited stash in which to hold season tokens, so you have to collect them wisely. Lastly, you’ll want to collect summoning power as you can only have as many cards in play as you have total summoning power.
Yes, this game is very much about resource collection and management. But once you really get going, it is also an incredible amount of fun. Oh and don’t be surprised if the balance of power changes quickly. With dice involved, it’s impossible to escape the randomness of your ability on any given turn. If you’re stuck with a handful of cards that require a certain resource and you can’t seem to roll that resource on your die, then be prepared to have a backup plan or just sit and let your turn slide by. But even this can be worked around if you play your cards right. No seriously, some of the cards have really great abilities that range from re-rolling your die to getting a resource of your choice every turn.
Ultimately, Seasons was a little rough at first as we struggled to get a grasp on what we were supposed to be doing. It kind of made me wish I had been able to demo the game at Gen Con. However, once we got going and began to understand the subtleties of the game, we really enjoyed it. I’m eager to see how our second game turns out.
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