In the age of exploration the players arrive at a new home far away from their homeland. They try to settle the big island and each player tries to explore one part of it by placing landscape tiles. Landscape tiles grant resources and those are used to erect buildings with special abilities. Barriers on the island have to be removed in order to explore the island even further. Players build valuable statues and supply ships get them the supplies from the old world they need to be a successful settler on Cooper Island.
The special thing about Cooper Island is the way the players mark their victory points. They sail with ships around the island to show their progress. On their way around the island they find smaller islands inshore that grant valuable benefits. After five rounds, a game of Cooper Island ends and the player who developed the best and went on furthest with their ships will win.
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The second printing of the German and English versions of the game, along with the Spanish version of the game, include the Solo Against Cooper expansion that was originally available separately as a bonus item.
—description from the publisher
Images
- Unique mechanics
- Lots of options to explore
- Resource production mechanics tied to island tile placement
- Unlocking workers and endgame objectives adds progression
- Accessible action options (not too hard to learn)
- Heavy complexity may be challenging for some players
- Can lead to decision paralysis ('action coma') at times
- exploration and island-based development with boats and statues
- island
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- building and statues — Constructing buildings and statues on the island for bonuses.
- end game bonuses — Endgame ends after five rounds; fulfilling cargo ships and endgame objectives can contribute to scoring.
- endgame triggers and cargo ships — Endgame ends after five rounds; fulfilling cargo ships and endgame objectives can contribute to scoring.
- Resource management — Gaining resources from island tiles, with yields influenced by tower height.
- resource management via island tiles — Gaining resources from island tiles, with yields influenced by tower height.
- ship movement to unlock bonuses — Moving ships to unlock bonuses.
- tile placement — Placing tiles to gain resources and access actions.
- worker placement — Assigning workers to spaces to perform actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Cooper island from capstone games
- the game plays two to four players with mechanics such as tile placement worker placement and resource management
- the game is of heavy complexity
- There are a lot of options you can do
- I have an action coma and I don't know what I need to do
- the game offers its own unique mechanics
- highly replayable
References (from this video)
- crunchy puzzle; unique engine-building for a Euro
- impressive interaction with shared island ecosystem
- first-time play could be confusing; height/complexity may be a barrier
- resource management and exploration
- exploration and settlement on a shaped island
- crunchy worker-placement with engine-building vibes
- Tracarion
- Traders of Arc Nova
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- engine-building — build up production and store cubes for future actions
- tile placement — place terrain tiles to create production and resources
- tile placement and resource management — build tiles that generate resources; manage cubes and storage
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Don't tell me theme doesn't matter. Yes, it does.
- This is one of those games where drafting out different teams could be really cool.
- It's a banger.