Description from the publisher:
"For once, Zeus, Greek god of thunder and sky, is in high spirits. Hence, he decides to offer a generous gift to a worthy mortal and invite him, or her, to his realm, to Olympus. To determine a sufficient candidate, Zeus hosts a competition for his entertainment. Twelve legendary tasks are imposed upon the fearless participants: to erect graceful statues, to raise awe-inspiring sanctuaries, to offer capacious offerings, and to slay the most fearsome monsters. The first participant to master all the posed assignments wins the favor of the father of the gods himself.
Indubitably, you will not pass up this golden opportunity, so you clear your ship and rally your crew to follow on the trails of legendary Odysseus through the dangerous waters of the Aegean. But how could you find the righteous path onward? There is but one who can help you. Visit the mysterious oracle of Delphi and let her answers guide your ways.
In Stefan Feld's new game The Oracle of Delphi, the player's ships travel across a large variable game board of hexagonal tiles showing islands and the surrounding waters. Each player aims to reach certain islands to perform the twelve tasks given by Zeus: e.g., to collect offerings of different colors and to deliver them to corresponding temples, or to slay monsters of a specific type (and color), all of which can be discovered on the islands.
In order to execute these color-dependent actions, you are given three colored dice each turn, the so-called "oracle dice". Rolling the dice (at the start of the turn) is equivalent to consulting the oracle, whereas the results represent her answers. The answers determine which actions you will be able to take, but you will always have three actions per turn. However, a slight divergence from your fate is often possible.
In addition to the oracle, you can request support from the gods and you can acquire favor tokens, companions, and other special abilities that will help you win the race against other competitors.
Differently equipped ships and the variable set-up of the game board will offer new challenging and interesting strategic and tactical decisions with every new game of The Oracle of Delphi that you play.
- Fast-paced and highly interactive
- Efficient design with meaningful choice within constraints
- Rule-breaking powers add flavor and excitement
- Subject to dice-driven variance
- Not as accessible to players who dislike race games
- race to complete heroic tasks with modular powers
- Ancient mythic questing on a racing-map
- mythic quest racing with efficiency constraints
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card/power escalation — Charge powers to unlock strong abilities that can swing endgame scoring.
- dice-driven randomness with powerful mitigating powers — Rolls constrain and enable actions; players charge up god powers to tilt outcomes.
- route planning and resource routing — Efficiently plan boat routes and token usage to maximize results.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I love the sense of urgency when it comes to rushing to these islands and getting them populated as quickly as you can.
- This game is the absolute best of the best. You know, the top 1% of the top 1% of the games that I've played.
- I could not speak more highly of this design.
- The dice-driven twist, the engine-building, the tension—this is why I play board games.
References (from this video)
- Fantastic fun factor every play
- Great immediate fun on first play
- Excellent introduction game
- Replayable and engaging
- No significant criticisms mentioned
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Jeff and I rank with our hearts and not with our brains
- our list is if you don't like it Move Along
- we play as many games as we do in a year which is literally hundreds thousand
- our rankings are extremely fluid
- there's so many good freaking games out there
- oron hits The Sweet Spot of combo
- this Oracle Delia Oracle Del like what is this game
- if you love puzzles and sudoku or whatever you're probably gonna love it
- don't poo poo on tapestry it's freaking good
- three ring circus is going to continue to increase for me
References (from this video)
- cryptic yet rewarding puzzle
- beautiful components and thematic integration
- out-of-print status can hinder new players
- rules-heavy for newcomers
- oracle-guided quests
- mythology-based task fulfillment in ancient Greece
- order-for-task, scavenger-hunt style
- Castles of Burgundy
- Bonfire
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice pool with action selection — roll and allocate dice to perform tasks, with each task requiring different outcomes
- gods track and end-game triggers — advancing gods on a track unlocks special abilities
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's basically discussing our top 10 games that were new to us in 2022
- this is like a podcast today
- Weather Machine ... would have made this list if it came out this year
- it's a pure Euro for sure through and through
- hirelings ... game changer for the two-player Root
References (from this video)
- loved by Jamie
- older game that plays well
- wanted to teach others
- haven't played in a while
- fell off list
- mythology
- ancient Greece
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we're products of what we've played
- objectively most games are good
- the longer I'm in this hobby the more I have identified that I love very heavy strategic War based games
- people play games differently
- I just wish people would be a little bit more cognizant of what the people around the table are doing to the game
- every year there's a new card game that comes out that we just go head over heels for
- the odds that I'm going to get a chance to play this game are probably pretty limited
- I would argue none of them are like something I'm like itching to get out and play
- it's all about betting the right amount of hands and trying to screw other people over
- how do you compete with new content constantly being released