Messina 1347(First Edition) (2021)

“Messina 1347 offers players a unique blend of historical simulation and strategic gameplay, set against the backdrop of one of the most challenging periods in European history. Through resource management, strategic planning, and a bit of historical insight, players are invited to navigate the complexities of survival, assistance, and prosperity in the face of the devastating plague epidemic.”

The reviewer found Messina 1347 to be an incredibly smooth and engaging medium-plus Euro game, offering deep strategic decisions and satisfying combos within a reasonable playtime. They expressed immense enjoyment and a strong desire to play it repeatedly.

The reviewer highly recommends Messina 1347, praising its engaging Eurogame mechanics and timely theme of fighting the plague and rebuilding the city, and placing it among his top Vladimir Suchý designs.

The reviewer likely found Messina 1347 to be a highly engaging and strategically deep Eurogame, offering a satisfying worker placement experience with well-integrated theme and mechanics that provide a challenging yet rewarding puzzle.

“All I can say is that right now, I find myself repeatedly drawn back in because of how pleasant and enjoyable it is to play. It’s tricky and clever without being too much of an AP-inducing head scratcher.”

The reviewer found Messina 1347 to be a very solid eurogame, praising its well-integrated theme, tight worker placement mechanics, and diverse strategies for scoring points. The only minor drawback noted was the visibility of the citizen tokens.

Rahdo found "Messina 1347" to be a wonderful and satisfying game with a very sharp design. He enjoyed the interplay between the two parallel aspects of the game—the city's worker placement and the home estate—finding their combination a lot of fun with significant variability.

The reviewer finds Messina 1347 to be a solid and enjoyable heavy Euro game, offering a satisfying puzzle with numerous combo opportunities and good scaling for different player counts. While they appreciate the thematic integration and sense of progression, they wished for improved aesthetics and more strategic freedom.

“Don’t get me wrong, Messina is far from a bad game; it has a great thematic arch, solid mechanics, and smooth gameplay. But it completely depends on what kind of a player you are, and ultimately, it remains labeled as merely … good rather than an all-time great.”

The reviewer found Messina 1347 to be a pretty solid and enjoyable Eurogame that offers a good amount of tactical and strategic depth, particularly appreciating its sense of progression, though noting some minor issues with immersion and player differentiation.

The reviewer found Messina 1347 to be a strategic worker movement game that demands careful planning and micromanagement of resources. While the setup and teardown can be extensive, the game offers a rewarding experience with impactful player interaction, even if indirect.

The game provides a solid and enjoyable worker placement experience with interesting player interaction and enough depth to warrant repeat plays, though some initial visual complexity and minor fiddliness are present.