Ofrenda is a competitive card-placement and tableau-building puzzle game inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead. Players draft and carefully arrange illustrated portrait cards of late relatives on their player boards to build an altar, lighting candles and celebrating their loved ones.
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The Verdict
based on 16 reviews
The reviewer praises Ofrenda as a gorgeous and captivating game that more than lives up to lofty expectations, calling it an absolute must-play and one of the best games of the year.
“You put this and you put Azul in front of me, this is the one I'm going to play guaranteed.”(39:12)
“You will like this game if you like some of the others I have already mentioned: Castle Combo, Faraway, Harmonies, Azul, Flamecraft Duals. Each brings something a little bit different to a packed marketplace and Ofrenda more than earns its place amongst them.”
“Overall though, Ofrenda is a really lovely game about arranging family portraits in the same way as you would arrange people at a dinner party.”
The reviewers looked at Ofrenda as part of their episode highlights, explaining the mechanics where families try to gain prestige by taking government positions and building walls against invaders, reflecting a positive preview impression.
The reviewer presents a clear, concise overview and tutorial for Ofrenda, highlighting its engaging mechanics and rich cultural theme about Dia de los Muertos without giving a formal rating.
“It's all very simple individually, but as a whole… yowza. If the decision making begins to feel easier after a few more games, this might be one of the best board games ever at turning simple game systems into juicy decisions.”
The reviewers find Ofrenda to be an engaging and colorful spatial puzzle inspired by Día de los Muertos, offering rewarding resource management and forward-thinking gameplay.
“It's really easy. If you're looking for a simple solo game to run, I couldn't recommend this highly enough. It's a fun little game. It's a bit of a brain brain burner”(42:45)
“It's basically a less punishing, more brain burning Calico. And I really enjoy it. I'm going to give this a 7.5.”(14:50)
“But as a solo game, it is a really nice simple from the point of view of the rules, challenging, uh definitely challenging uh from the point of view of trying to execute everything that that seems possible.”(16:45)
“Um, so I didn't care for the game, but only because of that luck issue.”(18:35)
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Buying through these links supports BGV at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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