Sinister Fish Games has an historically based tableau building title on the horizon which has really caught my eye. In Villagers, players each work to establish their own communities in the wake of the latest wave of the Black Death. Be careful, as you’ll need to balance who you bring into your village; weighing their benefits against the cost of maintaining them. Villagers is for one to five players, ages 10+, plays in around 30-60 minutes, and will carry an MSRP of $26.00 when it establishes itself this May. There’s also a $9.00 expansion hitting stores at the same time which will include four new mini-expansions to enhance your gameplay.
From Sinister Fish:
You are the founder of a new village during the middle ages, in the years after a great plague. The loss of so many people has created big problems for the survivors. Many of the people the villagers used to depend on for essential things like food, shelter and clothes are gone. Craftsmen find themselves without suppliers of raw materials, traders have lost their customers and many have lost their farms and workshops as they escaped the plague.
The roads are full of refugees seeking a new beginning. They come to you, hoping to settle down on your land and make a living. Your grain farm is the ideal starting point for a village, reliably providing food for many people. You must choose wisely who you allow to settle with you, as your food and resources are limited.
The people on the road have valuable and unique skills, but they all in turn rely on other people with very specific crafts to be able to work. Raw materials, tools and services must be provided by other people from the road.
If you manage to find people that can work together to make a profit, while increasing your food surplus and capacity for building new houses, your village will be prosperous.
The game comes with a solo mode where a lone village strives to prosper in spite of the dreaded Countess and her evil machinations.