Game Tips for Village

6

Tatxu {Avid Gamer}

Jan 7th, 2015| Strategy

56 of 57 gamers found this helpful

“Ascension in the Council Chamber pays itself.”

In my last play of Village i tried as a wining strategy to run for the 4 action of the Council Chamber (1 coin for 4 VPs) and repeat it as much as possible.

I realized then, and it something you can count on, that ascension in the positions on the council chamber pay it selves their cost after the second one, alllowing you with a previous cautious schedule to rise very quick:

You must pay for your self the first and second position, then:
– Arriving to second position you earn two resource cubes: that could be the two green you will need for third position.
– Arriving to third position you earn one good: which could be the scheme (sorry do not remember how the game calls it, sure your will realize) you will need for fourth position.

I also combined this while taking cubes from my other actions making groups of three, so i could repeat the council chamber action even if it runs out of resource cubes.

To complete the strategy you should look for an effective combination or early getting the goods for producing grain, and then produce it and transform to coins one or even twice a round. The surplus of coins and grain is perfect for combine ascencion in Council Chamber with ascension at the Church.

8

Kaleb {Avid Gamer}

Oct 6th, 2012| Rule

50 of 51 gamers found this helpful

“Tracking victory points during the game”

The actual “victory point” scale that goes around the board is rarely used in this game due to having very few ways of scoring points until the end of the game. Most players don’t get past 10 points before the game ends, and then most players have more than 40 for their final tally (depending on number of players and turns). One way we have made the scale relevant again is to actually score victory points from the market as you get them. This allows almost all of the final victory points to be known (all the rest are on the board) and removes a big guessing game aspect (or removes the advantage for those who are good at tracking hidden points). Taking it to the next level, you can also score points from traveling and the chronicle as they accrue leaving only the points from the church and town hall to add at the end of the game.

This rule isn’t for everyone, but I recommend it for first-timers (to see where relative points come from) and when you have folks who go into analysis-paralysis for tracking this themselves. There is some fun to not knowing if the market will get you the win or not. 🙂

9

coltsfan76 {Avid Gamer}

Oct 5th, 2012| Strategy

51 of 53 gamers found this helpful

“... Into the Wishing Well”

Another often overlooked rule is the wishing well action.

The wishing well can be used to extend the round and prevent you from gaining more unnecessary plague cubes.

The wishing well doesn’t seem to see much action until someone uses it and people remember it is there. For 3 of a kind action cubes (and remember to use coins to substitute what you are missing), you can take any action on the board. You can continue to use the well as long as at least one action cubes remains anywhere on the board.

This is a way to get the limited market action going again (because an opponent triggered it before you had your goods or they took your customer from you).

In addition, the action cubes are set up so that each player has an even number of turns. Using the wishing well (which does not claim an action cube off the board) is given you one more action than everyone else. This could also mean that you get skipped when it is just plague cubes left and someone else will have to eat the 2-Time loss.

Unlike coins, cubes are worth no victory points so there is no need to stockpile them. If you find yourself with a surplus of a particular color, through it in the well and make a wish.

9

coltsfan76 {Avid Gamer}

Oct 5th, 2012| Strategy

51 of 53 gamers found this helpful

“Tossing coins ... ”

An often overlooked rule is that a coin can be used in place of any action cube.

Sometimes players are so focused on getting that orange/brown/pink combo for travels or thinking they need a green cube to sell at the market that they forget that pile of coins can be used as wild cubes.

Don’t miss out on an opportunity because you forget this. the only downside is a coin is worth a VP (or 3 if you convert it at the town hall) so whatever action you take has to be worth the trade off.

9

coltsfan76 {Avid Gamer}

Oct 5th, 2012| Strategy

50 of 52 gamers found this helpful

“Death becomes you”

The saying goes only two things are certain in life: Death and Taxes. And Village doesn’t do taxes … so that really only death is certain here.

Your meeples will die. All of your first generation and probably most of your 2nd generation. Embrace it but do your best to control it. Make sure before you invest in a church strategy that you aren’t backing that wheezy old “1” over there. Or make sure you have gotten all that you need out of them before sending in a replacement (it is usually cheaper to start a 2nd meeple on the path of travel than to have one guy make all the rounds).

On the other hand, there are a good chunk of points to be had in the Chronicle at the end of the game. Getting more meeples in there is usually easiest by sending them from all professions. Since most are more limited, being first to die is best. So don’t be afraid to embrace that coughing black plague cube to send granny to the grave a little sooner.

Also realize the end of the game is driven by filling the books or the graves. So if you feel you are ahead, end the game early by pushing the family to the brink.

6

WooSH {Avid Gamer}

Mar 13th, 2014| Strategy

58 of 61 gamers found this helpful

“The "marriage" action is not just for making babies”

Sometimes, when your opponent takes one last spot in the Chronicle just before you do, we feel like all is lost.

But if you read the rules in its details, you will remember that the “marriage action” can be used to retrieve one of your meeples. It means you can take someone that is now useless (would go to the graveyard) and place him somewhere else next turn.

So don’t panic if everyone else managed to kill their first generation meeples before you, retrieve your oldest meeple and make sure he dies beautifully.

8

Kaleb {Avid Gamer}

Oct 6th, 2012| Strategy

56 of 59 gamers found this helpful

“Travel the world and make your family proud”

The best thing about this game is that there are so many different ways to win, but I rarely see someone win without sending one family member off to travel. It’s best to at least travel once to get the quick 3(+1) victory point bonus and, if possible, a second time to get the other 3(+2) bonus points (you get either +1 or +3 bonus points at the end for visiting 1 or 2 places). Traveling should either be a quick way to get these points and then kill off the 1st generation “run-away” to get chronicle credit OR it should be a game-commitment where you send a 2nd or younger generation to travel to all 6 distant lands. If the latter, be quick to also commit to training a family member in the art of wagon making (you’ll need the cubes for traveling, not for making wagons) and/or higher up in the town hall in order to get your 6 total wagons needed for this challenge. Since you’ll also need 2-3 cubes for each of your adventures, grab these early while making wagons and babies. If others are also committed to this long-term strategy, you may want to bail on it due to having so few chances to travel each turn and focus on the market which they will likely be unable to do much in.

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