After the tile is removed, the player immediately earns any noted Honor and Corruption Points on the tile. Overall, The Arrival was fun, but not great. Entertaining, but somewhat forgettable. I liken it to a good meal. Sure, you enjoyed it and feel satisfied, but the next day you won’t be thinking much about it. Seriously, what did you eat last Thursday? That’s what I’m talking about. You know you had something but you cannot recall if you really enjoyed it or not. All you can say is that you feel very confident that you pushed away from the table feeling done and satisfied.

After the correct number of rounds have been completed, locations are counted to determine the winner. If the Fomori occupy and equal or greater number of locations, the Fomori have overrun the tribes. Every Tribe Leader adds up the remaining Buildings, Swords, Shields and Tactic Tiles in their supply and decreases their Corruption by one for every three remaining. The Leader with the lowest Corruption wins, and in the case of a tie, the player with the most Honor wins. However the highlight of the components is of course the cats! Each cat tile has a unique design, adding to the games charming characteristics. Information about each cat species is even included! Allowing players to become fully engrossed in the cat expedition. Another resource that appears is Tactics Tiles, these are ok but are not terribly well explained. Some of them also have the feeling of having been added because the designers felt that the central gameplay loop wasn’t quite right. Each turn is divided into two phases, the Earning phase and the Action phase, all players do one part then the other, rather than one player doing both and then moving on.

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The game ends when a round is completed and a player has earned more Corruption Points than allowed (based on the number of players) or the round just completed was the final round (again, based on the number of players). The winner of the game is now determined. You may also wish to help the Fomori spread, especially to an area occupied by your opponents. One tile is placed in a new area that is directly connected to an existing Fomori encampment. Shields can also be deployed as an action, protecting everyone in that province. Shields must be removed before Fomori can advance and each region has a printed number that is the maximum number of shields that may be placed there. The new cats that are included in the Late arrivals expansion make it possible to play with more players. More interestingly they are in different shapes than the original which means more options for filling your boat in the best way possible. The more choices the better as far as I’m concerned. Even if you are happy playing with a smaller player count, I think this adds to the game play.

The game ends when a certain number of rounds have been played or somebody reaches the corruption limit. Once each player has selected and placed an Earning card, the process is repeated three more times, giving each player a chance to select a total of four Earning cards that are placed face-down in front of them. Cards should be placed in a row with the left-most card being the first the player selected followed to the right with the next card and so on. If at any time one of the three piles of Earning cards is exhausted, all of the discarded Earning cards are shuffled with any remaining Earning cards not yet drawn. Then three new piles of roughly the same number of Earning cards is created. In a time long forgotten, the cruel Fomori rule over Érin, the green island. They praise their king Balor, who reigns from his fortifications in the north with an iron fist. Old paths and ruins spread over the island’s face, which will be called Ireland many generations from now. But new tribes arrive at the island striving for permanent presence. Who will control Érin’s fate over the next centuries to come? Collect Shields: The player collects a number of Shield discs equal to the total number of Shield icons shown on their Earning card row. The Isle of Cats is one of my favourite games and now that I have all of the expansions, it’s one that I will continue to play and enjoy for a long time.

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Easily, The Isle of Cats is one of the best polyomino adventures that the boardgame industry has to offer, yet it is so much more than just a polyomino puzzle. What is The Isle of Cats? What’s more, The Isle of Cats is a well-rounded game that both inexperienced and veteran gamers can enjoy. Overall, a very recommendable game bursting with high-quality and fun gameplay! What is the cause for collecting these cats you ask? The home of the magnificent cats is under threat. The looming evil of Vesh Darkhand is spreading, a familiar enemy to those who have played The City of Kings. Although protecting the island itself is out of your hands, there is still time to save the island’s inhabitants. Passing immediately ends the player’s turn for this round. They cannot take a second action or any free actions if their first action was to pass. The next item included in Late Arrivals is new cards. I would say this is the most important part of the expansion. Once you have played enough times with the original cards it can get a little predictable. But add in some new cards and it’s like a whole new game!