Crescent Moon

Product Information

Crescent Moon (2022, Osprey Games, designed by Steven Mathers) is already getting lots of comparisons to Root thanks to the classy production and asymmetrical gameplay.

And then there’s everyone’s individual actions, attributes and objectives. They’re all listed in your faction’s rulebook, which is cute and all but isn’t as practical as I’d like. Your objectives are on the inner spread of this booklet, while your actions are on the front cover.Crescent Moon has been designed to provide a very high level of interactivity, both on the board and in negotiation, while avoiding being predictable. In area control games it is often advantageous to promise and betray - that comes with the territory (literally). But in Crescent Moon, while it is very hard to win without at least some negotiation, it is not required to always negotiate in bad faith. Because each faction has different ways of scoring points, it is not a zero-sum game. Faction positions can co-exist and overlap on the board. Players can make mutually beneficial agreements that don't inevitably end in betrayal. When I read the rules for Crescent Moon, many of the elements from Sidereal Confluence came to mind, which is my all-time favorite negotiation game. My #1 gaming experience last year was the 9-player game of Sidereal Confluence I organized with friends. Truly, an amazing experience. I also have to commend the art. The game looks stunning. Navid Rahman’s box art aches with beauty – it wouldn’t look out of place in a gallery. The hexes themselves aren’t too busy – and rightly so; they don’t need to be. The wooden buildings are superb. If you’ve played Root to death and want something else with that same lop-sided, territorial tussle, Crescent Moon is great. The factions in my – admittedly limited – experience seem really well balanced, and the rules are very easy to follow. It’s also worth trying if you’re tempted by the COIN games but aren’t used to the GMT style of rulebook.

There are a variety of power cards – most of them help with combat and/or influence contests, some have actions you can take instead of the ones listed in your player booklet, and others have anytime actions which you can play anytime during the action phase and doesn’t count as one of your actions. When I played as the Warlord, you have no choice but to go down the combat route. And because it’s likely that you’ll be the first faction to do this, it strikes a table-wide psychological fear into everyone else. ‘We’ve got to stop the Warlord!’ the masses say, grabbing their pitchforks. ‘They’re the clear aggressor!’ In one round, my presence on the board got near-destroyed by three other players.Crescent Moon is played over three years (rounds) for the standard game, or four years if you prefer to play a longer game. Each year is divided into three phases: Crescent Moon is an area control game for four or five players. Take on the role of one of five radically asymmetric characters, each with their own objectives to fulfil, unique actions to utilise, and game-changing special powers to employ. Build symbiotic relationships with your allies, undermine your rivals, and choose your friends and enemies wisely in this cut-throat game of power and politics. Finally, we have the Nomad who leads a bunch of independent local tribes, which are represented by mercenary units in Crescent Moon. Unlike other characters that can recruit units (Warlord and Caliph), the Nomad can recruit units where they don't have presence and no one has control. The cool thing is, as an action, other players can bribe the Nomad for mercenary units or hire them from the Nomad at an agreed upon price. The Nomad player scores the bulk of their victory points from spending money, so strategically they're motivated to place mercenary units in enticing locations so that other players want to bride them to convert them into their own mercenary units. In fact, this is the only way the Sultan and Murshid can get any units onto the board. The Nomad can also earn some cash-for-points by positioning themselves well for income phases. Either way, the more money they make, the more they can spend for victory points during the scoring phase. Crescent Moon is an area control game for four or five players. Take on the role of one of five radically asymmetric characters, each with their own objectives to fulfil, unique actions to utilise, and game-changing special powers to employ. Build symbiotic relationships with your allies, undermine your rivals, and choose your friends and enemies wisely in this cut-throat game of power and politics. I played the standard 3-year game for all of my games, and they all ran just about 3 hours which felt fine, but I do want to try the longer game at some point as well. With only twelve actions you really have to carefully plan your moves and it creates an interesting decision space as you figure out what you want to do with each of your actions -- I really need to get cards, but should I wait so I have more money so I can buy more cards to be efficient?, or I really need to build in that space before someone takes it over, but if I don't take an influence action now while that other space is empty, I might have to fight someone for it later. Decisions, decisions.