Publisher: Osprey Games
MSRP: $24.00
Release Date (US): February 2016
Designer: Thorsten Gimmler
Players: 2
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Ages: 8 and up
ISBN: 978-1-4728-1503-3
ICv2 Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Considering Osprey's well-earned reputation for producing fine military history books, it is something of a surprise that they have chosen to produce games that are most decidedly not military history in theme or style. Nonetheless, if Odin's Ravens is any indication, they have fine taste in games.
Summary: Based only loosely on Norse myth, Odin's Ravens imagines a race between the two feathered familiars of the Allfather, Huginn and Muninn, to the end of the world and back again. Obviously, whoever returns to Odin's shoulder first wins the race.
The "race track" is cleverly represented by domino-like cards, each divided into two types of terrain. The cards form a line, 16 cards long, side by side to create two rows of terrain. One raven will fly along the top row while the other flies along the bottom, until they reach the end of the world, switch sides, and come back along the opposite row. Each player has an identical deck of "flight cards," each showing a single type of terrain. Playing a flight card that matches the terrain type on the next land card allows your raven to move.
All of this drawing and playing of flight cards would get pretty dull, of course, so the trickster god Loki decides to meddle, giving each player an identical deck of 8 cards that allow them to manipulate the race track itself, removing, moving, or adding land cards to the course. This is where most of the game’s strategy is hiding.
Originality: Race games are some of the oldest types of games in the world, and there have been too many to count. What is less common, though, are race games that allow players to physically alter the race track during the race, and that’s where the fun of Odin's Ravens comes in. Also innovative is the clever interaction between the two halves of the race track. Since each card shows part of both track halves, manipulating one track will naturally affect the other track as well.
Presentation: Odin's Ravens comes in a clever little box designed to open like a book, which is pretty neat. The cards and box are beautifully illustrated by Johan Egerkrans, and nicely evoke the imagery of Norse art. The playing pieces are gorgeous laser-cut wooden ravens, one light and one dark. The cover art is attractive, and the title is easy to read, and the box back does a good job of presenting the idea of the game. But, there is a lot of air in the box. It doesn't weigh as much as one would expect a $24 game to weigh. It also means that the game is a lot less portable than it should be. Odin's Ravens would be a great "pocket" game, if the box were only small enough to fit in a pocket.
Quality: All of the components and packaging are top quality and should hold up to repeated play very well. The book-like box is strong and sturdy, and the plastic insert organizes the pieces perfectly. Thanks to the box design, the game won't "telescope" if you stand it on end on your bookshelf either--a feature I would really like to see in all of my games. The game rules are clear and concise, and we didn’t encounter any unanswered questions during play. Pleasantly free from the typos that often plague game rulebooks, too, which is always a delight. All in all a very professional production.
Marketability: When Odin's Ravens was originally released by Kosmos in 2002, it received a very favorable response, even winning the 2003 International Gamers Award for the best two-player strategy game. And when a Kickstarter campaign was launched in 2013 to produce a new edition, it easily reached its funding goal, but sadly the production effort failed. So there is clearly interest for the game in the community. The quality of the production and the strength of Osprey's name also lend a good deal of credibility to the title. But, the price point may prove an obstacle, especially considering that this is a two-player card game.
Overall: I don't normally go for two-player games. I usually find that the level of interaction that I want in a gaming experience just isn't there. So I was surprised at how much I enjoyed playing Odin's Ravens. While the rules are simple, and gameplay is quick, there are a lot of opportunities for interesting strategies to develop, and often very subtle ones at that. The quick play time is also nice, as it makes this game a great pastime for those early arrivals to enjoy while you’re waiting for the rest of the group to show up.
Somehow I missed this excellent little filler game the first time around, so I'm very glad that Osprey has been able to return it to life, particularly with Egerkrans' superb artwork. I just wish that they had chosen a more portable format. I give this game 4 out of 5.
--William Niebling
