#FamilyFriday #Boardgame – New beginnings with Kingdomino: Origins (@BlueOrangeGames, 2021)

Kingdomino: Origins by Bruno Cathala from Blue Orange Games (2021) is the newest version of the Kingdomino family that breathes a welcome freshness into the design without losing the essential fun elements of the game.

Bruno Cathala’s Kingdomino (Blue Orange Games, 2016) is a RockyMountainNavy family favorite. Not only do we play the game ourselves, we have gifted maybe a dozen copies to other families over the years. It is a great gateway (foundational?) boardgame that is easy to learn and fun to play. However, while the game is often brought out when new gamers come over, the truth is the RockyMountainNavy Boys and myself are sort burned out on Kingdomino.

We own and play Queendomino (Blue Orange Games, 2017), the second member of the Kingdomino family which I have heard described as “the gamer’s Kingdomino.” We enjoy it, but it has never matched the popularity of the core Kingdomino game for us. We also have the Kingdomino: Age of Giants expansion (Blue Orange Games, 2018) but it gets played even less than Queendomino. It’s not a bad expansion; it just doesn’t really grab us.

Yet, when I first saw the box art for Kingdomino: Origins the game was an auto-buy from that moment. I didn’t even look to see what rules changed…it was a new Kingdomino game and that was enough to sell me.

Evolution Gaming

Kingdomino: Origins is actually three games in one. The first game, Discovery Mode, is classic Kingdomino with the addition of volcanoes that can throw fires. In Origins fires are the “crowns” of earlier versions and how you multiply your regions for scoring. Taking volcanos give you fires to throw to add bonus scoring. For long-time Kingdomino players this shook us up from our staid ways; whereas before we understood that certain tiles were lesser in number but more valuable, now a volcano can take that low-value tile and make it worth much more. A truly new level of strategy originated in this mode of play.

Totem Mode is the second game of Kingdomino: Origins. Here the game uses the volcano rules and adds resources. The player who has the most of a given resource gains a Totem which is an endgame scoring bonus. But watch out; placing those fires from the volcanos destroys resources in that space. This uncovers another level of strategy; placing fires for bonus scoring weighed against destroying a resource that can also be a bonus score. Simple rule change—deep strategic shift.

Tribe Mode in Kingdomino: Origins builds again on the previous two modes and adds tribal members as a bonus. In this mode you have volcanos and resources (but no Totems). The new rule addition is the ability to recruit a caveman by spending resources and placing the caveperson on your hunting ground. Depending on who the caveman is they score you a different bonus depending upon the surrounding tiles. The strategic challenge of the game goes up a (small) step as now you must find places to throw fires, take resources from, and place cavemen to maximize your scoring.

Origin(al) Fun

The first RockyMountainNavy family playthru of Kingdomino: Origins was actually three games; one each Discovery, Totem, and Tribe modes played back-to-back-to-back. As experienced Kingdomino players learning the new rules was easy; on the other hand discovering and implementing new strategies was challenging (in a very good way). I can easily imagine Kingdomino: Origins becoming the new “Kingdomino gateway” game for our family and friends as learning/teaching Discovery Mode is not that much more difficult than classic Kingdomino. Totem Mode is not a huge step up, and even going to Tribe Mode is an easy learning curve. Even at full-on Tribe Mode I still feel this game is easier to play than Queendomino. While learning Kingdomino: Origins is easy the new strategy challenges make it very interesting and engaging—both for veteran gamers and novices alike. As an added bonus the graphic art is tremendous fun too.

Revolution Evolution?

Fair warning: Kingdomino: Origins cannot be combined with Kingdomino or Queendomino. I have seen criticism of that game design decision. My message to those naysayers—play Kingdomino: Origins, all three modes. I think you’ll discover that there is enough game here that you don’t need to combine it with the earlier versions. Kingdomino: Origins stands on its own—you don’t need to go bigger to have an easy to learn, deep strategic game experience.