Build an Oxford college, attract new students from John Locke to Michael Palin, and find out why one Oxford man chose to cover his face instead of his modesty, in new crowd-funded Oxford board game, Dreaming Spires.
The Daily Info team went along to Thirsty Meeples to play the game, which got underway after an expert, though lengthy, explanation from one of the café's staff members. Although the box says 3-5 players, 4 seems to be the best number to ensure that everyone has an equal number of turns at certain aspects of the game, such as being Chancellor. The team enjoyed the aesthetics of the game and the college building aspect best, and there was some hilarity over players' architectural skills.
Our main issue with the game is that it lacks a clear aim. It was difficult to know whether one ought to focus on building up their college, attracting academics, hoarding money, bidding in auctions or gaining skills. None of these different components of the game seemed to have a significant impact on the overall outcome, and without hazard cards or some sort of bartering system between players, there was no penalty for not engaging in one or more of the game's constituents. This lack of focus also seemed to affect the scoring. Although Jen won the first three historical eras, Nat won the game overall simply by gaining skills exclusive to the modern era in the final round. A clear narrative might help in adding focus to the game, and might make the time it takes to play – it's in danger of straying into the Monopoly territory – pass more quickly.
The team left slightly baffled about what they had just played, and have therefore decided to leave top tips for anyone intending to play Dreaming Spires themselves:
Nat's top tip: Take a leaf out of the American college system and go for breadth of knowledge instead of depth. Fingers in pies equal points on the board.
Jen's top tip: Abandon your principles and buy politicians and academics you don't agree with for the value of the game. Margaret Thatcher did me proud.
Bloke's top tip: When building your college go for the free squares with half college symbols on them. None of this quarter symbol nonsense.
Emma's top tip: Save your money and don't bid in auctions. You may not get much of a scholarly reputation but you'll be rich, which has got to be good right?