Four rondels in a euro?

The second edition for 🚢Shipyard was released at #SPIEL23 - one of Vladimir Suchy’s very first games from 2009, refreshed with new graphics and some small additions like a solo mode. As for the theme, you do exactly as the name suggests: buildings ships in a shipyard! 🔨

The game has 4 rondels, which was the primary thing drawing me towards this game. 😅 I do love rondels in board gaming. Actually the action selection also must be mentioned. ❗ Though the implementation is different, in principle it is quite similar to the wheel in Praga Caput Regni and Woodcraft - basically you get rewarded for using actions that haven’t been used in a while, and others are somewhat restricted. It actually gets quite restrictive, as from 7 actions you can only choose from 3 on a given turn in a 2p game, because all the others are blocked. 😯

Actions all revolve around completing ships. 🧐 You can buy tiles, assembling ships from bow, middle and stern parts. You can buy crew and equipment to add to ships for bonuses, though the ship has to have cabins and mounting points accordingly. You can also hire employees, which give engine-building type advantages for the rest of the game. Another important thing is renting canals, so you can sail through them during the so-called shakedown cruises. ⚓

Whenever a ship is completed you take it out for a test voyage, where officials reward you with victory points for different aspects. This is the primary source of victory points. As you sail through your canal you also activate bonus spots that you reach. Trying to build ships that score these well (or renting canals that fit your ships well) is essential to get ahead. 

The rondels themselves are a limiting factor when you are getting new crew, equipment, employees or selling commodities. Markers on the rondel show from which section you can buy stuff, but you can pay to move it forward more spaces. Makes things more fun and puzzly. 🙃 

There are some special rules you need to digest at first, but then gameplay is smooth. Pick an action, possibly pay for a bonus action and check if any of your ships got completed. 

An interesting and layered euro.