Sankoré in a nutshell
Sankoré: Pride of Mansa Musa was a must-play demo of SPIEL23 for me.
I love ‘Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road’ which is also from Fabio Lopiano and @ospreygames , and also illustrated by Ian O´Toole, so this game instantly spoke to me. 😍
Sankoré has a pretty unconventional way of taking actions, as you teach classes to students. It requires some advanced planning.
There is a lot of resource management and a primary focus is area majority: there will be 2 majority scorings triggered at different times for each of the 4 board sections.
☝️Also unique: How much VP each type of “Inspiration” token is worth at the end of the game is controlled by players, via a shared library where spent books go during the game.
Each turn you pick 2 different actions out of 5, then it’s the next player’s turn. The game flows without any end of round steps until the game’s end is triggered, where you tally up points to see who has won. 🏆
Out of the 5 action there are 2 that you will be choosing on most turns:
-First is picking student meeples from the game board that are basically “ammo” for your actions later.
-Second is teaching a class, which means moving a student onto a class tile on your player board, and advancing it upward on your pyramid shaped tableau.
Depending on the type of class you will interact with the 4 areas of the main board, placing down your pieces. The stronger the action, the better spots you can choose - there is a public strength value that is unlocked for everyone as meeples are drafted, and a private strength value with each player piece placed.
There are many fun nuances like bonuses if the meeple color is the same as the class, or unlockable passive bonuses for specific class types. Each action type needs a kind of resource but provides another kind, plus you have free actions and the favor track to get what you might need. Completed goal cards also give you ongoing effects!
This is a complex and layered game which is hard to describe in short form. If you’re interested, read my extended post on BGG about the game. 😊
Sankoré is also a visual treat. I knew it would look amazing, but it’s even more spectacular than I anticipated. 🤩
