Saltfjord

The game is so fast that we won’t have time to say a single Santa Maria…

Saltfjord is a game in which we travel to a Norwegian village to fish and expand our settlement.

The game uses a dice placement mechanic. On your turn, you place a die on your board to take advantage of all the actions in a column or row, depending on the color and value of the die. You can also modify the result of the die with fish.

Actions allow us to move our boat to catch fish, develop new technologies, obtain crates, and expand our tetris-like settlement. Many action spaces also provide us with resources.

The best thing about this game is that we can add new actions in columns and rows. It’s a kind of mini-game where we try to fill our village with new tiles so that we can do as many actions as possible with one die. This makes us feel that we can do more from round to round. Placing new tiles can also give us a significant boost in resources if we plan it properly.

When it comes to resources, fish are the main currency in Saltfjord. At any point during the game, we can upgrade fish to another resource. We can also convert other resources back into fish. This exchange allows us to creatively manage our resources so that we can afford to perform all actions. I find this a very interesting feature.

There is also a slight asymmetry in this game depending on which special ability we start with. It changes the possibilities of exchanging resources or affects our actions. We can also flip our boards over to play with unique clans. However, this only changes the initial layout of the actions, so there is no need to get excited.

Game duration and number of players

I’m still shocked at how fast Saltfjorda is. With two players, it takes less than an hour to play, and then we can put the game back in the box. With four players, it’s also lightning fast, and the only change is that the building tiles and fish available for catching disappear faster. Sometimes we had to hurry so that we wouldn’t run out of something.

Quality and components

The components available in Saltfjord are very thematic, and you can really feel the Norwegian fjord atmosphere here. Unfortunately, there is no insert in the box, so we have to put everything in zip-lock bags. Just like when fishing in real life, you have to make do with what you have.

Summary

Saltfjord turned out to be a fast-paced Euro game that we literally set up in no time, play for about an hour, and then we’re ready to pack up for new adventures. The gameplay itself is very enjoyable, and it’s been a long time since I’ve come across a Euro game that doesn’t have a gazillion rules and tons of symbols flooding us from who knows where. 

Availbe actions are simple and intuitive, and managing our board is just great. It was nice to see how I arranged everything so that I could suddenly do many actions with one die placement.

The only drawback of this game for me is that there aren’t many variables for subsequent games. I felt like I was doing exactly the same thing every time I fished. The only things that changed were the scoring, the special ability, and the layout of some of the tiles.

Final verdict: Saltfjord is a game that really hooked me.

Pros

• Fast gameplay
• Simple and intuitive actions
• Slight asymmetry
• Looks great
• Strongly thematic
• Excellent action improvement

Cons

• Replayability is just OK

[Game provided by Galakta]