Urbion (Second Edition) First Impressions
Urbion (Second Edition) has players balancing dreams to create an equilibrium.
Can’t the happy Sognae and the sad Incubi just get along?
For eons, the happy Sognae and the sad Incubi have dwelled as opposed but complementary forces in the library-city of dreams.
Urbion (Second Edition) Game Overview
Quick Rules Summary
4 cards from the city deck are placed in a vertical column. Two Dream cards are drawn per city card putting the dark Incubi cards on the left and the light Sognae cards on the right side.
You have 4 Dream cards in your opening hand.
Then you either play a dream card from your hand next to a City card as long as the symbol on the card matches one on the city. It goes on the left or right side depending on if you play a dark or light card. You can’t have more than 3 cards on one side of a city.
Or discard a card to either swap two Dream cards on the same side of the city, ignoring the ‘matching symbol’ rule.
Or discard a card to establish balance. If the total on all cards on both sides of the city equals zero, take the city cards and discard the dream cards on them. Should the full total not equal zero, you can discard equal-value cards from both sides instead, keeping the city card where it is. If a city card is taken, replace it with a new one from the city deck
After playing, draw cards one at a time until you have 4 cards in hand.
If you draw a Chaos card, you must either play it next to a City card on the side with the highest value, discard all Dream cards on both sides of an unclaimed but balanced city card or reveal the first 4 cards of the Dream deck, discard all Incubi and Sognae and resolve all Chaos cards.
How do you win?
You win if you manage to claim all the City cards in the deck and in play, you lose if you need to draw from the dream deck but it’s empty.
Main Mechanisms
Hand management is the main mechanism here. There is co-op too, but I’ve played this solo so far.
Theme
It is an interesting-sounding theme, but to be fair, it is pasted on. This could have been anything surreal or fantastical.
Setup
Shuffle the two decks and deal.
You do have to ignore any drawn chaos cards in your opening hand and then shuffle them back into the deck afterwards.
Components & Artwork
The cards are pretty standard and the artwork is weird, but fits the theme.
Ease of Teaching
I was taught this game at Essen solo and after a couple of turns, I was left to it. I did have to check the rulebook for niche occurrences but other than that I was fine. Except for the usual nervousness that I’m getting it all wrong when playing a game solo.
Similar Games
Similar by theme as it’s set in the same universe is Onirim. This is a solo-only game with a bit more gameplay and push your luck to it but it is quite similar.
Urbion (Second Edition) Review
Positives
A fun challenging puzzle, the kind of game I like to play solo.
Playable in 2-player helps you to get the most out of your purchase.
The second edition comes with 7 expansions apparently. No idea what they do but more game is good, right?
With practice and patience, you will win more often than not…
Negatives
…but often I feel the initial shuffle of the deck has determined the outcome, especially when you’re new to the game.
Summary
A fun solo experience I hope I get to try with 2-players, and also give some of the 7 expansions a try too.
Jesta ThaRogue
