Haspelknecht
The sub-title is " The Story of Early Coal Mining" and this is the theme of the game. Not just any early coal mining, but 16th century coal mining in Germany's Ruhr. However, players are actually farmers who find coal seams coming to the surface on their land. The challenge facing them is exploiting this new resource while continuing to run their farm.
Initially, players can collect the surface coal, but when this runs out they must start digging deeper to get more. To do this, they must first develop the technology that will let them do this (the 'technology tree' can be different each time you play). And then they must cope with the water seeping in to their ever deeper mine. Not to mention continuing to pay food to the lord of the manor.
While this is a complex game, players' options each turn are limited by the workers they have available, their resources and money. They may even hire specialist coal miners – including the eponymous Haspelknecht, whose job is hauling the baskets of coal (or buckets of water) to the surface. Players have hard decisions to make, but can pursue very different routes to winning the game – maybe you don't need to mine coal at all!
The game's story continues in The Ruhr as the Industrial Revolution kicks off, with the coal trade at its centre.
For 2-4 players, aged 12+, playing time 60-90 minutes: £38.00 (£31.67 without tax outside the UK)
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