Tangerine Games is ushering players into a thriving, competitive ecosystem with its new dice placement, area majority game, “Nestlings”. The Kickstarter campaign has rallied support from 339 backers, raising $22,844 of its $36,000 goal, with 30 days still left to go.
“Nestlings” offers players a chance to step into the shoes of diverse birds vying for priority across four distinct biomes: Savannah, Alpine, Freshwater, and Desert. The gameplay is a blend of strategy, chance, and timing, as players roll their biome dice and place them to gain the upper hand in each biome.
The game begins with each player rolling their biome dice and then placing them in their chosen biomes, one at a time, alternating in clockwise order. The first player to place dice in a particular biome gains priority, which provides the benefit of first choice of a desirable resource and the option to discard a resource to hinder opponents’ strategies. Yet, priority can quickly change hands if another player places more dice in that biome.
Once the priority order is established, players claim resources to nourish their Nestlings and acquire the corresponding segment for their Resource Ring on their player board. After resolving all the biomes, including the wild grasslands biome at the center of the board, players score points based on the number of Nestlings they’ve fed and how many segments are in their Resource Ring, irrespective of the round they were assigned.
As “Nestlings” evolves over four rounds, players are faced with critical decisions that could lead to either victory or defeat. Whether choosing to feed their Nestlings for immediate points, picking a different resource to complete their Resource Ring, triggering powerful chain reactions, or saving in-game currency for victory points, every decision counts.
After the fourth round, players unveil their end-game Nest Goals and calculate their final victory points, culminating in a thrilling reveal of the ultimate victor.
“Nestlings” is shaping up to be an engaging strategy game, full of unexpected twists and strategic decision-making, with the Kickstarter campaign running until July 22.