Nautilion Board Game - Dice-Rolling & Set Collection Strategy Game from the Oniverse, Family Game for Kids & Adults, Ages 10+, 1-2 Players, 30 Minute Playtime, Made by Z-Man Games

I thought this would be my least favorite in the Onirim series because of the dice aspect. Lots of ways to strategically mitigate dice rolls and work your way through the game. Lots of fun, not a giant footprint and plays quickly.I've only tried a few of the multiple expansions that come in-box. But they were fun and this game can be very simple or made into a mind bender if you add everything in.

This is a great little Solitaire game. I haven't played with another player, but the box states it can be played with two. It's a type of roll-and-move game with some fun twists.GamplayEach turn you roll three dice. You will assign one to your pawn, one to the advancing 'enemy' pawn, and one to an inactive character. If you assign a three or four to the inactive character, you lose tokens. Tokens are used to help you in various ways. The other dice determine how many spaces you and the enemy advance on the track.As you advance, you collect the tile on which you landed. Collect nine unique tiles to win. Tiles on which the enemy lands are removed from the game.There are a few other simple rules, but the overall goal is to make it to the finish with all nine unique tiles before the enemy reaches their finish line.I recommend that you pick it up if you find it at a fair price and you enjoy solo play.

INTRO: Nautilion is the 5th and newest game in Shadi Torbey's Oniverse series. Nautilion uses an age old game mechanic (roll and move) to achieve an interesting solo experience, but does so in such a way that is very fresh and unique. A game plays in around 15-20 minutes or so (unless you're agonizing over decisions). In typical Torbey fashion, there are numerous expansions that the player can ease into at his/her own leisure :)SETUP: Depending on which (if any) expansions you're playing with, the setup can vary. It's not hard, but is a little tedious (lots of little tokens and pieces). I recommend playing with at least a few expansions, to make things interesting and challenging. You can set all the pieces up as you desire, in a spiral, straight line, w-shape, etc, just so long as your starting tile and the enemy's starting tile are on opposite ends of the tile path. So you can get a little creative there. Obviously the more expansions you use (I believe there are 5), the more tokens/cards you need to use. But overall the setup is not hard. Be sure to grab the dice and even the figurine, whether you're using it or not...it looks and feels cool x)4/5GAMEPLAY: Each turn, you will roll the 3 dice, and then decide if you wish to use any of your 3 "grimoire spells" to manipulate dice or tokens/tiles. After that, you will then allocate the 3 dice - 1 to the "Darkhouse," 1 to the Phantom Ship, and 1 to the Nautilion Submarine (your ship). And you must assign them in that order. The dice are numbered 1-4, with extra 2's and 3's. Generally, a 1 or a 2 is good for the Darkhouse and Phantom Ship (you don't want them to get high numbers), and it varies for you, the Nautilion...depending on which tile you're trying to acquire. However, you need to make sure you reach the starting tile of the Phantom before it reaches the starting tile of the Nautilion. All the while, you are trying to acquire the "crew" made up of numbered (and lettered, in expansions) tiles 1-9 (and A-C), and you must place them in certain orders and patterns, depending which sub you are using (there are around 7, I think, different subs you can use). Since there are only 4 of each number, and 3 of each letter, you have to plan carefully.Some of the expansions also let the Darkhouse have different abilities (numerous cards), and one of the expansions has Spear tokens you need, in which you will have to duel roughly halfway through the tile path with the Phantom Ship. If you lose that duel, the game is over immediately. I haven't played with this expansion yet, as I didn't initially like the idea of not being able to play until the end.Another expansion (the Reef) adds extra bonuses to every 3rd tile. There is also a "Heroic" expansion, in which you need to fulfill a set number of cards before game end.So...there are a number of ways to lose, and only one way to win - depending on which and how many expansions you are playing with.4/5QUALITY & ART: The art is still the unique Oniverse styled art, so you either love it or hate it. I personally enjoy it and think it works really well. But the components...man - excellent quality. Definitely your money's worth there. The game should last and last, no matter how much you play it. And the box, in typical Oniverse fashion, is high quality, with the cool inserts as you open it up. Rules are straightforward, organized, and pretty clear, and each expansion is introduced systematically (also in typical Torbey fashion).5/5FINAL THOUGHTS: So I rated Nautilion a 4, but it's really a high 4. Could easily be a 5, I suppose, although I wasn't enamored with the game. That being said, I'm not sure the staying power of this one, as even with expansions, it might start to get repetitive. I mean, the different Darkhouse cards and/or Heroic cards (if used), and even the 7 different Nautilion submarines, will make it a different game, but you're essentially doing the same thing every game. I don't know. Maybe that's true for most games. So take this with a grain of salt.As a solo experience, this is definitely a good game, but I hesitate to say great. Maybe a few more plays will help me change that opinion x)

Awesome little game. Easy to learn, difficult to master. Several levels of increasing difficulty. Colorful and fun story and pieces. This entire series is great. My personal favorite is Aeruon, flowed by Nautillion. But, they are ALL great!

All the Oniverse games are good. You cannot beat the price for solo games when you consider each one has a few expansions so you can mix them up. As time passes it seems the designers are addressing the needs of solo players more and more so that is good. Torbey did that right from the beginning. I wonder if he is going to do another one? My favorite that I always go back to is Onirim but they are all good. I think it is the one that is most like playing regular solitaire with cards. If you don't have people to play with, get the Oniverse games.

Great solo game that lets you adjust the difficulty level in multiple ways. You can play a few games on the easiest level to learn the basics of the game, then switch up the playing board for more of a challenge. The game also comes with five expansions you can also use to adjust gameplay and difficulty so you don't get bored with it too soon. You can mix and match the expansions for a wide variety gameplay.There is also a two player mode, but I haven't tried it.

Fun game and quick to learn.

Solitaire games are often killer tough or 'play to beat your prior best score'. This one is a killer but with so many variants in the box that you can make it just about as tough or easy as you need to. That's good. But is it interesting? Well, it can be tense, like a good race, and that's good. The theme, cute but thin, provides some cohesion but only a little flavor. The game is short and that is important. I guess that in the one player field, where nothing makes me giggle and jump, this one gets a B+ grade. It comes out more than most. I'm glad I bought it.