Matthew BaileyGame 7 of our “Halloween Half-term Spooktacular” is…
“Glastonbury,” played by myself, Jack (.8.), and Toby (5).
“Glastonbury” is a set collection game with a rather interesting backstory. Back in 2002, a two-player game called “Kupferkessel,” which roughly translates as “Copper Kettle,” was released and received a nomination for that year’s “Spiel des Jahres.”
The game went out of print and was reimagined in 2013 as “Glastonbury” (also known as “Amalgamn” in some other countries), with a few slight changes that allowed for up to four players. Curiously, there doesn’t appear to be any clear connection to the town of Glastonbury in England, and the reason behind the name remains elusive.
The game went out of print once more and has recently resurfaced as “Glass and Bree” with new artwork, but only in South Korea. So, what we have here is the South Korean version of “Glastonbury,” and it has been quite a hit.
To play “Glastonbury,” you shuffle all the cards and create a 6×6 grid with the corner cards placed at the corners, with the arrows indicating a clockwise direction. Each player starts with a cauldron card with a value of two. On your turn, you move the value of the top card in your deck and must then select a card from either the row or column where you land.
The goal of the game is to collect sets of cards, with four of each card available, each worth one, two, three, and four respectively. The game’s mechanics ensure that all the cards will appear on the board over the course of the game.
The real challenge comes from knowing that the top card in your deck (which you’re allowed to look through unless you pick up a special ability card) determines the distance you can move on your next turn. This introduces an intriguing decision-making aspect to your choices. Do you go for the card that’s ideal for your set collection or one that sets you up perfectly for your next move?
If you land on a corner, you can’t take a card. This means that cards on the outer edges are slightly more challenging to obtain compared to the middle 16 cards.
Additionally, there are special ability cards that let you:
- Move again if you land in a corner
- Take a card from anywhere, not just your row or column
- Discard the top card of everyone’s deck
- Look through your deck to remind yourself of your cards
The game continues until at least one row or column is empty, at which point it’s time to tally up scores. The points you receive for your sets depend on how many cards you have:
- 1: You actually lose points
- 2: You gain nothing
- 3: You gain the value of your cards
- 4: You gain the value of your cards plus five, for a total of 15
If you collect cards that match the colour of your paw, you receive the value of those cards, regardless of how many you have.
Initially, this game seemed relatively simple, but as we played, we discovered the captivating decision-making involved in each turn. All of us quickly became engrossed in the game, and it’s one of the few from our half-term marathon that we played on a regular day of the week, having enjoyed it three times already this week.
The component quality is quite decent, although the wooden pawns are a bit basic and uninspired. However, the artwork is lovely and, in my opinion, an improvement over the 2013 version.
You can certainly play this with a relatively young child, as long as they understand simple numbers. A four-year-old could pick this up quite happily.
I have to say that I highly recommend “Glastonbury.” Unfortunately, it’s somewhat challenging to import from South Korea.
I tried to explore options for importing it from a Korean website, but South Korea does not appear to be a country that typically ships to other countries. They also tend to use a payment system called Naver, which may be challenging for those outside Korea to navigate. However, I did find that Travel Games had some in stock when I last checked.
In summary, “Glastonbury” is an excellent game that I wholeheartedly recommend.
