R&R Games ULM, Family Board Game, Strategy Game for Teens and Adults, Board Games for Family Night

Ulm really is such a great hidden gem of a game. There is no singular way to win, there are many different options you can take to score points, although you definitely need to do at least a little of everything. The pieces are good quality (aside from the cathedral, which did not want to stay together at times, though you don't really use it during game play), and the box and board are just so aesthetically pleasing. It's absolutely one of my favorite medium weight games. It is also very fast to play once you learn what the cards and buildings do. Everyone gets one turn per round, so you have to be sure to make every turn count, but there is little to no downtime, which is great. The one con I do feel the need to mention is that starter player does not change the ENTIRE game. I don't think it's a huge advantage or disadvantage to go first or last, since you're continuously changing what actions are available, however it does matter for the placement of seals and moving up the canal, so I do recommend that you rotate starter player every round, although there is nothing about this in the rules. Regardless, I would highly recommend this game for 3-4 players!I will say that I have read other reviews that claim this game is yet another dry, boring theme-less euro, but I found that was not the case! Don't let naysayers steer you away from this game, because it does have a truly unique mechanism for taking actions that make the game really fun to play, and it also has a good amount of variability for replay value. It feels like Bruges and Hansa Teutonica had a baby. If I had to compare cathedral euro games, I would say this one is far better than Pillars of the Earth, which actually does feel like you're playing the same game over and over.

Ulm is a surprisingly good mid-weight Euro-game that seems to have snuck under the radar. And this despite having several of the typical "sins" of your average Euro-game: pasted on theme, mechanics (sometimes well designed) looking for a purpose, etc. But despite that, Ulm works for me.Ulm has a very clever token/action selection mechanism using a 3x3 checkerboard. At the beginning of your turn, you will pull an action tile out of a bag (with individual actions symbols on the tiles themselves) and then you push a tile into 3x3 square (by column), pushing out one to the edge. The three tiles left form the three actions you are allowed to do for the turn. There are ways to change the tile you push in and hence try to 'plan out' your actions, but that still leaves the player with a lot of hard choices!The action tiles allow you to draw money (needed to place control/action tokens on the game board), or draw cards (which give you special powers or ways to get VPs through set collection), move your boats along the Danube River (which can give you positive or negative VPs at the end of the game depending on how far down the river you are), pull tiles off the edge of the 3x3 grid (which are a form of currency to buy cards), or interact with the game board itself. The game board is divided into several quarters that players can either place tokens on to give themselves (one time) special powers, or actually take control for VPs at the end of the game.The game cards also have a clever mechanic. Each card is divided into two possible powers. The top power gives an instant ability and/or way to score a small amount of instant VPs, but the card MUST be discarded to get this power. The lower power gives the player away to score more VPs at endgame (usually through 'set collection'), but many of these cards only give VPs as part of a set or special condition. Such cards MUST be played in front of player, committing the card and it's VPs to a set or condition (of the lower half of the card) you may or may not get!! You also will forever lose the upper power! Cards are kept hidden in a hand, but cards that are still in your hand at the end of the game are WORTHLESS. Only those card played for instant VPs/abilities and or committed to endgame scoring count.For such a 'small game,' there is ALOT to do in Ulm.The 3x3 action selection mechanic and double card powers obviously can create ALOT of AP, and makes Ulm feel VERY tight, as you will only get 30 actions the entire game! Some players will love the hard and tough choices your forced to make, others will feel constricted and even stressed out.

Ulm is a solid board game, it doesn't do anything unique or introduce any outstanding or amazing concepts to the boardgaming world but instead brings forward a highly polished euro experience. The mechanics are incredibly tight with little to no fiddly bits, the gameplay is interesting and dynamic with enough randomness to keep the game interesting but not enough to take away from the player's contributions.

This game is complicated but fun. There are many parts that take some time to learn at first. But all the different parts make the game challenging and different every time you play.

Nice euro. Terrific action selection mechanism. We reduce the complexity by also requiring the row/column selected has to be done in order of the direction selected. This doesn't change the game much. But the game is fine with this, also. Keeper.

Great game. Great mechanics, artwork and bits. Will hit the table often.