Lacuna is an abstract strategy game for two players that sees you aiming to collect flowers to have the majority in the most flowers at the end of the game.
And it’s one of those games that literally takes seconds to teach. On your turn, place a pawn between 2 matching flowers that you can draw an invisible line between, then take those two flowers. After both players have placed all their pawns, the second part of the game begins whoevers pawn is closest to each flower claims that flower. The player with the majority in the most flowers wins.
And that dear readers is it, you can literally explain that in seconds. Lacuna is often described as cosy by those influences and reviewers out there in the wild, but I’m not sure I’d ever describe a game as cosy. But if I need to stay with the trends, Lacuna is cosy in every sense (of whatever cosy is).
Scratch deeper, though, and Lacuna might seem on the face of it to be a fairly light-hearted strategy game that takes minutes to play, wrapped around great production values and theme. And if you scratch much deeper, I think you’re going to struggle to find much else. There’s an imbalance here that’s recognised by the designers in that the second player is statistically more likely to win, given that the first player gets an additional flower at the start of the game. It doesn’t feel like enough. The player who goes second has won all of our games so far.
Now you could say, “But Aaron, you’ve only played the game 9 times, and you need to play more to truly reveal the strategy.” I would say, if a game of this weight is hiding a deeper strategy, then I’m not sure it should be hidden behind so many repeated plays. The second player has such a great advantage in being able to respond to the other player and potentially determining the final board state that you want to go second.
However, that doesn’t mean that Lacuna isn’t rewarding. It is, it’s one of those games that has stayed sat on our dining room table since Saturday evening (when I got home at 10pm) and it’s still there the following Sunday. It’s taken the role in our evening routine to play a game or two in the fading sunlight. Okay, maybe that is what Cosy is? The fading autumnal sun streaming through and across our game is somehow warming, but it doesn’t make for very good pictures!
And I guess that’s what Lacuna is. It’s a game not to take seriously. It’s a game that can be played with gamers and family members alike. However, if you want a new abstract strategy game that is perfectly balanced, then Lacuna isn’t it. Santorini or some of the project GIPF series. However, my biggest issue isn’t the imbalance or my fear of Lacuna not standing the test of time, although 9 plays already for £20 is by no means a bad thing. It’s the packaging. We board gamers or me Aaron, the board gamer has limited space and shelves for storing board games, and Lacuna comes in this oversized tube. Yes, it gives Lacuna a great shelf presence in the shop and might look good in some living rooms intertwined with other decorations. But as a functional board game box, it’s irritating, and I literally don’t want to keep it because of that. However, it’s a game that will likely get more plays because if it’s simplicity.
As you know, I rate games on a scale of:
Buy or play
Wait for sale or play if you like game XYZ
Avoid
And Lacuna is a tough one to rate. it’s not an avoid by any means unless you only like balanced abstract strategy games. But equally, it’s not a must buy. It could be a play, however, due to that imbalance and I think it doesn’t have the legs for mass repeated plays compared to say Santorini it’s probably a Wait for Sale or Play if you like Hive, Photosynthesis, Blokus or even Santorini. But that comes with a warning of Lacuna isn’t perfectly balanced which even the designers recognise, and if you’re okay with that. Then Lacuna is worth checking out.
