WBG Score: 8
Player Count: 1-4
Published by: Devir
Designed by: Ariel Di Costanzo, Javier Pelizzari
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here
Pick-up-and-deliver games often suffer from a poor reputation, likely due to the simplistic and luck-driven mechanics many of us encountered in our childhood games. These early examples typically followed a basic formula: roll the dice, move, do something, and repeat. This repetitive pattern, heavily reliant on chance, quickly lost its appeal.
However, in today's world of innovative game design, the potential for a sophisticated pick-up-and-deliver game is much greater. Indeed, some modern games, such as Clank! and Pandemic, incorporate this mechanic alongside others, demonstrating its versatility. Venice, in particular, stands out as a strong example of a game that primarily relies on the pick-up-and-deliver mechanic, showing that it can still be engaging.
Despite these examples, no game has truly revolutionised the pick-up-and-deliver mechanic or achieved significant acclaim solely on that basis. Could Sand be the game to change that? Let's bring it to the table and see how it performs.
How To Set Up Sand
First, place the game board within reach of all players. Then separate the Mission cards by day and shuffle each deck. For four players, return the last workday deck to the box. Take as many cards as the number of players plus one from each deck, then stack these cards from last workday to first. Now reveal the first workday cards and arrange them numerically from highest to lowest value to the right of the deck. Then place the four Specialisation Seals on the game board.
Next, set aside four white cubes and each player takes one. Do the same with the black, red, blue, and grey cubes. These are your indicator cubes used on your player mat. Put the remaining 20 cubes that match the plant colours (blue, red, white, and black) in the bag and leave the rest of the pastel coloured cubes next to the game board as a common reserve.
Now draw cubes, called 'Boxes' from the bag randomly, and place one in each space of the cities. Then separate the Camp tiles by colour. Place the blue tiles closest to the sea face up, and the grey ones closest to the mountains. On each tile, place two Minor Tribe tokens (value one on the bottom and value two on top). Now set up the dice stand near the board, place the dice next to it, and keep the money within reach of the players. For your first game you will need to build this.
Each player now chooses a colour to play as and takes their player board, and a helper card and pieces in their colour. Place your Desert Worm in the port space of the main board and your track indicator cubes on to your player mat. The: blue on 15 space of the Hydration Track, red on 15 of the Food Track, and grey on 10 of the Health Track. The maximum spots. Then place your white and black cubes on the 0 space of the Prayer and Prestige Tracks. Each player also takes five coins of value one and places it onto their mat.
Now place your four Action tokens face down in your Action Pool and cover the first space of your Actions Used section with the Action Section Blocked tile. Place your Shelter and six Song tokens in their corresponding spaces on your player mat. Place Companion tiles face down in the designated spaces on the right of the mat and place the Worm tile in its space, showing the basic side.
Next, randomly place Turn markers on the game board. Players going second, third, or fourth get the indicated Prestige reward on their mats. Now shuffle and place a number of Desert Traveller tiles equal to the number of players plus one on the table. In reverse turn order, each player picks one tile and places it on their player board, showing the ability. Return the rest to the box. If you prefer you can place these the reverse side to remove any asymmetric powers, or create a more simple game. The first player now rolls the dice (rerolling all once if desired), and places them on the dice stand, and takes the first turn.
How To Play Sand
Players will now take turns moving their action tokens down to the spaces below to show which actions they want to take. This is the only tricky part about teaching the game, but once players get it, the rest will flow nicely. The rulebook does not do a great job for this part, so I recommend just reading the below! Hopefully it makes more sense.
At the start of the game, all players have the opportunity to take three actions for each phase of the game. There are a number of rounds, tracked by the Mission cards, and three phases in each round: Morning, Day, and Night. In each phase, you can carry out all your available actions one at a time, in turn order.
For example, if you have three actions, you will take them one at a time in order, then move the tracker to Day, do the same, then to Night, and repeat one final time. This totals nine actions throughout the day/round. The round will then end, an upkeep phase will occur, and you will continue until the Mission cards run out, at which point final scoring will take place.
Once all players have chosen which actions they want to take by moving the action tokens down to cover the spaces below, players take turns doing one action, moving one action token back up until all players have exhausted all available actions.
The action tokens relate to the dice. So if the blue die is a five, the blue action token gives you an action with the power of five. Actions relate to the dice colour, number, both, or neither. It depends on the action. Here are the main actions:
Move - This action can use any colour die; the number is key. Based on the current level of your worm, your worm card will show you how many pips on a die and resources you need to move through the three pathways available to you. Simply choose where you want to move, pay the associated cost, and move one space. At the start, movement will cost four or six pips. Any colour die works—just move an action token for a die with at least that many pips. You can use coins or prayer points to supplement any missing pips. If you are short, you cannot move.
Load Plants - When you are in a space with unclaimed plants, you can simply pick them up in exchange for any action token that matches the colour of the plant. The plant is then added to your player board, filling one of the spaces where the action token just moved from. This will limit your number of available actions until you drop off this good. Timing here is crucial.
Deliver Goods - When you're in a space with a matching coloured good in the top left or bottom right to any good you currently hold in an action space, you can deliver that good. This part is where the fun really kicks in! Strap in!
First, take the good you're delivering and check if it matches the colour in the top left or bottom right. If it's in the top left, you'll score maximum points for this item, as shown on the bottom indicator on your player mat—the plus green symbol score. For a basic good, that's three coins. If it's on the bottom right, you'll score the lower reward—one coin for a basic good. Take the coins and add them to your board. If you're delivering two goods that match an area item shown in the top left, you'll get a bonus reward—one of the six special goods shown. Take the indicated one in this case. If both colors are on the bottom right, you can take one of the top available tribe tokens. This will be used for end-game scoring. If you have any songs on the board (explained later), score one extra coin for each song token you have. Now, add all the goods you've delivered to the appropriate space on your player mat. As you place them, they'll cover symbols that will give you immediate rewards. This could be money, resources, the chance to upgrade your worm, or gain additional support from one of the four travellers you have with you. Finally, you'll also gain coins equal to your current position on the Prestige track, which then resets to zero.
Care for your Worm - After spending resources on your board, here's how you get them back. The blue Hydration links to the blue die, the red Food to the red die, and Health to the black and white dice. Simply move up the appropriate coloured action token and gain resources based on the current number of pips on that die. For Health, use both the white and black dice, taking the highest shown number, not both.
Pray - Use this resource to add pips to the dice as you use them. Add to it by using the white die.
Earn Prestige - This is used to gain extra money when you sell goods as explained above. Gain prestige from the black die.
Compose Songs - If you're on a space with a musical symbol on the top right, you can spend any die/action token to add one of your coloured song tokens to this space. If another player's token is there, you can displace it with your own. Then, when delivering goods, you'll gain an additional coin for each token on the board. At the end of the game, you'll score an additional three points for each token you have, if you have the most tokens.
The goal of the game is to move around the board, collecting resources, selling them at the most efficient spaces, and upgrading your Worm to do all this more efficiently. Upgrading your worm early to reduce travel costs is crucial, as is managing your resources wisely to avoid running low before you can replenish them. Timing is key—you'll want to collect goods you can deliver in the same day phase to maximize your actions. Holding onto goods means fewer actions available in the next phase, which can be a setback.
Once all players have taken their actions and completed all three day phases, they'll choose one of the available Missions to complete in turn order. They'll place their player token on their chosen Mission and either take the top resource, adding it immediately to their player board, or use the bottom end-game scoring mechanic on the card.
Players then return their tokens to the turn order tracker, starting with the token furthest right. New mission cards are dealt out, all goods spaces are replenished, the first player will reroll the dice for the next round, and play will continue.
In the final round, players will score coins for all completed missions, for having the most songs, and the player with the most tribe tokens will gain an additional 12 coins. During the game, delivering the same coloured good for a fourth time earns you the associated specialization seal. At the end of the game, you'll gain one coin for each good that matches the colour of any seal you possess. The player with the most coins wins.
Is It Fun? Sand Board Game Review
In the first few games, you might feel frustrated with limited resources, little money, and few options in the initial turns. However, as the game unfolds and you upgrade your abilities and strategies, you'll find yourself accomplishing more with less effort and generating more resources. With this knowledge in later games, you'll approach the early stages more strategically, accelerating your progress and enjoyment.
Initially, some players may find the game a bit underwhelming, despite its beautiful art and classic euro mechanics, especially if they start poorly and fall behind. However, subsequent plays are more engaging, balanced, and satisfying.
I'd encourage those who've had negative experiences with pick-up-and-deliver games to give this a try. It might just change your perspective on the mechanic, offering a delicate balance between resource management, engine building, and pick-up-and-deliver. The game's tight interconnections and strategic depth make every decision feel crucial, pushing you to maximize efficiency in every action.
Sand grips you from the start and leaves you eager for more. It's not just fun; it's about the satisfaction of mastering the game. Unlike many euros where you accept your level, Sand compels you to improve because success feels incredibly rewarding.