Cyclades: Release the Kraken, Then Watch Your Table Turn on Whoever's Winning

Bid on a god, get first pick of the action that turn, watch someone else outbid you and take Ares right before you needed him, that’s the rhythm of Cyclades and it’s a genuinely clever hook. Different armies have different colored sculpts per player, and once you unlock a monster card you get to actually deploy a Kraken or a Medusa figure onto the board, which is the kind of thing that makes a table go quiet for a second the first time it happens.

I’ve heard people call this Eurotrash before, half euro auction economy, half Ameritrash conflict and take-that, and that’s about right, it borrows the best of both without fully committing to either. Box is a little over produced honestly, bigger than it needs to be for what’s inside, but the different sculpts for each of the five factions are genuinely nice and I’ve had the paints out for mine twice now, still haven’t finished, they’re sitting half done on my desk as we speak.

The real issue is the same one I’ve seen echoed by plenty of other people, kingmaking. Once you’re clearly behind in a five player game, your best move stops being trying to win and starts being deciding who else loses, and that’s a rough spot to be in for the last hour of a three hour session. Our five player game ran past three hours more than once, bidding wars dragging out longer than the actual conquest did. Two player plays tighter and faster and honestly might be the better version of this game, even though it’s clearly built and marketed around the full five.

Beautiful to look at, genuinely tense in the moment, just know what you’re signing up for once the table gets past four players and someone starts falling behind early.