Designed by: Phil Walker-Harding
Silver and Gold is a flip-and-write game, inspired by the roll-and-write style where all players work on their own individual board or pad, making their own decisions about how to use available resources.
Here the theme is almost irrelevant: your goal is to fill up as many island cards as you can be crossing off each section according to a deck of expedition cards: each one shows a tetronimo shape, and these are revealed one by one. You begin with two such island cards, and as soon as one is filled you take take another from the available display: each island card shows the points it’s worth at the end of the game (unfinished islands score nothing). But of course it’s not quite as simple as that. Most of the islands also have icons that give bonuses when crossed off: coins will score a point by themselves, and every set of four coins your score triggers a bonus – the sooner you do it, the bigger the bonus will be. Palm trees also score a single point when crossed off, but they also score an additional point for every palm tree in the display at that point in time. ‘X’s allow you to cross off a single square in any of your islands, and what at first glance might seem an underwhelming reward turns out to be often pivotal in who wins!
Finally some islands have seals that will reward bonus points for other types of islands. At the end of the round (when all but one of the expedition cards have been revealed) the expedition cards are reshuffled to start again, and at the end of the fourth round, the player with the most points wins.
Silver and Gold is a decent game in a nice little package. It doesn't do anything especially new or clever, and if you're looking at it because of the treasure hunting theme I'd suggest looking elsewhere - but if you like slotting tetris-like shapes into nooks and crannies, with a spot of the chaining combo satisfaction of Ganz Schon Clever, you could do a lot worse.
None, except the chance someone gets to take an island, or coin reward, or nab the win (!) before you do.
Very low.
Low - there are decisions here, but nothing agonising - or even mildly painful.
If you like roll-and-write style games then there's a decent aount of variability here - the expedition cards and islands can't be predicted, and the island cards are all different shapes and sizes.
2-4
Players
8+
Years
15-30
Mins
Sam says
Silver and Gold doesn't do anything new with the genre of games generally or flip and writes specifically, but Phil Walker-Harding is a very good designer, and like every game of his I've played - Barenpark, Gingerbread House, Imhotep - he places the idea of play front and centre: interesting, dynamic decisions; and in this case in a very small and replayable package. They may not have 'Unique Selling Point' in neon letters, but they're always good value, and Silver and Gold is no exception.