How to play “Kuhfstein” by Rita Modl

Hanover. Flowering meadows, dense forests, picturesque lakes and more: these are the landscapes that make up Kuhfstein. You put together your playing field in “Kuhfstein” using the appropriate landscape tiles, because the game by Upper Bavarian author Rita Modl is a tile-laying game that serves several trends at once.

Firstly, there is the trend of tile-laying games as such. They are currently very popular because building landscapes always creates a satisfying feeling of productivity. Then there is the nature theme: the scene is increasingly moving away from the long-dominated historical themes that were often post-colonial in nature and are therefore considered difficult today. And finally, “Kuhfstein” adds another level with the aforementioned cows, which makes the simple laying of tiles more difficult and adds a dimension.

Public disappointment

In previous years, two such titles, “Cascadia” and “Dorfromantik”, were awarded the most important industry prize, the title “Game of the Year”. Modl also publicly expressed her disappointment that her creation was not even considered by the critics’ jury this year.

“Kuhfstein” initially moved along familiar paths. When it is your turn, you carry out two of four possible actions in any order and combination. The first is to take a tile from the open display and puzzle it into your own landscape. Alternatively, you take an order card that states which tiles in which form are ideally laid out in your own area.

If these requirements are met, the third possible action is to play the appropriate card, evaluate it and place cows on the indicated fields. And since these are rare and block tiles for further actions, the fourth action is to take back a whole herd of cows standing horizontally and vertically next to each other. And whoever has arranged four identical or four different landscapes in a square can plant a tree that is worth points. The winner is the first person to reach the 65-point target.

Thematic lightness meets cumbersome mental games. When selecting the task cards, players who tend to think about things are at risk of the dreaded analysis paralysis. Thinking about what can potentially be evaluated in the following moves repeatedly slows down the flow of the game. “Kuhfstein” looks very idyllic. But it doesn’t play like that.

Info: Kuhfstein, ages 8 and up, for 2 to 4 players, playing time about 45 minutes, Schmidt Spiele Verlag, around 29 euros.

HAZ