Coloma

An American West Gold Rush euro: prospect, hire workers and horses, and outwit rivals with secretly chosen actions.

Designer: Jonny Pac
Published by: Final Frontier Games
Editions by: Super Meeple, TCG Factory, Taverna Ludica Games

Coloma (2019) takes you to the California Gold Rush of 1848, in the boomtown where a sawmill worker first spotted nuggets in the river. You are a pioneer who has just arrived out West to strike it rich. You prospect for gold, then use the windfall to hire workers, rustle up horses and set up businesses, and you explore the surrounding riverways and frontier lands too. But everyone else wants the same ground, so you're also fighting for it. Actions are picked in secret and revealed together, and a rondel plus hand management shape each round. It's a meaty euro with a lot of tension between players, best at four or five, for around 90 minutes. Solo is possible.

Gold Rush boomtown of 1848Secret simultaneous action selectionRondel, worker placement, hand management

Who it's for

You like heavier euros with cards, secret picks and a historical setting, and you play with a group that enjoys the tension.

Not for you if…

You want something light or easy to set up. This is a heavy, long, interactive euro.

Vibe's take

Meaty and tense. You commit to your action in secret, sweat through the reveal and feel the pressure of too many good options.