Pampero Preview

Pampero from Ape Games and Julian Pombo has players attempting to solve Uruguay's fossil fuels reliance by using wind energy. Each player has an identical set of 8 cards that they'll play to their tableaus. These cards can vary in powers from building wind farms, electric towers, and completing contracts. Cards are placed in the leftmost spot of their player boards on either the top or bottom rows. These correspond to sections on the main board. The winning conditions are simple in Pampero. Simply have the most money at the end of the game.

At first glance, this game looks like a lot. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of game here but it's actually very simple. If you want to build, there needs to be a bulldozer at the spot you want to build on. It can be yours or your opponents and you'll pay them instead of the bank. Building an electrical tower will give you bonuses as well and unlock more of your player board. You need to build these to be successful in Pampero. If you want to complete contracts, you pay the energy cost as long as you have it and place a transformer from your board to its place. These will also unlock bonuses for you along the way such as increasing your income in one of the areas. You can also add new, more powerful cards to your hand from various actions in order to be more efficient.

After you have completed 3 actions or passed, you do the consolidation phase. Here you'll collect income, take a card back to your hand and advance on the timeline. Rounds are as simple as that. There are breaks in between certain rounds where players will collect more income depending on where they rank in certain areas.

If I'm being honest, my biggest complaint with the game is that it's huge. The map itself feels like it's the size of Uruguay. Because I was playing a prototype I'm not going to harp on it too much because it's all subject to change.

I've heard comparisons of Pampero to Lacerda games. I've never played any Lacerda games but it's important to maximize everything in your turns. You never want to have to pass unless you absolutely need to. Each of your three actions are important to increasing your income and footprint on the landscape. I really enjoyed my time with Pampero and I'll be looking forward to the full production copy when it's available in the future.

Thanks to Ape Games for letting me take a look at the prototype.