Golem
- Players
- 1-4
- Best withThe player count this game plays best at.
- 2 players
- Play timeHow long a full game runs once everyone knows the rules.
- 120 min
- AgeThe minimum age printed by the publisher.
- 14+
- ComplexityHow demanding the rules are, from 1 (very light) to 5 (very heavy).
- 4.0 / 5
- Year
- 2021
About the game
Golem is an engine-building game based on the 16th-century legend of the Golem of Prague, in which players take on the role of rabbis creating and growing powerful clay creatures to protect their people. Each of four rounds unfolds across seven phases, with players collecting colored marbles from a synagogue structure to work golems, obtain clay, craft artifacts, or perform spells and collect books. Advancing students on city district tracks is crucial to keeping increasingly powerful golems under control, since an unchecked golem can turn dangerous and destroy the neighborhood it wanders into. Players can also choose to bury their golems deliberately to gain bonuses. From the design team behind Grand Austria Hotel and Lorenzo il Magnifico, it's a rich action-selection engine-builder with real risk-and-reward tension.
Hobbli's Notes
Golem's central risk of an uncontrolled golem rampaging through Prague gives its engine-building a distinctive tension you don't often see in the genre. The Prague-themed artwork and production are gorgeous and help sell the legend at the table. It carries real complexity and a lot of interlocking systems to track, so it's not a quick teach. A great pick for fans of the designers' earlier hits looking for another deep, thematic engine-builder.
What we like
- Rich engine-building with a distinctive golem-control risk-reward tension.
- Gorgeous Prague-themed artwork and component design.
- Strong built-in solo mode for solitaire play.
- Deep worker-placement action selection with real strategic variety.
Keep in mind
- High complexity and lengthy rules for newcomers.
- Dense iconography that takes time to internalize.
- Long playtime relative to the payoff for casual players.
Who it's for
Best for experienced Euro-gamers aged 14+ who enjoy engine building and worker placement, playable solo or in groups of up to four.
