Creature Caravan – Charming euro wonkyness

Gameplay

On first glance Creature Caravan looks like a game with a huge focus on movement, but this is not necessarily the case. With loads of unique cards there are also multiple ways to score points, and whilst movement is one of the big pillars, there is a lot more to consider (or ignore).

You start your adventure with a handful of cards, a player board with basic actions, barely any resources and some pleasing looking dice. Each of the 12 rounds you roll those dice and trigger your actions. And whilst there is some mild mitigation for abysmal dice rolls, I would not count on the fact that you will draw the cards you need for this. Like similar games with unique-ish cards, Creature Caravan is a game where you need to draw a lot of cards (or need to have some luck) when you are set for following a certain plan.

If you are flexible and try out different things, it is most of the time very rewarding and just plain fun.

You can focus on cards that give points, trading resources, fighting zombies or traversing the map. To win, you need to do at least some of these things a little bit and lean heavily into something, or just be a jack of all trades and do all of them solidly. I never go with a plan into a game, and see what cards I get and try out stuff, and most of the time it works out quite well.

The interaction between players is very limited. There are some race elements on the shared side-boards, which is more an issue with more players and a similar focus. You can trade cards, which is quite nice if you have a fluffy group, but this does not work when the game is played very heads down.

Thoughts

There is so much I love about this game, but mostly the aforementioned need and possibility to change your focus and plans during the game, and the challenges that it provides. The appearance is great, it has a really nice tension and the mechanics itself flow very smoothly.

A very heads down game, which I seldom enjoy – but it keeps you on your toes and pushes you to change your plans constantly instead of being an optimization puzzle.

It is a very heads down and kind of disconnected game, which is usually not something I tend to enjoy, but this game just clicks for me. Probably because of the Ryan Laukat magic in combining euro mechanisms with some wonkyness (and I am here for it).

Appearance

The game is set in Arzium, where most of Designer Ryan Laukat’s games take place. Zombies are swarming from the mountains, and you have a caravan (full of creatures, obviously) and are trying to reach Eastrey to get to safety. The theme is not in the foreground of the game for me, but the artwork brings this world to life anyways. It is whimsical and cute, whilst having loads of character, which I truly enjoy. As for all Red Raven Games (that I played), there is a diverse and charming set of characters

The components are great, but I do own the deluxe edition, so as far as I know the retail version comes with cardboard tokes instead of wooden components. The player colors really are beautiful, which is not something I notice that often, but in this case they all are great and okay-ish distinct.

Accessibility

I found the rules pretty easy to follow and well put together, but the unique cards and the missing clear-cut strategy play a part in this having a pretty steep learning curve. It also makes the gap between players quite significant if they have a difference in experience, and it is kind of difficult to give new players advice and pointers.

The setup is quite easy. You have a handful of resources, some player boards and tracks and a lot of shuffling of a single deck. Our plays are very consistent between 60 and 90 minutes, but mostly in a 2 or 3 player setting with everyone knowing the game. Our first game (4 players) took us close to 2.5 hours with reading the rules and setting up.

Creature Caravan provides plenty of depth, and a combination of both strategy and tactical decisions in how to react to the cards you (don’t) draw. I find myself trying out new stuff quite often, without tending to have a clear strategy in mind before.

Considerations

As mentioned in my thoughts there are definitely some aspects to consider. Whilst there is a very wide range of possible players, more players can for sure make this game take longer, both in actual duration, but mostly how it feels for you. Because you play simultaneously, you then have to wait until everyone has finished their turn. Especially when you have a pretty mediocre turn and are hoping for things to get better, the wait feels pretty bad. This can be mitigated when you just openly talk about what everyone is focusing on and maybe even play with the trading option, but I can see this being a drag for the game.

I think this especially has to be considered, if you play the game often with changing groups, and can teach the game to new people.

Creature Caravan was released 2024 and is widely available. The price point is around 50 euros, and used games seem not to be significantly cheaper, but they are pretty available.