Dávid Turczi and Simone Luciani’s newest game, Nucleum, will be heading into retail with the help of Board & Dice in November 2023, making it possible for all of us heavyweight eurogame fans to snag a copy and plunge into yet another of the duo’s designs.
Both designers are household names in the community, with Luciani having worked on games such as Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar and Barrage, and Turczi touted as one of the most capable designers, and author of Imperium: Classics, Tawantinsuyu: The Inca empire, and notably, Anachrony.
The new game looks like a mix of Barrage and Brass: Birmingham, with the title fit for 1-4 players and playing in 60-150 minutes. Suitable for ages 14+, the game has already received a 3.92/5 complexity rating on BoardGameGeek, meaning that whoever wants to play this, needs to be familiar to tackle the gameplay and rules.
As to the game itself, the plot centers around Elsa Von Fruhlingfeld, who invented a nuclear reactor and presents it to King Frederik Augustus II of Saxony. The invention ushers the entirety of Saxony into an age of prosperity, powered by the device, but there are pitfalls, too.
To sustain the energy needs of the land, Saxony needs to build more Nucleums, the name of the engines, in order to power the factories. However, Uranium is needed to make this happen, and Saxony establishes trade routes with its neighboring Bohemia, which just so happens to be rich in the precious metal and is glad to trade and send it to its prosperous partner.
To make this process smooth, however, players need to develop networks, complete contracts, and meet milestones, along with randomized goals. Each of the four players participating in a full game will play as an entrepreneur who is also trying to make the most out of the Nucleum boom that has seized Saxony in the feverish zeal of progress.