Stats:
No. of players: 3-5
Amount of time to play: 60-90 minutes
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Heavens of Olympus Rules Description:

The Heavens of Olympus is an abstract area control game with simultaneous action selection. You are an unknown god trying to win Zeus’s favor by lighting up the night sky. Gain the most prestige in five days and win!

Heavens of Olympus is broken up into five days. You score prestige points at the end of each day based on your planet placement and the number of planets you have lit. Days are also divided into three phases. You secretly choose one of four actions each phase. You may choose to: place new planets on your personal board, move planets from your personal board to the main board, pay to light your planets or swap the position of any two planets on the main board.

If you and another player choose the same action, you must pay a competition cost in power. This cost is based on the total number of players that choose that action. If you are unable to pay the costs associated with an action players can trade prestige for power.

When you place planets you gain power. Your planets are placed on a four ring orbit in three to five regions, depending on the number of players. If some your planets are not lit, you do not score the unlit ones. Your lit planets score you prestige points for having the most planets on an orbit, the most connected planets and one prestige point per region a player’s planets occupy. You may cash in your leftover power at a three to one ratio for prestige points. Lastly, two bonus prestige points are given to the player with the largest connected group of planets.

After the five days are over the player with the most prestige points has won Zeus’s favor and the game.

A Quick Review of Heavens of Olympus:

Heavens of Olympus is a fun, medium-weight, abstract board game. You need to manage your power, be mindful of your positioning and keep your planets lit.

While not overly complicated, you do have a lot of options and things to consider each turn. If you are playing with someone that suffers from analysis paralysis Heavens of Olympus might take a while.

The rules for this game are short but thick. You may have to read through them twice to be sure you understand everything. You might even want to play a couple sample rounds after the first read through and then revisit them. The art is pretty good but the theme is definitely pasted on. The components are middle of the road but none of them make the game unplayable.

My biggest complaint might be the box and insert tray. The board sits loosely in the box and none of the compartments of the insert seem to fit the components well. These things don’t take away from the game play which is solid.

The interaction and tension ramp up the further into the game you go. Empty spaces are filling up and someone is sure to take your best option.

Heavens of Olympus has familiar mechanics and can draw comparisons to many different games. If you like abstract games or area control games that require some thought you should give this game a try.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 2 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6

Want a second opinion? Check out Josh’s Heaven of Olympus review.