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Arctic Scavengers Review

Arctic Scavengers was the second Deck Building Game on the market. It also fixed some of the issues with the deck building genre that are still being levied against it today. With the addition of player interaction in the form of combat, we see one of the first evolutions in the genre. While this game suffers from some minor balance and game play issues, I’m really looking forward to the new version from Rio Grande Games.

Each player receives a 10-card deck with 1-4 copies of 5 different cards. The 4 Refugees you start with are the estates in this game, while they do provide a tribe member for final scoring, they can only do actions with the help of tools. Luckily you start the game with a couple of tools, the shovel and spear can help you dig and hunt respectively. They both also help out in a fight. Luckily a Brawler is part of your starting tribe too, he loves to fight. Finally 3 Scavengers are in your tribe, they are a jack of all trades, doing everything, if not very well.

As this card layout from the rulebook shows, cards have a variety of stats. Card Types are either Person, Tool, or Medicine.  The supply icon is for cards from the contested resource pile or the junkyard. Card Actions are a little different. Not every card will have these, Junk does nothing, and Medicine doesn’t provide card actions. The disabled action denotes that that card can’t perform that action. For example, the Refugee can’t help you draw or Fight. The Action Modifier can only help you if you have that action type as a standard action. So, if you have a tool that helps with fighting, the refugee still can’t help in a fight. There is also the cost on the bottom. Cards will require either food or meds to purchase. Meds can only be acquired from the Junkyard. Finally there is the Number of Tribe Members. Tribe Members are victory points for the end of the game.

One drawback with the original version of the game is that you always see the same center cards. These work like Dominion, they are piles you can buy that eventually run out. You also have the Junkyard where you can dig and try and find useful things. The contested resources are where a decent chunk of your points can come from. The first couple of turns are a little different from later turns. One difference in this game is that turns are shared. Everyone will resolve the different phases of the turn in turn order and after the end of the round the first player marker moves and another turn is started. First everyone draws 5 cards, starting with the third round the initiator (first player), gets to look at the top card of the contested resources deck.

Then you have the Resource Gathering phase. Each player gets to perform 1 draw, dig, hunt, and trash action if they want. Draw lets you draw cards. Dig lets you look through a certain number of cards in the Junkyard and keep one of them if you want. Sometimes you’ll take nothing as there are cards like Junk that do nothing. However, Digging is good as that’s where you can get Meds. Meds are used to purchase 5 of the 8 center cards. Hunt allows you to gather food which you can use to buy cards, if you have Meds you can use them to buy things as well. You can also perform a Trash action for free that allows you to send cards from your hand to the bottom of the Junkyard pile.

Starting on the third turn, after you’ve performed the resource gathering you set aside cards for the Skirmish. Each player will then reveal the cards they have set aside, and in turn order resolve any of their special actions. Whomever has the largest fight score will get the top card from the contested resource deck to add to their deck. Ties are determined by who has the most tribe members in their skirmish party, if there is a further tie the card will be shuffled into the Junkyard, making digging really important again.

After the Contested Resource deck is depleted the game is over. You’ll then count the number of Tribe Members in each deck, if there’s a tie, whomever has the most cards in their deck is the winner. If there’s still a tie, get a bag of ice for each player and pour it in their pants. The player who lasts longer is better adapted to the cold environment, and therefore the winner.

Now that I’ve explained the game, I’d like to say that while it has a few shortfalls, it’s still good. Meds can be a huge hassle. If you don’t get any, it’s really hard to stay in the game. Currently, we play with a house rule that allows you to start with a Syringe in your deck, and one less Refugee. This balances this a little, but it doesn’t really work in a five player game as all the cards then get bought out before the game is over. The publisher has fixed this for the new version, and there will be a card you can buy that provides Meds. The combat phase works great. With the Initiator getting a peak they can really set the course of the battle with bluffing. The game is always 16 turns since there are two turns without a battle and 14 contested resource cards. I’d like to see more contested resources in the new version with rules for playing with the same number to allow for some variation in that deck.

For those thinking about getting the Driftwood Games version, it’s a rarity and I’d suggest on holding out. The card stock isn’t great, so I feel it has to be sleeved, which means it doesn’t fit in the box provided. I currently store my copy in two Ultra Pro deck boxes.

I give this game an 8 out of 10, and will add that I plan on buying the Rio Grande Games version even though I already own the Driftwood Games version. It’s a nice change of pace from the other deck building games on the market, and belongs in most Dominion fans collections.