PlayMonster Winward Immersive Story & Strategy Board Games

Ahoy! Unfurl the sails and set course on the gaseous planet of Celus where flying leviathans roam the sky. Theme: • The nautical, space exploration theme is unique. • It may be associated with the historical whaling industry. Components: • The pre-painted miniatures add to the immersive experience of the game. • The modular board allows for variability. • The quality of the cards and tiles are thin. Instructions: • The rulebook suffers from the lack of diagrams regarding the setup and game play. Game Play: • The first player has the advantage in rolling the blue wind dice. • The supply cards help mitigate the luck of the dice. • The spaces with ""Around the Planet"" icon allow the main ships to move quickly around the board. • The two layers of elevation is an unique feature of the game.

This game was fun once we figured it out. The written instructions were confusing at first but once I looked up a video tutorial it was easy to understand. The theme is unique and interesting and there are so many different ways to play that you won't get bored with it for a long time!

I love the mechanics of this game. I love all the variety & quantity of actions that can be taken each turn. I also enjoy the game's theme. Being a captain on Planet Celus defeating creatures (Crestors) & other captains for the highest score (Notoriety) is entertaining. Also worth mentioning is that the crew a player selects can change with each game if so desired each with their own ability to improve your ultimate goal of Notoriety. Moving to another area of the board via a Zephyr hexagon space was fun! I really liked the games' components. I enjoyed that there is a 2 sided board depending on # of players. I enjoyed that boards can be mixed, not just 1-6 in a row. All pieces were superb thick quality!!! The Trading Post piece with a moveable flag adds to the game mechanic of the Main Ship's movement. Only thing is that I would've liked a better quality for the supply cards. The harpoon dice for combat & blue wind for wind movement dice is cool! Game pieces of different heights also add a 3D depth to the game and to combat. Instructions were the hardest part of the game. They should've been longer to explain each move & rule better. I had to watch the play through videos in order to understand it. An example run-through of a few turns in the instruction book with pictures would've helped greatly. Only a few written examples were given. On a positive note, I love that this has other special instructions for other game variants. There are separate solo instructions! And I love that there are several other variants available too! It truly adds to the replay ability. I would recommend this for teenagers & adults. Also, this will be better for those with patience to learn instructions. They are complicated, but definitely make the game different each time. The video is a must! As a result there is lots of variety & replay ability in this game. It is a more medium to heavy game. Experienced and/or patient board gamers will truly enjoy it!

I was really excited by the theme of this game. Sadly, it was a bit tempered by a rulebook that was mired by vagueries that had me hunting up a video playthrough to explain some of the issues I had with the rulebook. Once past that, I found the game to be fun with lots of player interaction and a very interesting decision tree! How long do you stay out hunting the Crestors? The longer you stay out the better the chance you may be boarded or attacked by one of the flying beasts! Do you stay at port and try to upgrade your boat while everyone else is harvesting the Crestors? Every turn is filled with fun decisions. The board, player areas and miniatures are all really nicely produced. Downsides include the card quality and the rulebook (which I hope will be addressed in a second printing). Overall, though, this is a great, fun, interactive game that everyone can enjoy.

This game is very complicated to play. There are many small pieces and storage can be a problem. After watching the video it was easier to play the game. It was challenging to take into account all the options of a move. Any avid board gamer would enjoy it, but I don 't feel it is a game for an inexperienced player of strategy games.

My teens enjoyed playing this game. They were eager to try it out and liked the plot/premise of it. It was great to find a game that they enjoy. There is a lot of information to learn and remember to play the game, however I think that is part of what makes it such a good game for older teens and adults. It is challenging and fun, but not juvenile. I like how the pieces have sections and spaces in the box for storage. This is a great way to keep the pieces in good condition and makes it easy to put everything away and together. The 3D pieces add so much to the game and give it an upgrade from typical games. I also like the option for the single player version of the game which uses the reverse side of the double sided game board. This will be a great game for winter nights.

I have played through this 2 times now and it is very enjoyable. A very balanced with multiple strategies to find victory. Rules are easy to learn and understand. This game has great flow, seamless rounds. Movement mechanics are on brand for the theme of the game. I also love the miniatures. The ships and crestors are really cool. Now that I've gone through this a few times, I want expansions lol. Playmonster, if you're reading this, please make expansions!

My family are long-time gamers, and we enjoyed this meatier fare from PlayMonster. The theme here is very engaging, with nice plastic minis of ships that take to the sky to battle Crestors and return to port bearing the teeth of the beasts! Windward has a lot of flexibility and replayability including a two-sided board as well as optional advanced, cooperative, and solo modes. This game has a steeper learning curve than many family games but the immersive theme and the strategic decision making (how long to stay At Port gathering resources before heading to the Sky) are rewarding and fun. The only thing I worry about is gently fitting all the minis and stands back into the box without breaking anything. We recommend this to families looking for a deeper strategic game!

This is a fun strategy game with tremendous replayability. The miniatures are beautiful and the mechanics are very clever. Players have important choices to make and even though there is direct conflict between the players no one is ever eliminated from the game. The game also includes a variant for solitaire play and one where all the players cooperate against the game. Great fun and a good value for the price.

We sat down to play the for the first time and randomly drew ship tokens. Each ship has it's own unique bonus which we loved. However I drew the purple ship and it has a very unique play style which was listed in the back as a variation game play. I re-drew a different ship and we started playing. First two players stayed at Port gaining resources while the third headed out right away. Game movement was smooth and pretty easy to understand. The age on the game states 14 however after a few turns the 14 year old had it down no problem. I believe a 12 year old could manage the game very easily. Overall, we love it! Allow extra time for your first few play throughs as you're still learning. We did manage to lose an achievement token for the yellow player and we are trying to find out how to order replacement pieces but we are eager to play again! Love the space sails and wind idea. Kind of like a space sandbox game but not that complicated.

After struggling with the instructions and set-up, we finally got going with this very pretty, complicated, and ultimately (mostly) satisfying game. I think a reprint of the rules would go a long way to clarifying some of the mechanics. At this price point, you know it's going to be an in-depth strategy game with some push and pull, and on that level, Windward really delivers, along with an interesting premise and some very cool games pieces.

we have played with players from 14 to 70 years old .. everyone enjoys the game