Stats:
No. of players: 2-6
Amount of time to play: 90 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Winter is an expansion for either 51st State or the New Era. You must have one of these games to play the expansion. Winter is set in the world of Neuroshima and you must out-build and out-score your opponents to win.

Winter Description:

Unlike the base games Winter does not end once one player reaches a certain VP total. Instead the game takes place over six rounds of play. Once you finish six rounds you total your VPs and the player with the most is the winner.

If you are not familiar with 51st State or The New Era read my reviews of them. This post assumes you have a basic knowledge of either base game’s mechanics as it will focus on the new and different elements in this expansion.

The biggest new element is the Frozen City board. It has spaces to put face-down Conquest Instant cards, Cooperation Instant cards and Leader cards. Each turn during the Lookout Phase you flip the top-card in each pile face-up. Each worker you send to Frozen City in the Actions Phase allows you to add one of these cards to your hand.

Like I said above the game ends after six rounds and there is a die that tracks the round you’re playing. It also shows you a resource that you will receive in the Production Phase that round.

Another new addition is the Texas faction. They produce four workers during the Production Phase. The Texas faction also has a special ability that allows then to re-use one of the Actions on their Faction Contact Card. You must still pay the required resources when using the special ability.

The new Leader cards do not provide a way to gain VPs. Instead they reduce the distance to a specific building type by one. You no longer get VPs for switching your Leader like in 51st State.

These are also new cards, chits for scoring and a few new icons that you’ll need to learn or look up too.

Quick Review of Winter:

Winter does some nice things to polish the rough edges off both 51st State and The New Era. Nothing too drastic but it helps mitigate some of the randomness of the base games. You also get a chance (and some help) to build a bigger network of locations.

The components for Winter are mostly up to par with those from The New Era. The cards and art look great. The rule book is easy to follow and gives you the specific details you need to play with either or even both base sets. The faction card for Texas is a bit thinner than the faction cards in The New Era, but it is not a deal breaker, just annoying.

I really like how this expansion works with both base sets. The Frozen City is two-sided and provides different options that match the base set you are using. The flexibility is a nice feature.

I also like how the expansion lets you build more. Six turns is a good bit of time to build locations and with the resources you get from the round marker, the game helps jumpstart things. You can have a more long term strategy since you know when the game will end. You must still work with what you get but can make better choices with a known end time.

The Frozen City also helps remove some randomness and helps you implement your strategy. If you need a specific type of Contact card you have the ability to take it from Frozen City. If you go first that is.

The one thing about the expansion when compared to the base games that I don’t like is the game length. Six rounds seems quick and goes by fast but the game is extended.

Also if you play with just The New Era and Winter there are only four Leaders in the game. This might make for a disadvantage that go later in 5 or 6 player games.

If you own and like The New Era or 51st State, this expansion is highly recommended. It adds more strategy to the game. And though it adds more time too, you could always remove the expansion if you are short on time.

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