Asymmetric games, where each player has access to different abilities and ways to earn points, are very popular right now. This is also thanks to the success of the cute animal tyrant simulator Root (which you can find in our roundup of the best war board games). But this is not a new concept. It’s just very difficult to design and maintain a balanced game. The latest entry in this niche is Crescent Moon. This is a quasi-historical game based on feuding factions in the medieval Near East (see on Amazon).
what’s in the box
Before you even lift the lid on Crescent Moon, the game is already about to impress you with its production quality. does not seem to play. There is a sheet of tokens to punch and a few cardboard hexes to unfold along with a bag of wooden parts and a deck of cards.
A closer look at what you’ve got will bring back the magic. The cards and hexes have the same style of art as the box he covers, and the wooden buildings have printed doors and windows, some even in the shape of curved minarets. As a nice touch, each faction has a printed drawstring bag to store their creations.
Assembled on the table, it’s a striking one full of pastel tones and odd shapes. Assemble the map from the hexes provided, following one of the many suggestions in the back of the book, or piecing them together randomly. Then put your units and tokens on it and you’re good to go.
rules and how to play
Approaching an asymmetric game is always a little nerve-wracking. Each player has different rules, so it can be a lot to learn and difficult to understand how all the pieces fit together to make up the overall gaming experience. Despite its moderate complexity, Crescent Moon is more accessible than many of its peers for two reasons. First, all players choose from the same action palette. Each faction can only access a subset of them. Second, there’s a helpful set of player aids, including an overview of what each faction does and how they play.
There are 5 factions to choose from, suitable for games that support 4-5 players each with their own objectives. A caliph is a militaristic ruler who cheaply builds forests and castles and seeks to conquer and rule territories. The Sultan is the economic leader and wins by selling cards to other players and building prosperous towns and cities. Warlords cannot build structures, but they earn points by mopping up and looting other players’ structures. Finally, Murshid is a peddler of influence, interfering in other players’ disputes and scoring by spreading their reputation.
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As you may have noticed, there are only four. This is because they are the core of the 4 player experience. For the fifth player, an additional faction coming into play is his Nomad. They also feature the ability to raise military units wherever they want and the ability to redeem coins for victory points. , this is the only way the Sultan and Murshid can get an army. In a 4-player game, the mercenary’s cash goes to the bank, but with 5 it goes into the Nomad’s pocket.
This setup tells us a lot about the kind of game Crescent Moon wants to be. Every faction is enslaved to another faction to some degree, at least 5 of them. Buying cards enriches other players, especially the Sultan. Aggression involves Murshid and risks tipping the balance in some way. And if you really need mercenaries, it’s a good idea to maintain good relations with Nomad. This is the main reason why this game is more fun with the full complement of his five.
So the key to success is making a deal. Enemies closer, allies closer. But the game has all the interdependencies, so while you can take that route as part of your plan, it’s easy to keep the peace pact until things go wrong and someone gets stabbed in the back. In Crescent Moon, you’ll always need something that someone else has to offer, so you have to forgive and forget to some degree. This is a much more nuanced and realistic take on interfaction negotiations.
Networking may be key to overall success, but that doesn’t mean the game lacks crunchy strategy. At its core is the game-specific distinction between control, influence, and presence in each map hex. The first is the standard state of having military power there. The second is a token that indicates that your faction has cultural or social interests in the area. The third indicates that there is something in that hex: an influence or some kind of building. These three states mean that you can distribute forces across the map in different ways. You can sell influence and construction even if your army is blocked.
However, the way factions connect with each other can sometimes feel like a restraint, especially if other players don’t interact with you in the way the game expects them to, like you don’t want to buy Sultan’s cards. Every faction has a clear idea of what they want to do and specific ways to earn points. So while there will always be a route to achieving your goals in some way, it can be frustrating when you find yourself being held back from playing optimally. There is also limited room for creative strategy. To some extent, this is all true of all asymmetric negotiation games, but Crescent feels more brittle than others.
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Influence and control can be contested in many ways. Combat is a simple calculation of the player with the most powerful force in the hex. Contests of influence are more complex, taking into account all types of pieces in the contested area and, deliciously, involve multiple players and can declare support for an attacker or defender. In both cases, you have the opportunity to choose your cards in secret first, adding the necessary uncertainty for an exciting confrontation.
