Gameplay

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The solo game out of the main box is set up very similar to a multi player version, except that there is a card shuffled into the bottom half of the deck to indicate a timepoint where the objective cards are flipped to their lower scoring sides.

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Players take the top three cards of the deck, and pick one number, and one action. You then select which house on their estate to 'build' (write the number in), and compete the action chosen. The various actions may include building a park in the street that the house was just built, building a pool if the house just build has one planned in the garden, altering the house number up or down by up to 2, increasing the value of certain sized estates, or duplicating a house number already built. Play continues in this fashion and each subsequently build house must be of lower value to any already built on the right side, and higher value of any on the left. This can make it a little difficult in the end game to utilise the space effectively.

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In every game there are three objective cards which earn you bonus points for completing. If you complete the objective before the solo card is drawn from the deck, you earn the larger number of points.

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Thoughts

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Comparing this game to other roll and write type games, this one seemed a bit more complicated to learn straight out the box. However, I think the scoring sheets are deceptive and look more complex than they are. After playing the first game everything made sense.

There is something about Welcome To that just makes me want to come back for more. I don't think I've ever played just one game of this. The set up time is very quick, the number of players the  game accommodates is fantastic, and there is just the right amount of variability in each game to keep it feeling different each time.

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There are so many ways that points can be built in the game that no one strategy is the correct one. I have played games where I have completely ignored the objective cards, games where I focus solely on forming estates of a small number of houses, and games where I try and build all of the pools. For every one of these games, I have found that scoring is pretty consistent (perhaps within about 10-20 points of each other), therefore the game feels like a very tight scramble for every point possible, which is quite exciting. There is very little player interaction when played multiplayer, so it may not be for everyone, but I find the game fantastically therapeutic and a bit like a puzzle, trying to figure out if I can afford to wait for a house number to pop up, or if I should go ahead with building a different straight away, or if it would be more profitable to build a pool or focus on parks.

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There are a couple of actions in the game that I have found a little redundant, which is a bit of a shame as this could decrease replayability. I do think however that these could be utilised in particular circumstances, but it just so happens that is not my particular play style. I'm sure the more I play this game, the value of these actions will become more apparent (at the end of the day, I haven't achieved particularly high scores).

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Thoughts for solo play

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I absolutely love this game for solo play. The game is quick to set up, quick to play, and creates a big feeling of accomplishment when you push your score over that of your last. The solo mode is beat your own score, however Welcome To makes this feel more satisfying by creating such a tight scoring system, that even by achieving something as small as a couple of extra points from a previous game, it feels like an accomplishment.

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I particularly like that there is a small achievement list in the box. This list provides bronze, silver and gold objectives which you can tick off as you complete, and include things like building all of the pools or exceeding a certain point value. These can also help you to branch out a little from your usual gameplay style, which ultimately makes the game even more fun.

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I am desperate to play the separate solo mode that is known as Alexis. It is available separately through the publisher website, and I believe it was also in the box for Welcome To Easter Egg Hunt and Doomsday expansion set. Living in England, I have not managed to get hold of this set yet (shipping is about 4 times the cost of the cards!) however I have heard it is fantastic. I am more than happy with the solo mode in the base game however, so think this would just be an added bonus. I would definitely recommend the game as a purchase for a solo only player.

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Pros

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• Great, thematic artwork

• Very quick set up and playtime so you can easily fit in a couple of games

• Achievement list to expand further on the 'beat your own score' aspect

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Cons

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• No pencils provided in the box :( 

• A couple of actions feel slightly underpowered, therefore don't tend to be used as much, which may limit replayability slightly if you don't try to use different tactics

 

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Overall rating:

1- Poor, didn't really enjoy it much at all
2- It was ok. I wouldn't recommend it to play
3- Average game that does not particularly stand out and/or has a few negative points
4- Pretty good game that is enjoyable
5- Highly recommended to play
6- A must play!