Board game review of The Godmother: A family game for frequent players

With The Godmother, Zoch Verlag released a new game in the "Easy to learn, difficult to master" category at the end of 2023. In terms of rules, the area control game by Swedish game designer Pim Thunborg (Trolls and Princesses) is aimed at casual gamers, but its depth should also make frequent players think hard. You can find out whether the game can keep its promise in the following review.

The city of Beasty Town is not that different from other cities... However, nobody here believes in honesty. Every business seems harmless at first glance, but behind closed doors there are numerous shady deals going on. Mafiosi rule the city and their godmothers have only one goal: to expand the influence of their clan.

Securing your own territories…

In The Godmother we take on the role of a boss and send our henchmen and rats into the city to strengthen our influence and ultimately own the most influential clan in Beasty Town. A game lasts for five rounds of four turns each. In each turn we choose one of our four figures (3 henchmen & 1 boss) and place it on an area of ​​the city map. If we place a henchman in an area that is in our possession or territory, we can carry out two of three actions - bribe a rat, get hold of loot or set up a back room - in any order and combination.

If we bribe a rat, we can either place one of our own rats on a drain on the game board or remove an opponent's rat. When we get hold of loot, we receive a loot marker from the district to which the area where we placed our henchman belongs. If we set up a back room in our area, we take one of the shops in the area and exchange it for one of our back room tiles. Shops give us valuable victory points and an immediate bonus at the end of the game.

… and conquer others!

However, if we deploy our henchman outside of our territory, we go on the attack. First, we can spend as many loot markers as we want to bribe rats. Then we lay claim to the territory. We receive this if our power in the claimed territory is higher than that of the other clans. Our power is calculated based on the number of rats in the adjacent drains of the territory and the number of figures in the territory. The boss counts double here. If your own clan has more power than any other clan in the territory, the boundaries of your own territory shift. If there was an enemy back room in the conquered territory, we receive this and thus a victory point at the end of the game.

Our own boss is the most powerful character in the whole game. At the start of a round, we choose one of three intrigue cards and keep it secret from our opponents. As soon as we use the boss, we activate the intrigue card. Intrigue cards usually give us the same actions that we can perform with our henchmen, but in a much more powerful form. If placed cleverly, they can make a big difference in the game.

missions for winning the game

At the end of the round, 5 missions are scored. Here, it is checked who has the most areas, the most drains, the most rats on a drain, the most back rooms and the most loot markers. The person who is successful in a mission can decide whether to use one of their 5 mission tiles for this mission. These are numbered from 1 to 5 for each round and give the respective score at the end of the game.

For example, if you have the most areas in the first round and use your mission tile, you cannot use it at a later point. This means that you have to think very carefully about when and whether to use a mission tile. If, for example, you only have the most areas at the end of the game but have already used a mission tile, you have wasted valuable points.

The game ends after the fifth round. Finally, all points from mission tiles and back rooms collected by the opposing players are added up. In addition, you get points for collected location tiles (from back rooms you built yourself). The more tiles you have of a type of location, the more points you get. The person with the most points wins the game.

Information about The Godmother

Conclusion

The Godmother is exactly the kind of game that I personally enjoy again and again. The rules are so simple that they fit on just 8 pages despite the large font and many illustrations. Nevertheless, the game offers great depth, which leaves plenty of room for tactics. I can't get enough of these games because they can be played by anyone. Casual players and even newcomers get into the game very quickly. For those who play a lot, the game doesn't get boring so quickly either, thanks to the many options. Zoch Spiele has definitely kept its promise here.

Because of the mission tiles, you have to plan well in advance and constantly set new goals. The godmother's intrigue cards also contribute a lot to this. You often have to weigh up when to use your godmother in order to achieve your goal. The godmother is also a good element of surprise. Because the opposing players don't know which intrigue card is being played, they have to be prepared at any time for something to happen.

One negative thing to note is that the game gets very wild with four people. By the time it's your turn again, the whole game board can have completely changed. All your plans are then wasted. This phenomenon can also easily occur with three people. Here you have a little more control over the game board and don't have to completely change things around too often. In addition, the slight luck factor comes with many exciting moments, which is why we think playing with three people is ideal for The Godmother. In summary, we can definitely recommend The Godmother.

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