Australis Game Review

I have a pretty steady routine when I learn a new tabletop game. I set up the game in full using the setup section of the rulebook, then either watch a teach video or read the instruction manual. Then I play a full game by myself, featuring the “dummy-hand” handling of two or three players (whichever is the multiplayer minimum), to ensure I know a game back to front before I show it to another audience.

Usually, I need a couple passes before I internalize all of a game’s rules, but when I set up the new family-weight dice-drafting title Australis (2025, KOSMOS), I ran through the entire play in less than 30 minutes. It was, and is, vanilla ice cream. Designed by Leo Colovini and Alessandro Zucchini, Australis is exactly what I expected it to be: a very light, approachable strategy game that delivers on its promise to fit well for audiences ages 10 and up.

Australis is pretty, and it finishes up in about 15 minutes per player, but it is never quite interesting enough to warrant repeated plays. Australis is no frills, which also meant that it wasn’t that interesting even the first time I got this in front of my wife for a play. 

Yes,…

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