A new game review on my website: Africa — again in Finnish, sorry.
Here’s what I think about the game:
Recently Africa has received some praise from notable members of the Spielfrieks community and I think it deserves it.
I think many were disappointed when it turned out that dr. Knizia had designed a light, easy game which seems to play itself. That isn’t true, not at all, but it has to be said that Africa is no gamer’s game, it’s light and simple family game.
However, as a Knizia game, there’s something beyond the obvious. Sure, turning over counters isn’t very challenging and luck does have a strong effect, but there’s more to it. There’s some strategic decisions in it, how to set up your camps and how to move around. It’s not a difficult or challenging game, but I’m saying there’s few interesting decisions there.
So, my verdict is: Africa is a good game, fills nicely a slot similar to Carcassonne. It’s easy, fun, looks gorgeous, can be played with anyone, works with 2-5 players, takes under an hour to finish. What else you want from a light game? Don’t expect too much from Africa, and I’m sure you too can enjoy it for what is is, a light exploration game (and particulary good match of theme and mechanics for Knizia, too!) for the whole family and gamers who want to relax a bit.