Crescent Moon is an “area control” game in which we care about conquering and holding a specific area. The fight for them takes two aspects: military clashes, in which we compare the strength of individuals, and comparing political influence. During the game, we will erect military and civilian buildings, recruit and move units, buy cards with various abilities, and above all, talk over the table.
The core of the game lies in the interactions between players. The game has quite a closed economy, e.g. when buying a card related to a ruler from the market, you pay that player, and when you hire troops, you agree on a fee with the player leading the nomads. Asymmetric factions have different scoring conditions, so players’ priorities also differ. However, it often happens that the result of the clash of two other players is not indifferent to us and we form a short-term alliance.
There are 5 faction-lords in the game that require 5 players to play. The rules provide for omitting one of them for a 4-player game, then mechanically the game still works, but you can feel that “someone is missing.”
Kaid is the easiest ruler to understand and lead. It focuses on military conflicts and scores points for causing losses to opponents (both in units and looted buildings). His units are numerous and mobile, but he cannot build buildings.
The Caliph aims to provide protection by maintaining armies and building forts and castles. He scores points for controlling the tiles on the map, and is particularly keen on quarrying and crossing the river.
The Nomad commands mercenary troops and sells his units to other players for a negotiated price. It focuses on controlling areas at the edge of the map, and scores points for spending coins.
The Sultan is the only one of the rulers who can build civil buildings. These increase the income of the player controlling the tile they are standing on. In addition, the Sultan has its own card market, where it can freely set prices. However, it is not possible to recruit your own troops and must rely on mercenaries or allies.
The last ruler stands out the most from the others. Murshid focuses almost exclusively on political influence. His goal is to spread his influence and keep the other factions in check – he can play cards in matches he is not involved in and choose the winner of a tie. Like the Sultan, he cannot recruit his own units, but the proceeds from cards bought by other players provide a steady flow of cash.
It is also worth mentioning about the map, because apart from buildings, there are special areas on it, e.g. a holy place, which will give different points to each faction (Nomad will get 2 points for control, Kaid, Sultan and Caliph – 4, and Murshid 5 for control, but also 2 points for having only an influence token on this tile). In addition, fertile land and quarry provide more income, and in the mountains and deserts, the cost of building buildings is higher. The layout of the map is also disturbed by the river flowing through it with one crossing point (while there is a ship card in the deck that allows you to move troops across the water).
The game lasts 3 or 4 rounds (it is definitely better to play longer), during which we will perform 4 actions. The action is to move, recruit or buy cards, which means that we have no time to waste and every move must count. The result is an intense game with a “short quilt” where missing a single coin or losing that single squad too much means losing an advantage.
The relationships between the rulers become clear quickly. Everyone is essential and everyone is our adversary. One decision can dramatically change the state of the game. The Nomad performs the Desertion action, which puts the Caliph’s mercenaries back into the reserves and makes it easier for Kaid to raid the city tile, which will deny the Sultan a way to score, so he convinces Murshid to side with him in the conflict, promising a discount on cards in the Bazaar. Or we have a card that would be useful in the planned attack, but if we pay for it, our opponent will be able to buy additional troops. Crescent Moon is a game of consequences where your actions trigger reactions.
Asymmetry, as always, comes at a price. Running each faction is a slightly different game, requiring a different sense of economics. It is easy for a novice player to make a mistake here, for example, as a Nomad, he sets fixed rates for mercenary units for everyone, because he does not know that they do not really have the same value for the rulers at different points in the game. The game is designed for 5 players and requires full concentration not to give someone a gift in the form of an easy win. Hence, it may be problematic to find co-players for regular games. The number of actions and faction specificity imposes strong limits on our range of possibilities. As a given ruler, we must focus on our strengths and, for example, as Kaid, we have no chance of winning if we start fighting for influence without moving the army.
A word about the workmanship – it’s beautiful, clear and colorful. I have no problem with embracing what is happening on the map. It is a bit worse with the cards, because the illustrations will not appeal to everyone, and the small text is impossible to read from the other side of the table – but we will rather quickly remember the effects of the cards. An interesting procedure is counting points with chips in secret from other players.
It’s worth comparing Crescent Moon to other asymmetric titles. Root is more modular and offers the ability to play with up to 2 players, while in Pax Pamir the gameplay feel is similar, but achieved by smooth faction changes during the game, without asymmetric player abilities. Crescent Moon does well in this company, offering something different. The factions are different, but very dependent on each other. We do not clash only on the map, but also on it, debating the possible course of conflicts. There may be a player running away with points syndrome in the game, but it is quite easy for others to counter him and an unstable balance is established.
