Harrow County Review

boardgamequest.com:

There are legends of darkness and misdeeds in many small villages throughout the land. Has any of us ever driven through an unknown county at night, even during a fierce storm, and not felt unease and a creeping sense of dread? Harrow County taps into these feelings by providing a framework for conflict between rival powers that originates from the hanging of a local witch named Hester.

Published by Off the Page Games and based on the Dark Horse gothic comic series, it is designed by Jay Cormier and Shad Miller and plays from one to three players in approximately an hour. There’s also an offering hitting shelves now called The Fair Folk Expansion which adds a new faction and the option to play up to four players.

The main action of Harrow County takes place on a double-sided hex map which features a range of terrain types, including home locations for each faction, mountains, and a central brambles space. Player factions seek specific objectives while battling for area control to be the first to gain seven points. There are three different faction types for head-to-head battles, while the fourth faction is Hester herself. Hester is playable in both solo and three-player games.

Each faction is heavily asymmetrical. The Protectors gain points by saving townsfolk and can use a path ability to trace a route for those townsfolk to flee to safety. The Family is Hester’s kin who have returned to the scene of the crime to destroy the town’s buildings. They have access to a powerful storm effect that limits opponent movement, and they destroy town buildings by tracing the storm’s path from their home space to this objective.

When playing a two-player game, while each side approaches different objectives with different powers, the central action selection is similar. The action board features four mason jars with a printed ability on them mirrored for each faction. Between them are bonus tokens available to the side that activates the corresponding mason jar first. Only three