I got to try out Dewan from the game library at Roll The Dice Cornwall. You can usually find it for sale in their shop.
Dewan caused quite a stir when it first came out, much like a big duck landing in a pond. It caught people’s eye right away because of its pretty pictures, nice game pieces, and simple rules. It seemed like a winner from the start. But just because something looks good doesn’t mean it’s actually good. Luckily, Dewan plays just as well as it looks.
I’m not sure why I used that duck comparison, sorry about that. What I really mean is that Dewan is both nice to look at and fun to play. I probably should have just said that from the beginning.
Playing as Tribes
In the game Dewan, you and the other players act as leaders of different tribes. Your tribes want to go out and explore the land around them, find natural resources, and make their mark on the world. The problem is, other tribes are trying to do the same thing.
The main game board is made up of hexagon-shaped spaces on tiles. Each hexagon has a different type of land, and sometimes you can find resources there too.
To move around the board, you play cards that show different types of land. So, if you want to go across a mountain, a desert, and a forest to reach your goal, you need to get rid of cards that show a mountain, a desert, and, you guessed it, a forest. Once you do that, you can put one of your small camp markers on that hexagon and claim it for your tribe, maybe calling it ‘Adamvania!’ or whatever name you come up with in your head. Just go with it.
Putting down a camp helps you in two ways, so you’ll want to do it often. First, it opens up new spots on your personal player board. Sometimes this means a place to put a card for a permanent land type, and other times it lets you pick up a new story tile, which gives you more points to earn during the game.
The second thing it does is stop other players from putting their camps there. This is really important because there are only so many resources and land types available in each game, and everyone needs them to finish their story cards.
Following Stories
The player boards in Dewan, which have two layers, are really well-made. They have little dips where your camp markers fit, slots for cards at the bottom, and these very nice slots for story tiles. As the game goes on, you collect new story tiles, and each time you get one, it goes into the next open slot.
Stories are basically tasks you need to complete. If you have camps on all the different things shown on a story tile, then you’ve finished it! In some games, this would just be a regular card you might flip over to show it’s done. But the people who made Dewan went a little extra here. When you finish a story, you slide its tile up in its slot, and a small notch on the board fits perfectly into a slot on the tile. It’s just a really satisfying little detail.
It might seem like a small thing, maybe even a bit much, but it’s truly wonderful.
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Let’s get serious for a moment. Dewan isn’t a hard game to learn. It’s also not completely new. It has parts that remind you of other games like The Guild of Merchant Explorers and The Quest for El Dorado, along with many others.
So, when a game like this comes out, it needs something special to make people want to play it. They could make it very cheap. They could fill it with plastic figures that nobody really wanted. Or, they could do what Space Cowboys did, and add some lovely small touches that make simple things feel special.
It didn’t need the two-layer boards. It didn’t need the oddly shaped, specially printed wooden pieces. It didn’t even need the curved edges on the tiles. But it has all these things, and because of them, it’s a much nicer game.
My Final Thoughts
This review doesn’t need to go on and on. Dewan is easy to learn and very rewarding to play. The game pieces are excellent, and there’s even a good organizer inside the box. All of this for a game that costs around £30? That’s a pretty good deal.
It’s definitely best with three or four players. The game board changes size depending on how many people are playing, but with only two players, it feels a bit cramped and not as exciting. The whole point of exploring is to feel like you’re going somewhere new, not just walking to the corner store for some cheese and wine.
Dewan plays pretty fast, it’s a lot of fun while you’re playing, and the different ways to play and extra parts mean you’ll want to play it again and again. If you have a special account on Board Game Arena, you can even try it out right now. It’s a really nice game, made very well, and most families and groups who like easier games would enjoy it.
Remember, you can find Dewan and other games at Roll The Dice Cornwall right now.
Good Points & Bad Points
Good Points
- Great game pieces and overall quality
- Rules are quick and easy to learn
- Lots of different ways to play with the included scenarios and extras
Bad Points
- Might be too simple for some players
- Not as fun with only two players
Dewan (2025)
Design: Johannes Goupy, Yoann Levet
Publisher: Space Cowboys
Art: Arthus Pilorget
Players: 2-4
Playing time: 40 mins
