Looot Review
Advert: this game was gifted by Hachette Board Games UK, this has not affected our opinion.
Vikings. I seem to review a lot of games about Vikings. Some might think I am somewhat of a Viking fanboy. For the record, I’m not particularly. It’s not that I mind a Viking theme, but it wouldn’t rank above city-building, pirates, or nature themes for me personally. Anyway, let’s review Looot, a game about Vikings!
One other thing before I commence, it is apparent that the designers of this board game had read my review of NMBR 9 and noticed my disdain for the lack of vowels. This can be the only logical reason for them inserting too many o’s in the middle of the word. That or they thought it looked like the shields on the side of a Viking longship. The latter seems less likely though.
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Setup
Choose and place a number of triangular landscape boards equal to the number of players. Place the Trophy board and Ocean board on opposing ends. Then, place building tiles and axe trophies on the relevant places. Place all the Longship tokens into a bag and give them a muddle.
Give each player a Fjord board, their 13 Vikings and matching Shield tokens. Also randomly allocate them one of each construction sites that should be placed on the respective places on their Fjord board.
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Gameplay
It won’t come as a surprise that the player with the most points wins in Looot. On your turn you will place one of your Vikings onto the board, either adjacent to the water where you start or next to another Viking. Upon doing so you will take whatever resource is below it and place that on your board. If you place next to a house you additionally get that token too. If you link two towers with your Vikings you obtain a tower from each stack and if you chain four Vikings from a castle you get that token. All of these are placed on your board to activate point scoring objectives.
The three construction sites you place at the start, act as your first point scoring opportunities, to score them you have to match the depicted items around them on your board. There is no penalty for not completing them. Additionally on your turn, you can choose one of the longboat tiles available, these are multipliers for end game scoring that will boost the points available for trees, ore, sheep and buildings. Like the construction sites these need certain items beside them to activate, unlike the other tiles they will cost negative five points if they are not completed.
The final thing you can do on your turn should you wish is claim a shield. Which shield you take depends on how many axes are on your board. You can only take one of these shields per game.
To aid in achieving these objectives, each player has three one-off bonuses they can use. One allows you to place on the same space as another Viking, something you cannot ordinarily do. The second allows you to gather double the amount of resources (not buildings) that match where you place your Viking. The last bonus allows you to place another Viking immediately after placing a Viking. Once all players have placed all their meeples the game ends.
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What it’s like
Turns in Looot are fairly straightforward, yet there is plenty to consider. Players will find themselves not only considering what they want, but what they may not want to allow their opponents to gather. Afterall, you don’t want to open up the board too much!
Using the bonuses at the right time is also crucial. Placing on the same square as an opponent can help connect towers or build castles that are often super important to objectives, and spaces that would give you this can often be blocked by your opponents! Placing an additional Viking can have the same benefits and prevent that blockade, especially at higher player counts.
As the board changes size depending on player count it scales really nicely. I prefer playing Looot at three and four. I do wish their was a five player option as it could’ve worked and play would have still moved round at a good pace, although an additional bonus may have needed to be introduced to aid with claiming buildings and resources, I suppose.
I like how the game canters along at a decent pace. You can do a lot of planning between turns, but then you watch everyone else’s moves, hoping someone doesn’t spoil your next go and purloin the buildings or resources you desperately need. In a similar way timing when to cash in on your axe collection is often a tantalising stand-off.
There is also a moment in every game where I pause and look at my board and panic that I haven’t got enough Vikings to complete all the things I’ve set out to do. That, or I realise disappointingly that I have brilliant multipliers for a certain tile, but have very few of that particular tile. I’m sure there are people that don’t do that, but I’m not that type of player!
I like how the Longboat tiles influence your strategy. It would be lovely to enhance the scoring of one type of thing and max that out, inevitable though the randomness of the Longship tiles makes it that your ideal strategy may not work. Even if you do hit a bit of luck, the score-boosting tiles often require things to surround them that aren’t being multiplied by that tile. I really like that juxtaposition, and regularly see people with big multipliers but without the tiles to score big. It can happen that you do, but I like that it is rarely the route to victory, as it requires a bit of luck too.
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Table Presence
Looot is a good looking game on the table. The mini Vikings are intricate and the tokens all do their job. The player colours are not typical, but I like the palette used. The player boards and tokens could be a little chunkier, but then the MSRP would reflect that and as it stands it is a nice price point. This sentence comes with a super pernickety warning: I think the green used on the boards is a bit sludgy and I wish it was just a little bit bolder or greener.
More of a slight niggle with Looot, is that I just don’t get the theme! Why do I have to line my Vikings up between towers? What the heck am I creating on my home board with things surrounding one another? I’m just not sure it is the best fit for the mechanics involved and this abstract nature I notice more here than on some other occasions. I don’t know how else it could’ve been styled but then it’s not my job to do so, I just think there must be a better option!
The iconography is clear and easy to grasp. The first time I played, I didn’t grasp that the colours on the longboat tiles reflected how good the multiplier would be. It was easy enough to find out though.
I was taught this game, and so when I played my own copy I famously made a set up rules gaff for my first two plays, I can’t blame the rulebook for this. Looking through after, I can see I only have myself to blame!
The variable set up and design of the main board helps to ensure that games are randomised nicely. It’s all good in that respect.
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The Expansion
I don’t normally talk about expansions with games, I’ve never quite got my head around how to do it as they normally come after I have penned my review. But I recently purchased the promo with my own money. It was only about five pounds, but was underwhelming when it arrived.
The single piece of punchboard that turned up was certainly more akin to a promotional item than an expansion. It only offers two new longships that score axes, and a new bonus for each player.
The latter allows you to catapult a Viking to any space. In a funny sort of way it makes the game easier and makes it lose a bit of tension whether you will get a certain resource or not. I have slight buyer’s remorse and would not recommend anyone else parting with money for what is included. If it added a fifth player and the catapult balanced the extra player, then I would’ve been properly excited for it!
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What the kids thought
George (13): Looot is a fun game, perfect for our family and friends. I like the art of the game, particularly the tokens and the colours used,. I like how you progress across the board and enjoy that aspect of the game. The bonuses are really handy too.
Harrison (16): I really like Looot, especially completing the Longship tokens. I also like the worker placement of gaining resources, and not necessarily having to place next to your own. It would be good to have a way to refresh the Longship tokens, especially at lower player counts, as it can get quite stagnant.
Final thoughts on Looot
The first time I played Looot, I immediately wanted to play it again. That feeling hasn’t left me after subsequent plays. Looot is fairly addictive. I think this is down to a mix of it being accessible and with just the right among of mitigatable luck. The variable set up and random Longship tokens that add to the diversity of each play is also to the game’s credit.
It seems that I do enjoy a game that has a shared board and one that is just your own, and Looot executes this really well, with just enough player interaction to get prickly. The theme may not totally work for me, but I still like how it looks on the table, which is lucky because I enjoy playing it so much I need to like looking at it!
Age rating is a tricky thing, and while I think 10 year olds and younger could play this, the logic placement puzzle that unfolds in front of you may mean that some younger players would be uncompetitive. I think 12 plus might’ve been more accurate for many.
Oh and just a word of warning, it just doesn’t feel the same on Board Game Arena, so be sure to play a physical copy of it to get the best out of it if you can. With an MSRP £25 you do get a lot of game for your buck!
Key Facts
Number of players: 2 to 4
Board Game Review Recommended Age: 12+
Publisher’s Recommended Age: 10+
Playing Time: 50minutes
Setting Up and Take Down Time: 3 minutes
Designers: Charles Chevallier and Laurent Escoffier
Publisher: Gigamic / Hachette Board Games UK
RRP: £25.00
Summary
Looot is a really fun game of tactical placement and I love getting it to the table. It’s been a pleasure playing this with family and friends and I have no concerns recommending this for people to give a whirl if they get the opportunity.
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Artwork and Components
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Complexity
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Instructions
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Interaction
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Value for Money
Overall
Pros
- Tile placement logic puzzle
- Interaction of central board
- Easy to learn
- Choosing scoring objectives to build your own strategy
Cons
- Too many ‘o’s for some!
- Younger players may not be as competitive
- Too much sludgy green
- The expansion is a promo
Need more games?
If you already own Looot and enjoy it, or are looking for other inspiration, you might also like these similar games:
- Through the Desert
- Rebirth
- Calico
- Festival
Buy Looot
If you want to buy Looot after reading our review click on one of our affiliate links below (note there has been no affiliate links until this point)
Reviewer’s Note
For clarity: we don’t get paid for our reviews. However, we were kindly gifted this game by Hachette Board Games UK. We have tried not to let this affect our review in any way.
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