Preview: Arctic Anarchy - Far from a frosty reception

Courtesy of Ricky Vadgama©

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a play test event for Arctic Anarchy, a new indie card game. The game is the brain child of two Scout Leaders and avid board gamers, Ricky and Lydia Vadgama. In 2026 they will be joining a team of fellow leaders and young people from Scouts on an expedition to the Arctic Circle. Their objective is to undertake polar research and conservation projects. The game has been designed with the purpose of raising money to fund this expedition and you can keep up to date on their progress here.

Arctic Anarchy sees 2-4 players take turns collecting or discarding cards showing different arctic animals in an attempt to make a hand that will score points, before banking this for tallying up at the end of the game. However, Ricky and Lydia Vadgama have injected a little bit of chaos into this simple premise with the "event" cards that are pulled whenever a player banks a good hand for scoring. These events range from all players discarding a certain type of animal, to handing over the game-winning hand you thought you had just safely stowed away, to the player on your right. While this might sound like the goal-post changing mechanics of games like Fluxx, it plays very well with the careful and balanced style of the rest of the game. Players will carefully draw animals onto their rafts (as the play areas are called), planning several moves ahead, only to have an event force them to discard all their polar bears. Arctic Anarchy tests how well its players can adapt and react to the changing whims of the arctic.

Further rules for games of 3-4 players also introduce the opportunity to swap cards with others around the table (all players' hands are kept in the open), which can introduce an extra social element to the game as allies and enemies are made. Another player and I took delight in using this mechanic to mutual benefit, and what is an action that I am sure could cause more than one table-flip, turned out to be charming and full of goodwill. Though, I suppose that will come down to who you choose to play with!

Courtesy of Ricky Vadgama©

Overall, the game played incredibly well. It was taught in a matter of minutes and was easily played within a half hour. The game-play was smooth and felt well polished, with next to no rules-checking needed for the entire time. The player who I joined had already played 2 games before my arrival, and then when I brought a copy back to Hand Limit Tower, we played 2 games back to back. I can foresee this small deck taking a similar spot to Love Letter in the "let's just play a quick round" genre. Sporting pleasing geometric animal designs in a cool colour palette, the game shows product quality that matches some of the bigger names in the industry. Although still technically in its play-testing stage, the game plays and looks like a finished product. 

With the expected retail price of £18 (approx.) this game is comparable to the series of games being released by the well established Oink Games, but considering this has been put together by a team of two independent developers at their own cost, and that it is being sold to fund such a wholesome cause, I feel it is well worth that price.

My only worry is that since we launched our Games On Location series, we might need to ship out with them to get this one on the list. Perhaps we will be able to persuade them to take a deck for us?