Clash of Galliformes Board Game Review

Clash of Galliformes is a bit of an odd ball game – it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, and honestly based on the look of the game I was a bit shocked it did so well on Kickstarter when it originally launched. Yes, there is something about this game that is oddly attractive, and I love how the game is set up for the players, by the players, making each game feel at least somewhat different to start. There will be unit placement, resource management, and so much more! Let’s take a look at Clash of Galliformes!

I want to get the ‘bad’ out of the way first, and I fully admit that the ‘bad’ in this game, from my opinion, is purely superficial. This game honestly doesn’t feel like a game produced in 2024. I’m not sure if it is the artwork, the way the boards look, the cubes, or what. The look of this game, both when unboxing and when spread out on the table is pretty underwhelming. The birds are pretty cool, and I absolutely love that the player boards are dual layered, but everything else screams ‘10 years ago” to me, and it’s a bit disappointing.

That being said, it’s a superficial complaint, as the look of the game really doesn’t matter here. The gameplay is what matters, and I initially found it very engaging and fun. There is a lot going on in this experience. There is resource collection, which will be used for playing out nests and birds. There is card management used for fighting against other players. And there is area control, as you work to maintain your defenses of areas you do control, while trying to move into regions and areas you do not control. It’s a lot to take in initially, but it all becomes pretty intuitive as time goes on.

I enjoyed working towards collecting the puzzle pieces, upgrading my birds defense and attack, and working towards my technologies. All of this upgrading meant better birds and nests, which meant better opportunities on the board for my faction. Exploring out on the board and taking new territories, again, was initially fun and engaging. After our first play, and through most of our second play, everyone at the table was having a pretty good time.

Things seem to fall apart the more you play this game, however. First off, the rulebook is not as clear as I would like, and while we were able to get through each question we had, it wasn’t as easy as we felt it should have been. But the real struggle comes with doing the same thing over and over again. The various tribes don’t feel wildly different from each other. Further, taking part in battles quickly became a chore. Each player has hands of cards and they will play them out as attacks and defense, and then dice will be thrown to alter those cards. That was OK at first, but the longer we played, the less we enjoyed this feature, and ultimately began to think of ways to change how battles could be done.

There is a segment of the board game community that are really going to enjoy this experience. I find other games I own a bit more engaging than this, but they also come with a steeper learning curve that not everyone is going to be a fan of. Ultimately, this is pretty easy to play after you get a hang of the round-to-round actions you can take. As an intro-area control game with some resource management, this does it pretty well. 

Unfortunately, I’ve just evolved past that at this point, and while I would love to have Clash of Galliformes in my collection long term, I’m not sure there will be enough plays to justify keeping it around. Thankfully, I have other staff members who will be giving Clash of Galliformes a try, so stay tuned for impressions from our own Will in the near future!