Solo Review—La Granja: No Siesta!

Image from BGG

What is this game about? 

I have not played the original La Granja from Stronghold Games, but La Granja: No Siesta! is a dice game meant to condense the experience into a roll and write. No Siesta! is all about rolling and drafting dice, collecting goods, and allocating those goods to various spaces on your game sheet. You can choose several areas of focus, including working on your own homestead, shipping your goods overseas, and completing market tracks before other players do to earn extra points. Some actions will also yield bonuses, which will either help you on a future turn or give you extra goods right away. There is also a siesta track, which is worth some investment because it allows you to score extra points, as well as to carry extra goods when you draft from the dice pool. If you stack your dice, helpers, and bonuses skillfully, it's possible to trigger some satisfying combos. 

How does it play solo? 

There is a dummy player in the solo variant of La Granja: No Siesta, but you don't try to beat its score. It just messes with you throughout the game. At the start, the dummy player will automatically take the higher score for one market track (which leaves you with the lower one), as well as claim one of the endgame scoring bonuses. During the game, you need to be careful about how you draft dice—the dummy player can end the game early by reaching the end of the siesta track, and it will cause you to lose points regardless if it ends the game ahead of you. Additionally, if the dummy player reaches any market spaces on the track, it will also score for another market row and occupy another bonus scoring space. In this way, the solo game forces you to pay attention to what your opponent has, not just what you want on your turn.

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Lots of spaces on this score sheet, but it's not as complex as it looks.

Overall Thoughts

 La Granja: No Siesta is a decent roll and write, but at times it did kind of make me want a siesta. There are definitely some moments in the game when you can pull off a big move, or moments of frustration when you have to choose between achieving your own goals and trying to prevent the dummy player from moving ahead yet again. If someone wanted to play this on game night, I'd be happy to. It's just that La Granja: No Siesta! isn't the most thrilling roll and write I've ever played. It's not quite as streamlined as other games in the genre, which means there are more moving parts (literally—with multiple boards and small pieces) and also fewer truly tense decisions. That lack of drama means that it's perfectly pleasant to play it, but it doesn't inspire much passion. I did, however, like that the game came with a dummy player that could give me  something to think about when drafting dice. 

Do I recommend it? 

If you love La Granja or are a true roll & write enthusiast, then you might enjoy La Granja: No Siesta. But as roll & writes go, I'd say it's middle of the pack. 

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Rating Scale: 
5 stars — I love it!
4 stars — I really like it. 
3 stars — I like it. 
2 stars — It's ok. 
1 star — Meh. ​

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