Review: Dewan

Introduction & Overview

A new day dawns, and with it, our resources continue to dwindle. So much so that we have decided to break camp and explore the surrounding lands to ensure our survival. Whether along the bend of a river or deep in the heart of the mountains, we will search for the resources we lack. As we forge ahead on our journey through forests and deserts, we will keep the precious fire burning to warm us and light our way. Facing the mounting pressure of neighboring tribes, we will stand firm and fight to continue writing our story.

This is how we are introduced to Dewan, designed by Johannes Goupy (Faraway, Pixies) and Yoann Levet (Turing Machine, Myrmes). It was first published in 2025 by Space Cowboys in a bilingual English and French edition. The artwork is by Arthus Pilorget, marking his debut in the board game industry.

It is published in Spain by Asmodee (the game is completely language-independent, except for the rulebook). It accommodates 2 to 4 players, with a recommended minimum age of 10, an approximate playing time of 40 minutes, and a suggested retail price of €37.50. For this review, we used a copy of the Spanish edition provided courtesy of Asmodee as a review copy.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Components

Inside a standard two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom) measuring 29.7×29.7×7.2 cm (a standard square box, similar to Ticket to Ride), we find the following components:

12 Territory Tiles (cardboard)
5 Scenario Tiles (cardboard)
55 Terrain Cards (43×68 mm)
24 History Tiles (cardboard)
4 Tribe Boards (cardboard)
36 Camps (9 in each of the 4 colors)
Dewan Marker (cardboard)
15 Berry Tokens (cardboard)
8 Lava Tiles (cardboard)
8 Water Tiles (cardboard)
Event Tile (cardboard)
20 Fish Tokens (cardboard)
Scorepad (paper)
Rulebook

How to Play

Dewan is a game where players lead tribes on a journey across unexplored lands, competing to score the most points through resource management and strategic settlement placement. Over a series of rounds, players take turns choosing between two possible actions: drawing two adjacent terrain cards from the central display or placing a camp on the map. To move, the active player traces a route from an existing friendly camp to an unoccupied space, discarding cards matching the traversed terrains or giving them to opponents if passing through their settlements. Expanding across the board allows players to gather berries, tuck cards under their player board for permanent symbols, and acquire new History tiles, whose terrain and resource requirements must be met to score points at game end. The game ends at the conclusion of the round in which one or more players place their final camp. At that point, scores are calculated from completed history tiles, berry tokens, connected camp clusters, and fire symbol majority bonuses, depending on the chosen scenario.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the board, which is constructed using a set of Territory Tiles divided into starting and neutral tiles. At the beginning of the game, each player receives a random starting tile on which to establish their base, while neutral tiles are added according to player count to complete the play area. These tiles feature a grid of hexagonal spaces with various terrain types, such as forests, deserts, mountains, and plains, which players must traverse and occupy strategically. The orientation of these tiles is determined randomly following setup instructions, ensuring every journey through the world of Dewan is different. Some spaces display resources, either virtual or physical (with berry tokens placed directly onto them).

The primary objective is to expand across the board using Camps. Each player has 9 camps: one starting camp that acts as a base and eight additional camps deployed from their player board. To place a new camp, the player must trace a route from a previously established position and pay the deployment cost based on the traversed spaces.

To facilitate expansion, players utilize Terrain Cards. Each card depicts one or two terrain types (such as mountain, water, or forest) and occasionally special resource symbols like artifacts, crystals, or pigments. Players spend these cards to pay movement costs between spaces, discarding the matching type for each terrain crossed. Furthermore, these cards can be tucked under the Tribe Board to provide permanent resources or controlled territories that help fulfill history quest requirements. Some cards feature dual terrain types and can be used to traverse one space of either type (they cannot be split across two spaces). Water spaces follow a special rule: players need only discard a single water card to cross an entire connected group of water spaces into any adjacent land space.

History Tiles represent the primary scoring objectives for the tribes. Each tile details specific requirements, such as establishing camps on particular terrain types or being adjacent to certain resources. Players begin with one of these tiles and can acquire more by deploying specific camps onto the map. Once all conditions on a tile are met, it is marked as completed by sliding it upward on the board, granting direct end-game victory points and allowing the player to immediately draw new terrain cards. Each player may hold a maximum of four History tiles.

Berry Tokens serve as collectible resources that encourage exploring specific regions of the map. During setup, two tokens are placed on each berry icon printed on the territory tiles. When a player builds a camp on a space that still holds berries, they harvest one token and store it on their Tribe Board. At the end of the game, collected berries convert into victory points according to the active scenario.

Each player manages a personal Tribe Board designed to track resources and progression. This board includes dedicated slots for the 8 available camps, as well as tracks for placing and completing History tiles. As camps are removed from the board and deployed onto the map, powerful bonuses are unlocked, such as gaining new History tiles or tucking terrain cards underneath to serve as permanent resources for quest requirements. In addition, the board provides a visual scoring reference for calculating points during the final tally.

Finally, we have the Scenario Tiles. The reverse side of each tile shows the exact layout required for starting and neutral tiles to build the map. While the basic scenario establishes standard survival and scoring rules, additional scenarios introduce unique mechanics and critical events, such as a volcano or a flood, altering the terrain and forcing players to adapt their expansion strategies.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

Place the chosen Scenario tile to one side of the play area.
Construct the map by randomly dealing 1 starting Territory tile to each player.
Take a number of neutral Territory tiles equal to the player count and arrange all tiles (starting and neutral) with random orientations according to the diagram on the back of the Scenario tile.
Each player places their starting territory tile in one of the available positions shown on the scenario tile.
Place 2 Berry tokens on each berry icon printed on the map.
Each player chooses a color and receives:
- A Tribe Board to place in their play area.
- 9 Camps (place one on the starting space of their starting territory tile and the remaining 8 on the empty slots of their Tribe Board).
Shuffle the History tiles and place 5 face-up in a row; place the remainder in a face-down draw pile.
Shuffle the Terrain cards and deal 2 face-down to each player. Form a face-up display of 6 cards in a row and place the remaining cards as a draw deck.
If the scenario includes events, place the Event deck to the left of the card row and split the draw deck, placing 6/8/10 cards onto the event tile for 2/3/4-player games.
Randomly select a starting player and give them the Dewan marker.
Beginning with the player to the right of the starting player (and proceeding counter-clockwise), each player chooses 1 History tile from the row or the draw pile.
Slide the chosen tile into the leftmost slot of the Tribe Board so that its top icon remains visible. If taken from the row, immediately replenish the empty spot from the draw pile.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Dewan is played over an indeterminate number of rounds. In each round, players take one turn, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise. A round concludes once all players have completed their turns.

On their turn, the active player must perform exactly one of the following two actions:

Draw 2 Cards. The player selects 2 adjacent Terrain cards from the display next to the map and adds them to their hand. There is no hand limit. The empty spaces in the display are immediately replenished with the top two cards from the draw deck. In scenarios with events, exhausting the draw pile on the event tile triggers an event, after which a new event draw deck is formed by placing 6/8/10 cards (for 2/3/4 players) from the main deck.
Place 1 Camp. The player expands their presence across the map through the following steps:
- Route selection: Choose a friendly Camp already on the map as the starting point and an unoccupied space (other than Water) as the destination.
- Paying movement costs: Discard one Terrain card for each space traversed along the route, including the starting space and destination:
  - If starting from the base Camp, the first discarded card may be of any terrain type.
  - Starting from any other camp requires the first card to match the terrain type of that space.
  - Water areas are crossed by discarding a single Water card to travel across all contiguous water spaces in that group.
  - Passing through occupied spaces: If the route traverses an opponent’s camp, the required card is given directly to that opponent instead of being discarded. Passing through another player’s base Camp allows the active player to give them any card of their choice from their hand.
  - Placement effects: Once costs are paid, deploy the leftmost Camp from the Tribe Board onto the destination space. The revealed slot on the board triggers an immediate benefit:
    - Slots 2/4/6: Take a new History tile from the row or draw pile and place it on the Tribe Board.
    - Slots 3/5/7: Tuck a card from hand under the board so its terrain type or icon contributes to future requirements.
- Harvesting: If the destination space contains Berries, collect one token.

At the end of their action, the active player checks whether they meet the terrain and resource requirements on their active History tiles. Both deployed camps on the map and cards tucked under the Tribe Board count toward these conditions. If a History tile’s requirements are satisfied, slide it upward (marking it as completed) and draw one Terrain card from the deck as a reward. If playing with events, draw this card from the event deck instead. Base Camps never count toward fulfilling History requirements.

After resolving these steps, play passes to the next player.

Game End

The game ends at the conclusion of the round in which any player places their final Camp. Finish the current round so all players have taken an equal number of turns before proceeding to final scoring, where each player tallies:

The victory point value on each completed History tile whose requirements were met. Incomplete tiles are discarded and score no points.
1 point per fire icon shown on completed History tiles and cards tucked under the Tribe Board.
4 bonus points for the player with the most fire icons. In the event of a tie, all tied players receive the 4 points.
Points for camp deployment patterns as specified by the active Scenario tile.
Points for collected Berry tokens and visible symbols on tucked Terrain cards, according to the active Scenario tile.

The player with the highest total score wins. In the event of a tie, the player holding the most terrain cards in hand breaks the tie. If a tie persists, victory is shared.

Personal Opinion

Back in 2013, as Asmodee began assembling its vast publishing empire, several of its founders branched out to launch a new studio. Thus Space Cowboys was born, aiming to publish family-weight games featuring high component quality and that distinctive artistic flair long associated with French board game releases.

Admittedly, they may never have matched the runaway success of their debut title; Splendor (read the tocho-review here) went on to become an enduring classic. Even if its two-player distillation, Splendor Duel (read the tocho-review here), is in my view a far superior design, Marc André’s original remains the defining benchmark.

Today we turn our attention to the publisher’s 2025 offering. It arrived on store shelves with very little fanfare and likely flew under the radar for many of you. It is time to see how Dewan performs on the table, but not before thanking Asmodee for providing the review copy that made this deep dive possible.

In Dewan, players lead a nomadic tribe seeking to settle across an inhospitable landscape. The goal? Claim the best locations to survive the challenges encountered along the journey and pass down tribal lore through generations.

Mechanically, the game blends card drafting, hand management, and route building. At the start of the game, each player begins with a settlement on the outer edge of a modular board composed of multi-hex tiles, each featuring seven hexes across various terrain types.

On their turn, the active player must choose one of two options. The first is drafting two terrain cards from the display. These cards represent the various terrain types found on the board, with some offering dual terrains for extra flexibility and others displaying special icons whose purpose we will explore shortly.

Unlike Ticket to Ride (read the tocho-review here), where players can pick any two cards from the market, drafting here requires choosing two adjacent cards from the six-card row. While it might sound like a minor constraint, selecting the right pair often demands careful tactical consideration, even when hunting for a specific terrain.

The alternative action is deploying a new settlement onto the board. To do this, a player selects an unoccupied target space and discards cards to trace a valid path from an existing settlement. For every space the caravan traverses from its starting point (inclusive) to its destination, the player must discard a card matching that terrain. Water spaces provide an exception, requiring only a single card to travel across an entire connected lake into any adjacent territory.

Placing settlements triggers benefits as slots on the player board are cleared. Deploying the second, fourth, and sixth settlements allows the player to claim a new History tile. These tiles act as personal objectives that should be completed promptly by controlling matching terrains with settlements. Fulfilling a tile rewards the player with an immediate bonus card draw and locks in victory points for end-game scoring.

Deploying the third, fifth, and seventh settlements allows a player to tuck a card from hand under their board. This tucked card permanently adds its terrain type to the player’s network as if an extra settlement occupied that terrain. Any bonus symbols on the tucked card are likewise treated as permanently available.

The game concludes once a player deploys their final settlement, finishing the active round before proceeding to final scoring tailored to the selected scenario. The inclusion of five distinct scenarios not only alters starting layouts and scoring metrics, but also introduces event decks that trigger dynamic occurrences as miniature card piles are depleted.

That covers the core premise. As you might expect from its accessible ruleset, Dewan is a gateway-plus design that shares clear mechanical DNA with Ticket to Ride, revolving around card collection to fuel spatial expansion on a shared board.

Because every occupied space is permanently blocked for other players, the board fosters a tight race to secure premium locations. Evaluating which space to target requires balancing shared scoring incentives against private tactical objectives.

Each scenario dictates a specific scoring pattern for settlement placement. Maximizing this configuration is critical, as it represents one of the few steady sources of points available. However, all other scoring avenues rely on where those exact settlements are placed.

History tiles require specific combinations of terrains and/or icons gathered across board settlements and tucked cards. This is where luck of the draw can play a role; landing tiles that align naturally with your existing footprint saves precious turns. Spreading yourself too thin across conflicting objectives rarely pays off.

Berry token scoring adds another layer of consideration. These tokens are harvested by building on specific hexes. Each scenario scores berries through distinct formulas that must be reconciled with your spatial settlement goals and active History requirements.

If there is a core tactical focus, it is completing History tiles as swiftly as possible once they hit your board. Successfully fulfilling a tile scores end-game points and immediately yields a bonus card draw, effectively saving half an action. Completing two tiles essentially grants an extra turn over the course of the game.

Furthermore, scenario requirements dictate whether you should cluster settlements or branch out across the map. This strategic posture determines how many turns you must spend drafting cards to finance long-distance expeditions.

It is tempting to grab two cards matching adjacent terrains and immediately drop a settlement on the next turn, especially since unlocking player board spaces offers immediate perks. Yet some scenarios actively penalize clustered placements, requiring disciplined long-term planning.

Idling too long while searching for ideal card combinations is dangerous; before you know it, an opponent will drop their eighth settlement and trigger the end of the game. Any half-finished plans can rarely be salvaged in a final turn.

I genuinely like Dewan. It takes the familiar route-building foundations of Ticket to Ride and adds meaningful wrinkles, replacing rigid tracks with flexible paths that demand multi-layered optimization. It matches the snappy pacing of Alan R. Moon’s classic, with players almost always ready to execute their turn immediately. If you have the cards to place a settlement, you place it; if not, you draft. It keeps things moving briskly.

In terms of scaling, the game runs smoothly across all player counts, though games with three or four players offer significantly higher tension. Even when starting on opposite sides of the map, player networks inevitably collide. The tight board means key hexes get snatched away, upending carefully laid plans and making wise use of your three tucking slots essential.

Replayability is high thanks to the brisk playing time and smooth flow. Sessions rarely exceed ten minutes per player unless someone is prone to analysis paralysis. The five included scenarios add nice variety; while they do not fundamentally alter core decision-making beyond tightening board constraints, the varied scoring conditions are a welcome touch.

Production-wise, Space Cowboys delivers solid quality. The cardboard components boast above-average thickness and density, highlighted by dual-layer Tribe Boards for slotting History tiles and camps. The custom-shaped wooden pieces feature subtle screen-printed accents for extra character, and the cards offer good stock with a smooth finish and sturdy snap (sleeving might be worth considering given how frequently cards circulate). The rulebook is well-organized, clear, and unambiguous.

Visually, the illustrator makes an impressive debut in the board game world. The artwork features high-contrast palettes that distinguish terrain types clearly, accompanied by gorgeous vignettes on the History tiles. The box cover is striking, even if it does little to explain the underlying gameplay. Regardless, it is an admirable graphic presentation.

And let’s wrap this up. Dewan is a dynamic design that successfully pairs settlement placement and pathfinding with engaging hand management. Balancing caravan routes to secure prime territory while racing to fulfill generational objectives creates a compelling competitive rhythm where every discarded card matters. While tile draw luck can occasionally force tactical detours, the breezy turns and spatial blocking ensure lively, engaging sessions. It penalizes hesitation, rewards sharp board evaluation, and strikes a satisfying balance between light rules and meaningful decisions. While it may not reinvent the genre, it executes its vision remarkably well. For all these reasons, it earns a…