Septima: Shapeshifting & Omens

Huge fan of this expansion. Will never play without the shapeshifting. The slight asymmetry, the extra layer of timing your card replenishment. It's that little sprinkle of spice this game needed. It really does make it feel complete for me, because it allows players to take actions in radically different sequences, and lean into particular strategies. I'd consider it mandatory, and for fans of heavy games I'd say play with everything off the rip. The omens are the real extra stuff. Something great to add in for variety but not needed. My kind of expansion: lightweight, affordable, improves the game and keeps it fresh. If you enjoy Septima even somewhat you should own this.

La mecánica de transformarce para obtener habilidades y los augurios ofrecen muchas opciones de estrategia nuevas al juego. Siento que la expansión pudo ser parte del juego base y no había necesidad de venderlo por separado, sin embargo está bien la opción modular para no abrumar a los que apenas conocen el juego por primera vez.

One of those "should also be added" expansions. It helps with the dynamics of the action card renewal and offers new interesting options when moving around the board.

Shapeshifting is close to essential, or at least the mechanic of not automatically getting your discarded action cards back at the start of the season is. And the asymmetry is of course nice too. Omens scratches the same itch as Everdell's Spirecrest: adding the same negative or positive effect to all players for a season. This does its job in switching up strategies and increasing variability. The one divination card that wants a player to get high suspicion doesn't work well with it though.

I probably won't play Septima again without Shapeshifting & Omens. Shapeshift adds so much to the game and I prefer it to the Chant action. The meeples are adorable as well. Omens lead to some interesting collective decisions, as the benefits of good omens can be very tantalising. Likewise, the downsides of the bad omens are something to consider, especially if players are taking risks with high suspicion.