Survive a Delicious Plague in Messina 1347

Czech publisher Delicious Games has existed only since 2018, but it's already produced two highly regarded games from designer/co-owner Vladimír Suchý: Underwater Cites and Praga Caput Regni.

For 2021, Delicious will release another title with Suchý's name on the front cover, but this game is actually a co-design with Spanish author Raúl Fernández Aparicio that has a bit of a history. The game in question — Messina 1347 — was originally added to the BGG database in 2017 with a different publisher attached, but Aparicio and the publisher parted ways in 2018.

"While we were visiting the November Boardgame Convention in Malaga 2019," says Delicious co-owner Katka Sucha, "both authors met for the first time. We had the opportunity to play Raúl's game there, and Vladimir immediately had ideas of what to do next and how to improve the design of this game. He also liked the historical theme of the game."

Non-final hex tiles

Delicious brought the game back to the Czech Republic for more testing, says Sucha, and "after common agreement with Raúl, it was reworked to give it the 'weight' of the Eurogames that DG publishes." The two designers then worked together to balance the design, which will be released before SPIEL '21 in mid-October 2021, whether that event takes place digitally or in person.

As for what the game is about, here's an overview:

Quote:

Messina 1347 takes place during the introduction of the plague epidemic (a.k.a. the "black death") and the spreading of its infection through town. During this time period, merchant ships delivering luxury goods to Europe brought to these countries an unprecedented epidemic — and one of the first affected cities was Messina, Italy.

Game board

In the game, players take the role of important Messina families who are leaving town and moving to the countryside out of fear of being infected by the plague. While doing this, they are focusing on saving other inhabitants and helping to fight the plague infection in town. They must also endeavor to prosper in their countryside residence, where they are temporarily accommodating rescued residents. They are all waiting there for the epidemic to subside, then they return to Messina to take over and dominate particular districts in the town.

For more on the history of this event, I invite you to start with the Wikipedia entry for "Black Death in Italy".