Remember Team17's Worms series of video games? With art by Jean-Baptiste Reynaud (aka Djib) and Agnieszka Sikora, Damian Stankowski's Snails (Galakta) is inspired by Worms, to the extent that it feels like it could well have been Worms - The Board Game. Unlike worms, snails of course have shells, and in this game they also have axes, swords, bazookas and barrels of toxic waste, because Snails is a tongue-in-cheek wargame between different snail factions. There are six playable factions in the box and each has their own special ability.
Snails is played over six rounds on a modular board that becomes three-dimensional because the islands over which the 2-4 players are competing are constructed by stacking various levels of hex tiles. The different levels affect movement and weapon range and you can expect that the island on which you are battling to get steadily eroded by excavation and combat, so the terrain shifts and will ultimately disappear altogether into the sea... Of course, salty seawater is toxic to snails, so if the ground disappears beneath you and your snail ends up in the briny they will take damage.
Players simultaneously place out cards from their hand to programme their actions for the round, giving orders to two of their snails. Players all have similar sets of standard action cards, which are refreshed each round, but they will also have access to special cards, including various weapons. And there are a LOT of these so you are bound to encounter different cards every time you play - adding to this game's replayability. Players place out five cards face down and then reveal together, one action at a time... The simultaneous action selection keeps gameplay brisk and means that a four-player game doesn't take much longer than a two-player game; tho' with more players there's always greater prospect that things may have changed before your programmed action is triggered...
If one of your snails is killed during a round you have the consolation of next round adding a powerful action card that will be unique to your faction; essentially a catch-up mechanic that should boost the effectiveness of your remaining snail combatants.
Games involving programmed actions can sometimes seem prohibitively difficult for new players. That really isn't the case for Snails, where the light-hearted theme makes for an accessible game. As with all programming games, you must expect the potential frustration that positions may have changed before your programmed action is triggered but there's a reasonable prospect in this game that you may be able to adapt your plans if they've gone awry. And part of the fun for more experienced gamers is anticipating your opponents' plans in the actions you programme...