by MajorOracle
It is so funny how people's opinions can differ so much. I have played Trajan, CoB, and Macao, and I think the theme-iness is:1. Trajan
2. CoB
3. Macao
Macao's theme is completely pasted on as a justification for the mechanics. You spend cubes of different colors to do things. You can send your ship out and then add goods to it while it is out to sea. Buying Prestige Points is completely unrelated to anything. Moving along the wall makes you go first.
In CoB, most of the mechanics at least make sense thematically. I get 2 silver for a Bank, I get to sell when I place a warehouse, etc.