by heylisarenee
I've cut my teeth on a few reviews and decided it was time to share one of my all time FAVORITE board games with you. Please be warned this is mostly a fangirl's ravings, but there are some review type elements in here that led my husband to insist I post under the reviews. I'm well aware alpha BGG members will point this out and potentially rage about it. I'll make sure I put my thick skin on before reading the comments.In a nutshell: You have 2 dice. At the beginning of your turn, roll the dice. The numbers that roll show you what you can do. Take a tile, place a tile, ship goods, sell goods or take workers. There are a variety of options for you which COULD be overwhelming, only it isn't because the dice help narrow your scope as to what you can take. Variability and balance all in one. My heart goes pitter pat just thinking of the glory!
Here's the game board and several reasons why I adore this game. First and foremost, I don't have to feed ANYONE. EVER. Phew. Second, there are so many options available to you all of the time. Sure, there are times when it may feel like taking 2 workers to modify future die rolls feels like a wasted action, but it's not! Really! It sets you up for more variability for the next round and that ain't nothing to scoff at. Third, and perhaps my favorite, is that everything is explained in the artwork. On the board, you have reminders of what the buildings in the middle cost, what dice corresponds with what space, and how much finishing first in certain categories can score you. Finally, the players control start player (versus it being random) and it's always laid out on the board. If you play with more than 2 people, it doesn't always go clockwise but can jump around based on jockeying for position. Again - you control this. It rules.
Okay guys, here's my favorite element of any board game ever - my very own player board! I love having a board that I control and fill up according to my whim. The best part about this particular player board is that it is filled with all sorts of explanations. The board shows you how scoring works, what the different tokens do (besides yellow), what you can do as your action, and more! It also has convenient locations for where to store your workers, your silverlings (cash money, yo!) and your dice. Yeah, I kinda have a thing for organization. Maybe you've noticed?
But more importantly, this player board makes it so much easier for new players to jump in without feeling like they have a million questions. Being able to refer to your player board for 95% of your queries is crazy smart and efficient.
Ultimately, I just love this game so very much. Are there flaws? I'm sure there are. And if I know anything about the BGG community, someone will be along shortly to point them out and that's just fine by me. Because honestly, this game just hits all of my gaming sweet spots and it is one of the rare games I could play back to back to back for days on end.
If you have yet to play this game but are into the types of games that balance strategy with variability and adjust well for 2-4 players, I highly suggest giving it a go. It's competitive but not cut throat, there are loads of options without overwhelming you, and the strategies are varied and equally successful.