Amun Re, Ticket to Ride, Saint Petersburg
I went to the Minneapolis Board Game Marathon today, and played an average number of games. Not a marathon, but it was the last day and I couldn't get signed up for any of the other days, so...
I walked up to a random table and played a game of Amun Re, which is a game with an opening auction to claim one of the territories, then you build it up, then you throw money away, and continue. It was alright, nice and succinct, and each territory is dramatically different in value that it becomes a real issue of which is better.
One nice thing is that halfway through the game, you clear the board and start over, but the pyramids, the main scoring mechanic, stay where they are. It's clever, because of course they do, and also dramatically change the value of the territories in the auction the second time around. The guy who owned the game really pushed us to spend a lot of money on auctions, which was a little annoying, because we need that money to build stuff, guy.
Then a game of Ticket to Ride: Fantastic Asia. The new thing in this one is mountain passes, which cost more of your trains to take them. Of course...you get extra points for the trains you lose, more so than if you had claimed one of those routes normally, so I don't see how it's a disadvantage.
Then Saint Petersburg, which I had always seen on shelves and though, "Dang, that's an ugly game." But it was alright! You are basically building up your tableau with stuff, which score their value during certain phases of the round and can be upgraded. The mechanic of who goes first in each phase was clever, and the game has some interesting ebbs and flows of when cash rolls in for you. I tried to spread out my money gives across each phase so I was never wanting, but I still ended up not being to buy what I want, or what I wanted being bought out from under me. Interesting game though, although the explainer was a little over-explainy.
Then I went home!
I went to the Minneapolis Board Game Marathon today, and played an average number of games. Not a marathon, but it was the last day and I couldn't get signed up for any of the other days, so...
I walked up to a random table and played a game of Amun Re, which is a game with an opening auction to claim one of the territories, then you build it up, then you throw money away, and continue. It was alright, nice and succinct, and each territory is dramatically different in value that it becomes a real issue of which is better.
One nice thing is that halfway through the game, you clear the board and start over, but the pyramids, the main scoring mechanic, stay where they are. It's clever, because of course they do, and also dramatically change the value of the territories in the auction the second time around. The guy who owned the game really pushed us to spend a lot of money on auctions, which was a little annoying, because we need that money to build stuff, guy.
Then a game of Ticket to Ride: Fantastic Asia. The new thing in this one is mountain passes, which cost more of your trains to take them. Of course...you get extra points for the trains you lose, more so than if you had claimed one of those routes normally, so I don't see how it's a disadvantage.
Then Saint Petersburg, which I had always seen on shelves and though, "Dang, that's an ugly game." But it was alright! You are basically building up your tableau with stuff, which score their value during certain phases of the round and can be upgraded. The mechanic of who goes first in each phase was clever, and the game has some interesting ebbs and flows of when cash rolls in for you. I tried to spread out my money gives across each phase so I was never wanting, but I still ended up not being to buy what I want, or what I wanted being bought out from under me. Interesting game though, although the explainer was a little over-explainy.
Then I went home!
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