Euroquest report
15 November 2006 10:51![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmusserThis past weekend was Euroquest, one of my favorite local cons. One of the cool things about it is that it comes shortly after Essen, so it's a great opportunity to play new stuff.
What I played:
Hermagor, Age of Steam: Germany, Traumfabrik, Poison, Puerto Rico, Fiji, Antike, Leonardo da Vinci, Shogun, Attika, Gloria Mundi, San Juan, Canal Mania, Thurn and Taxis, Yspahan, Can't Stop, Mr. Jack, Gheos, Gardens of Alhambra, Louis XIV, Vegas Showdown, En Garde, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Mykerinos. I’m not sure how I managed to avoid playing Caylus.
Hermagor is a game in which you are merchants, buying goods in a central marketplace and then taking them out to villages to sell. It has a neat quasi-auction mechanic for buying the goods which is the heart of the game. Goods are laid out in a grid and you place agents next to those goods you want and they end up going to whoever has the most agents next to it. Since points on the grid are next to more than one good, you are in effect putting in multiple bids with each placement. I quite liked it and will keep an eye out for it when it gets released in the U.S.
Poison is a simple card game very similar to Take 6, players take turns playing numbered cards into three stacks trying to avoid being the one to make the total in the stack go over 13. Would make for a good filler game, I think I like Take 6 better though.
Fiji is a game I didn't like. It's an auction game in you're blind bidding for stuff of unknown value - excessively random for my taste.
Antike is a Civilization-like game that I liked, more war-like than some Civ type games which could be a plus or a minus depending on your tastes.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the Essen games that's been getting a lot of buzz. You play rival inventors and send out your minions to improve your laboratory, gather needed ingredients, or actually work on an invention. To complicate matters you are all working off the same group of potential inventions, so you better finish whatever you're working on before the other players. I enjoyed it, unsure if it's worth buying or not.
Shogun - not the old Milton Bradley game, but a new area control/quasi-war game set in feudal Japan. Apparently uses the same system as Wallenstein, which I've never played. Has the coolest combat mechanism ever. Has a miniature tower which the attacking and defending armies are thrown into - it's designed so that some will get stuck in the tower - whichever come out at the bottom determine the winner. Armies that get stuck might get shaken loose in a later battle, so it can be hard to know for sure what your odds are. Normally the larger army is going to win, but the outcome and how costly it will be is never entirely certain.
Gloria Mundi is about fleeing Rome before the Huns get there. Players resources are based on lands that the Huns will destroy as they go so there is a tension of trying to build stuff up to help keep you moving even though you know it's just going to go down in flames, successfully conveys that leaving a sinking ship feeling. This is on my too buy list.
Canal Mania, despite its name has the feel of a railroad game, has a little Age of Steam flavor but is much simpler. Players get contracts to build canals between various cities. You're trying to build a network, but can only build a segment you have a contract for. You get points both for building and delivering goods. I bought this one.
Thurn and Taxis, this year's Spiel des Jahres winner. This also has sort of a railroad game feel to it. You are creating mail networks between cities. You get point for connecting all cities in a region, visiting different regions, and building ever longer routes - and you get more points for doing it before the other players. Quite good.
Yspahan is a rather abstract area control game. Dice are used to determine what resources are available each turn. Those are spent either on control of various regions or special abilities to be used on later turns. Fun, but nothing especially unique about it.
Mr. Jack is a two player deduction game. One player plays Jack the Ripper and the other is the constable trying to find him. Very interesting game, I think I need another play to get a good feel for it.
Gheos is another abstract area control game - sort of feels like Carcassone with fighting added. I didn't much care for it, but I think we may have been playing wrong.
Louis XIV is yet another area control game in disguise, with the areas being the various nobles surrounding Louis XIV. Players place down influence on the nobles with whoever has the most influencing getting that nobles favor for free, 2nd place allows you to buy their favor. Favors are used to complete missions which give you various special abilities. I liked this one, going on the wish list.
Vegas Showroom is an auction game in which players are bidding on components needed to build their hotel and casino. You need to balance features that will get people to your casino and those that generate revenue - there is also a bit of a Tetris component as buildings will only fit together in certain ways and you need to have them all connected. I liked it, no need to rush out and buy it though.
Mykerinos is yet another area control game, this time with an archeology theme as players claim areas of a dig in a bid to attract patrons.
Hameln I didn't get to play, but I did buy because it was discounted and it's by the makers of Shear Panic so adorable pieces are guaranteed.
What I played:
Hermagor, Age of Steam: Germany, Traumfabrik, Poison, Puerto Rico, Fiji, Antike, Leonardo da Vinci, Shogun, Attika, Gloria Mundi, San Juan, Canal Mania, Thurn and Taxis, Yspahan, Can't Stop, Mr. Jack, Gheos, Gardens of Alhambra, Louis XIV, Vegas Showdown, En Garde, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Mykerinos. I’m not sure how I managed to avoid playing Caylus.
Hermagor is a game in which you are merchants, buying goods in a central marketplace and then taking them out to villages to sell. It has a neat quasi-auction mechanic for buying the goods which is the heart of the game. Goods are laid out in a grid and you place agents next to those goods you want and they end up going to whoever has the most agents next to it. Since points on the grid are next to more than one good, you are in effect putting in multiple bids with each placement. I quite liked it and will keep an eye out for it when it gets released in the U.S.
Poison is a simple card game very similar to Take 6, players take turns playing numbered cards into three stacks trying to avoid being the one to make the total in the stack go over 13. Would make for a good filler game, I think I like Take 6 better though.
Fiji is a game I didn't like. It's an auction game in you're blind bidding for stuff of unknown value - excessively random for my taste.
Antike is a Civilization-like game that I liked, more war-like than some Civ type games which could be a plus or a minus depending on your tastes.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the Essen games that's been getting a lot of buzz. You play rival inventors and send out your minions to improve your laboratory, gather needed ingredients, or actually work on an invention. To complicate matters you are all working off the same group of potential inventions, so you better finish whatever you're working on before the other players. I enjoyed it, unsure if it's worth buying or not.
Shogun - not the old Milton Bradley game, but a new area control/quasi-war game set in feudal Japan. Apparently uses the same system as Wallenstein, which I've never played. Has the coolest combat mechanism ever. Has a miniature tower which the attacking and defending armies are thrown into - it's designed so that some will get stuck in the tower - whichever come out at the bottom determine the winner. Armies that get stuck might get shaken loose in a later battle, so it can be hard to know for sure what your odds are. Normally the larger army is going to win, but the outcome and how costly it will be is never entirely certain.
Gloria Mundi is about fleeing Rome before the Huns get there. Players resources are based on lands that the Huns will destroy as they go so there is a tension of trying to build stuff up to help keep you moving even though you know it's just going to go down in flames, successfully conveys that leaving a sinking ship feeling. This is on my too buy list.
Canal Mania, despite its name has the feel of a railroad game, has a little Age of Steam flavor but is much simpler. Players get contracts to build canals between various cities. You're trying to build a network, but can only build a segment you have a contract for. You get points both for building and delivering goods. I bought this one.
Thurn and Taxis, this year's Spiel des Jahres winner. This also has sort of a railroad game feel to it. You are creating mail networks between cities. You get point for connecting all cities in a region, visiting different regions, and building ever longer routes - and you get more points for doing it before the other players. Quite good.
Yspahan is a rather abstract area control game. Dice are used to determine what resources are available each turn. Those are spent either on control of various regions or special abilities to be used on later turns. Fun, but nothing especially unique about it.
Mr. Jack is a two player deduction game. One player plays Jack the Ripper and the other is the constable trying to find him. Very interesting game, I think I need another play to get a good feel for it.
Gheos is another abstract area control game - sort of feels like Carcassone with fighting added. I didn't much care for it, but I think we may have been playing wrong.
Louis XIV is yet another area control game in disguise, with the areas being the various nobles surrounding Louis XIV. Players place down influence on the nobles with whoever has the most influencing getting that nobles favor for free, 2nd place allows you to buy their favor. Favors are used to complete missions which give you various special abilities. I liked this one, going on the wish list.
Vegas Showroom is an auction game in which players are bidding on components needed to build their hotel and casino. You need to balance features that will get people to your casino and those that generate revenue - there is also a bit of a Tetris component as buildings will only fit together in certain ways and you need to have them all connected. I liked it, no need to rush out and buy it though.
Mykerinos is yet another area control game, this time with an archeology theme as players claim areas of a dig in a bid to attract patrons.
Hameln I didn't get to play, but I did buy because it was discounted and it's by the makers of Shear Panic so adorable pieces are guaranteed.