Post by Gilvan Blight on Feb 1, 2010 19:26:11 GMT -5
Quickly: a great game, lots of thinking, pasted on theme.
Summary:
As is typical of these games it's hard as heck to describe without having it in front of you. I will try my best.
What you have here is a math based abstract game with a pasted on Russian Renaissance theme. This is done by hiring workers to earn rubles to build buildings and win over aristocrats. All of these things are represented by cards that go in front of the player on the table. The goal is to have more victory points then your opponents before you run out of cards.
You start the game by giving players starter money and separating out the decks of cards. The cards come in four types. The first are the workers, these are green backed cards that provide a player with 3 rubles each worker phase. Each worker also has a type which is important later. The next deck of cards are the Buildings. Most of these just provide victory points though some do provide some special way to break the rules (like the Village that lets you buy it cheap and sell it later for more). The next deck is the Aristocrats. These cards usually provide money but some provide victory points and the most expensive provide both. The last deck contains Trading cards. These are interesting as they replace cards you already have in your playing field and tend to upgrade them significantly.
Each Round starts by laying out the workers. Usually you put out 8 but with less then 4 players you start with less then 8. Players then in turn take 1 of 4 actions.
They can buy a card by paying it's cost in rubles.
They can take a card into their hand
They can buy a card from their hand by paying it's cost in rubles or
They can pass.
Play goes around the table until everyone passes. Then you move on to the building phase. In this phase building cards are put out to replace bought workers. Then the 4 actions above are repeated. After the building phase is done aristrocrats are drawn to replace the bought cards. The last phase has Trade cards put out. After each phase players earn whatever is on the cards they have bought. So in the Worker phase players earn money and victory points for their workers, after the Building phase players get rubles and victory points for their buildings etc.
The Trade phase is unique in a couple of ways. The trade deck consists of cards of the other three types (workers, buildings and aristocrats). These are upgrade cards that players buy to replace their existing cards. Players just pay the difference between the cards. This is also where the types of workers comes in. Each worker upgrade has a specific type and can only replace a specific worker (for example the Furrier replaces the Trapper). Also there is no scoring at the end of this phase.
Some things that make it interesting: after each trade phase the cards that are left move to a lower area of the playboard. Anything in this area will be up for one full round and during that time all of the cards cost 1 less to buy. A further discount is offered on any card that duplicates a card you already own. You pay 1 less for each copy of the card you have and the discounts stack. So if you have 2 Gold Miners which cost 4 and you buy one from the bottom row you would only pay 1 ruble (-1 for bottom row, -2 for two of the same card in your play area).
Based on the number of cards in the game and the fact that most players will buy two workers the first time, a 4 player game always works out to be 4 rounds long. After one of the decks runs out you play through the entire round (all four phases) and then do final scoring. In final scoring you get a set amount of points for the number of different aristocrats you have as well as 1 point per 10 rubles you have left. The player with the most points wins.
As usual this sounds way more complicated then it is. The game plays in about 45 mins to an hour and a half and gets quicker once people learn the cards.
The Good:
This game was in the top 10 games when I first joined BoardgameGeek years ago, and I think it deserved that place. It's not there now (currently at number 90) which I think is mainly because it lacks the flash and bits of newer games. This is a great quick thinkers game with a ton of strategy. Every time I played this I always saw some other way to do things or took a chance on certain strategies that may or may not have worked. There didn't seem to be a 'right' way to play and I think that who you are playing with at the table would totally change your strategy. The mechanics are simple enough but then so hard to master. This game could get really strategic once players memorize the various cards in the deck.
The Bad:
This definitely isn't the best looking game. It feels a bit dated compared to the modern games put out by people like Fantasy Flight. The card art is nice and all but the board is boring and could use something, it's more functional then pretty. Of course this has no effect on gameplay. What I don't like though is the upgrade cards with two 3 ruble symbols on them. If they can print a victory card with 8 on it why not a money card with a 6?
The Ugly:
I still hate microcards. These aren't the smallest out there but I would still prefer normal card sized cards for any card based game.
Overall:
I really like this game. I think it deserves way more then it's 90th placed rank it currently has. It's nice and quick, easy to learn and has enough strategy to keep you coming back for more. Similar to games like Puerto Rico a lot of your strategy will depend on how the other players at the table are playing, and that's a great thing.
Summary:
As is typical of these games it's hard as heck to describe without having it in front of you. I will try my best.
What you have here is a math based abstract game with a pasted on Russian Renaissance theme. This is done by hiring workers to earn rubles to build buildings and win over aristocrats. All of these things are represented by cards that go in front of the player on the table. The goal is to have more victory points then your opponents before you run out of cards.
You start the game by giving players starter money and separating out the decks of cards. The cards come in four types. The first are the workers, these are green backed cards that provide a player with 3 rubles each worker phase. Each worker also has a type which is important later. The next deck of cards are the Buildings. Most of these just provide victory points though some do provide some special way to break the rules (like the Village that lets you buy it cheap and sell it later for more). The next deck is the Aristocrats. These cards usually provide money but some provide victory points and the most expensive provide both. The last deck contains Trading cards. These are interesting as they replace cards you already have in your playing field and tend to upgrade them significantly.
Each Round starts by laying out the workers. Usually you put out 8 but with less then 4 players you start with less then 8. Players then in turn take 1 of 4 actions.
They can buy a card by paying it's cost in rubles.
They can take a card into their hand
They can buy a card from their hand by paying it's cost in rubles or
They can pass.
Play goes around the table until everyone passes. Then you move on to the building phase. In this phase building cards are put out to replace bought workers. Then the 4 actions above are repeated. After the building phase is done aristrocrats are drawn to replace the bought cards. The last phase has Trade cards put out. After each phase players earn whatever is on the cards they have bought. So in the Worker phase players earn money and victory points for their workers, after the Building phase players get rubles and victory points for their buildings etc.
The Trade phase is unique in a couple of ways. The trade deck consists of cards of the other three types (workers, buildings and aristocrats). These are upgrade cards that players buy to replace their existing cards. Players just pay the difference between the cards. This is also where the types of workers comes in. Each worker upgrade has a specific type and can only replace a specific worker (for example the Furrier replaces the Trapper). Also there is no scoring at the end of this phase.
Some things that make it interesting: after each trade phase the cards that are left move to a lower area of the playboard. Anything in this area will be up for one full round and during that time all of the cards cost 1 less to buy. A further discount is offered on any card that duplicates a card you already own. You pay 1 less for each copy of the card you have and the discounts stack. So if you have 2 Gold Miners which cost 4 and you buy one from the bottom row you would only pay 1 ruble (-1 for bottom row, -2 for two of the same card in your play area).
Based on the number of cards in the game and the fact that most players will buy two workers the first time, a 4 player game always works out to be 4 rounds long. After one of the decks runs out you play through the entire round (all four phases) and then do final scoring. In final scoring you get a set amount of points for the number of different aristocrats you have as well as 1 point per 10 rubles you have left. The player with the most points wins.
As usual this sounds way more complicated then it is. The game plays in about 45 mins to an hour and a half and gets quicker once people learn the cards.
The Good:
This game was in the top 10 games when I first joined BoardgameGeek years ago, and I think it deserved that place. It's not there now (currently at number 90) which I think is mainly because it lacks the flash and bits of newer games. This is a great quick thinkers game with a ton of strategy. Every time I played this I always saw some other way to do things or took a chance on certain strategies that may or may not have worked. There didn't seem to be a 'right' way to play and I think that who you are playing with at the table would totally change your strategy. The mechanics are simple enough but then so hard to master. This game could get really strategic once players memorize the various cards in the deck.
The Bad:
This definitely isn't the best looking game. It feels a bit dated compared to the modern games put out by people like Fantasy Flight. The card art is nice and all but the board is boring and could use something, it's more functional then pretty. Of course this has no effect on gameplay. What I don't like though is the upgrade cards with two 3 ruble symbols on them. If they can print a victory card with 8 on it why not a money card with a 6?
The Ugly:
I still hate microcards. These aren't the smallest out there but I would still prefer normal card sized cards for any card based game.
Overall:
I really like this game. I think it deserves way more then it's 90th placed rank it currently has. It's nice and quick, easy to learn and has enough strategy to keep you coming back for more. Similar to games like Puerto Rico a lot of your strategy will depend on how the other players at the table are playing, and that's a great thing.