Goa: My heart Goas out to you!

My History with Goa:

I’ve played Goa a fair few times. And every time has been a treat. I’ve decided to write this review in order to share some of my love with you, dear reader, and encourage you to pick up this little gem with a slightly off-putting name.

I’ve seen Goa for a fair while, hover around on the top 20, but I was always put off by it’s short name and auction mechanic. I’m a mixed gamer, and I enjoy Euros, Wargames and Ameritrash. But the name Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition is a lot more attractive to me than simply Goa. I also have never, before playing this, warmed up to any auction mechanic. It’s just not my cup of tea, or so I thought. Also also, the somewhat ugly orange box, with a somewhat ugly man on it, turned my attention away from this game for quite a while.

I eventually picked it up, as it was just recommended by too many individuals as a great two-player game, which, being married and trying to convert my wife to geekism, is always something I’m on the lookout for. The end result was a somewhat mixed affair. She enjoyed the game, I loved the game. Our first few games were very close, one of which was won by me by only 1 point. The next game was a disaster. Never play Goa with your wife when she is tired, menstruating, and grumpy. I absolutely creamed her. I came to some unconscious enlightenment regarding Goa strategy and I almost maxed out my advancement board, whereas she was pretty much only on tier two and a couple threes (refer gameplay below). She’s never played with me again. Since then, I’ve been trying to subtly, and very gently trying to convert my gaming group, slowly introducing it, tossing the name around in casual conversation, but using complete restraint attempting never to be too pushy. I was treated, with ultimate delight, when on weekend past, someone else suggested it! Bring on the Goa!

Gameplay:

Summary of Play:

Gameplay consists of two main phases.

The first phase is the Auction phase where the players choose what tiles (tiles represent plantations, ships, colonists, actions etc which are taken by the high bidder) they want to be auctioned. The mechanic of ‘being adjacent’ limits your choice ot only a few possible tiles. Bidding is done using the 1-bid method, so you need to come out strong if you’re serious about gaining the item.

The second phase is the Action phase where the players take turns performing an action. There are three action round but more actions can be obtained.

The actions that can be taken are:

Advance the progress chart but shipping appropriate spices.
Build Ships (used for shipping spices to advance your progress chart)
Gather Spices
Gather Taxes
Go on an Expedition (draw expedition card(s) which have a variety of effects)
Attempt to establish a colony (which in turn can be used to gather spices)

Advancement on the progress chart is a primary objective. Not only are most Victory Points available here, but also every Advancement makes one of the other actions (ships, taxes etc) more effective. There are a total of 5 tiers on the Progress Chart (you begin the game with tier one in each category)

Gameplay then returns to the Auction phase. This happens four times. Then all the auction tiles are replaced with a more powerful second set, and this is done four more times. Then final scoring ensues.

Review of Play:
Gameplay is very fun and fast (after your first game or two). There is very little downtime, as most actions are as simple as “Building three ships, next.” Therefore, this game is very easy to play. I’ve even taught my 6 and 8 year old how to play. But gameplay is not so easy to master. I’ve found that I need to change my strategy constantly dependant on what tiles I get in the auction, and also dependant on what my opponent(s) are doing.
There is very little luck in Goa. The only luck element is drawing random expedition cards (whether from exploration or colonization). But, the random element which is present in setting up the opening auction board (only 25 of 27 auction tiles are ‘available’ in each set and only 4 tiles per player are ever used) keeps each game fresh and unpredictable. Again, the key is flexibility. If you begin with a set goal in mind, you are going to highly cripple yourself. I’ve heard the odd rumour of ‘winning strategies’ but in my experience, have found this to be unfounded.

Length: The game plays in about 45-60 minutes with experienced players (dependant on number of players). Add an extra 30 minutes for newcomers.

Components:

Nice wooden bits represent the spices. The gameboard is well thought out and larger than it ‘needs’ to be with spaces for all the bank, colonies etc. The progress chart *is* your player aid and shows you what you can do each action. Cards represent colonists, ships, money etc. I really have no critique of the components. A turn marker/chart could be useful, and I’ve downloaded one from the Geek. But this is not required, it’s hard to determine if it’s more difficult to just keep track of what action round you’re in, or to remember to move the turn marker each turn. So, this is probably a superfluous player aid.

Value: In my country, this game is usually less expensive than most of the other Euro ‘big box’ games, ie. Puerto Rico, Traders of Genoa, etc.


Balance:

This game is incredibly balanced, as you would expect from a diceless game with an important auction mechanic. This does mean that an experienced player (me) against a non-gamer (my wife) is likely to result in a night sleeping on the couch.


Rating:

My overall rating for Goa is a 9/10. I don’t have any 10/10 games. When I look at the few 9/10s that I’ve given, most of them are current fads and hype which, in honesty, will likely slip to 8s or possibly even 7s with the passing of time. Goa will probably remain a 9. With this in mind, it is probably the only game created which is in the realm of possibility of becoming my first and only 10.

Summary:

Goa is an incredible little (under 1 hour) Eurogame which plays very well, but quite differently, with 2 to 4 players. (Two players probably being my favourite). The game is easy to play, but difficult to master (I by no means consider myself a master). It is a well-rounded out Strategy Game.