While I'm a serious, 16-hours-a-session, gaming geek at heart, the reality is most of the time my gaming partners are my 13-year old son, 12-year old son, 61-year old mother and my girlfriend. Translation? While I yearn to play games like Europe Engulfed, the reality is more often Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride. More recently, that list also includes Attika.

Personally, I enjoy Attika quite a bit. It is really quick to pick up and play, yet the strategy is surprisingly deep for how lightweight the game is. Unlike a lot of other posters, I find the more players for this game, the better. In my opinion it is too easy to counter-and-parry with one opponent, whereas with three opponents there is more to keep track of and the results and flow of the game are more surprising. Yes, people will talk openly about blocking the front-runner (usually me, given my typical playing partners!) but at least in this more casual gaming envinronment it isn't too much of a problem.

However, my gaming partners have very different taks on the game. My mother and youngest son both really, really like the game, moreso than previous favourites like Settlers. They are both quiet intraverts (like me) and take to the pure strategic nature of it compared to the other Euros. On the other hand, my eldest son and girlfriend - extraverts, who don't always have patience when games get long - don't like it as much. My girlfriend especially, whose favourite game is Ticket to Ride, doesn't like it at all. In her language it is too complex, but I actually think it is more an issue of the game components. Since the pieces all look so similar, it is not intuitive how the free builds work without scrutinizing the playing board each player starts with.

To me, the biggest fault of this game is one of theme execution. I actually like the idea of building out Greek city-states in an area with finite landmass and resources. However, while each of the four city-states have unique historical names - Athens, Sparta, Thebes and Corinth - their pieces and make-up are absolutely identical, save for being different colours. The game does not take this very obvious opportunity to explore - and, in the process, teach - the cultural differences between them. Why doesn't Athens have more cultural buildings, while Sparta has more military buildings? I can't give a similar example for Corinth or Thebes because I don't know much about them historically, and Attika missed the opportunity to teach me!

Regardless, I definitely recommend this game. Its play is very straightforward, easy to pick up and able to be well understood after just one or two plays. Soem degree of Euro gamers will definitely like this, and I think it also suits people who like heavier games and want to knock out a quick play in less than an hour. Its also inexpensive and the quality of components is pretty high. Attika fits a nice place on my game shelf.