Introduction

I play games with a lot of different groups of people. In almost all groups, I'm the one responsible for supplying and explaining the games. Because of this I have to think carefully which games I bring to which groups. These considerations for, in this case, Princes of Florence will be the heart of this review. Hopefully this will give you some insight in whether Princes of Florence is suitable for your specific group.

Information


Images courtesy of their respective BGG owners.

Princes of Florence (PoF), is an insanely popular eurogame voor 3-5 players (latest edition sports two-player as well). Set in medieval/renaissance times, it involves bidding for resources which players can use to complete so-called "works" which will yield points and money. The works require certain amenities, like buildings, jesters, forests, as well as Freedoms (i.e. Freedom of Speech).

The rules are straightforward, with most of them prominently displayed on the central board. Unfortunately using the rules to play an effective game, or even to win, is quite hard in the beginning. New players have no indication as to the worth of the items that are up for bidding, which causes them to lose out on items, or to overpay.

I've only played and seen the new QWG edition, and I must say it's absolutely breathtaking. Especially the character art and the works are very nicely done. The other boards and component are pretty decent as well, although not en par with the cards.

What will "they" think of Princes of Florence?
Note that the stars indicate preference/attitude and not quantity, i.e. 1 star for playing time for a eurogamer means a dislike for duration for this game (i.e. too long). More stars equals more positive on a given subject. Of course caveat emptor and YMMV, because this classification is highly subjective. This means that these ratings are based on my opinion and experiences and may not correspond with others. Please leave some constructive feedback and I'll adjust the ratings accordingly.

1) Euro-gamers
overall
learning curve
playing time
strategy & tactics
luck
participation & downtime
fun-factor
look & feel
chance to hit the table

2) War-gamers
overall
learning curve
playing time
strategy & tactics
luck
participation & downtime
fun-factor
look & feel
chance to hit the table

3) Ameritrashers
overall
learning curve
playing time
strategy & tactics
luck
participation & downtime
fun-factor
look & feel
chance to hit the table

4) Non-gamers
overall
learning curve
playing time
strategy & tactics
luck
participation & downtime
fun-factor
look & feel
chance to hit the table

My $0.02 on Princes of Florence

PoF is an evening-filling entertaining game, but it's not particularly easy on new-comers. The rules are not too much, but valueing biditems, en choosing the right two actions per turn, will take a few games. After the few games though, the game will feel rock-solid and is bound the hit the table more often in the future. There's much too like, even though it takes some effort to get the most out of the game.

As always, there are things not to love about the game. Its not a game I'd choose to teach to non-gamers, even though I know that they will love the game after a few plays. Why is this? It probably comes down to how often you can game with a particular non-gaming-group of people. If this is the one shot to get them into gaming, PoF is a big risk. If you're bound to game again in the future, PoF will almost certainly be a succes. Multiple games is key here, I think. For the wargamers and ameritrashers PoF is mostly a game of preference. You can like bidding games, or not.

Some might say PoF lacks player interaction, and some might even go as far calling it multiplayer-solitaire. There is no way to destroy what another player has done, true, but there are other ways to foil another player's plans through more indirect means. Outbidding at the right moment, taking the last of a certain Freedom before others, etc. I think there's a lot of meta-game-interaction going , with lots of talking, leering, and loud bidding wars.

PoF is a game most people will like after multiple plays, but it's not very forgiving for newcomers. Nevertheless, PoF is a eurogame that's a very decent addition to any game collection.