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Jesse Dean
United States
Orlando
Florida
Pound for pound, the amoeba is the most vicious predator on Earth!
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So early last month, just after I started this blog, I put together a list of the games that I was planning on acquiring from Essen 2011. Since then, I’ve read and reread a number of released rulebooks and I have revised my list a bit. I expect it will get revised a bit more between now and BGG.Con based on the sort of buzz that individual games receive, and that I will probably change my opinion on a number of borderline games based on how they play at BGG.Con. However, if I was going to Essen this week (and did not already have my current set of orders/pre-orders), then these are the games that I would be buying for sure or, at the very least, trying out.
Buy!
1. Vanuatu
My initial positive reaction to this one has only grown as I have more thoroughly explored the rulebook. I was briefly concerned that it was broken, but I was able to identify the flaws in my initial analysis and in the process developed a deep appreciation for the design. This is not a solitaire efficiency engine euro, but a high-contact blood sport where wrong moves will hurt and the person who is best able to force their opponents into no-win situations while at the same time properly exploiting the island’s steadily diminishing resources will be a winner. Who knew that living in the islands would be so brutal?
2. MIL (1049)
MIL (1049) is a game about relationships and how you are able to manage your resources to successfully forge relationships with other players. I initially dismissed this one as just another resource conversion game, albeit one with a nifty time element, but this focus on relationships, and the in-game implications of forging these relationships, has pushed this game from one I was indifferent to, to one that is my second most anticipated game of Essen 2011. Unfortunately, it is currently the only on my buy list that I don’t currently have a plan for acquiring, unless waiting to see if it shows up at an on-line retailer counts as a plan. Hopefully Funagain imports some!
3. Urban Sprawl
I pre-ordered this back in 2010, after being very impressed by the design of Dominant Species. The rulebook looks good, maybe not quite as good as Dominant Species, but it still looks like it will be a very good spatial game, focused on the life and growth of a city. Unfortunately, early reports have indicated that the game has a rather high degree of chaos, but I typically am skeptical of such complaints until I play the game for myself; people complained about the chaos of Dominant Species too, and I found it to be overall a minor issue.
4. Eclipse
I have greatly enjoyed Space Empires 4X so far, but its great length has limited the amount of times I have been able to get it on to the table. By adopting some more Eurogame mechanisms, Eclipse looks like it will be streamlined enough to play in a shorter time period than Space Empires while at the same time also having a greater degree of flavor thanks to the variety of possible alien races you can play. On the down side, I am not sure if the game’s combat system will be as interesting as Space Empire’s. Even if it is not, it looks like it will be a good alternative for times where we want a 4X game but do not have 4 hours for Space Empires.
5. Colonial: Europe’s Empires Overseas
Colonial still stands as perhaps my ideal colonial exploration and conquest game. The elegance of the mechanics, particularly in how a disc can be treasury, trade good, or influence depending merely on where it is in the board is particularly impressive. I have been excited enough about this one that I already wrote two strategy articles about it, and have been involved in fairly extensive discussions about how certain aspects of the game have played out. This has reduced my excitement for the game slightly, mostly because certain aspects of the game are no longer a mystery. I expect that I will quite enjoy it when I receive it.
6. Dungeon Petz
Despite my general indifference to Vlaada Chvatil’s designs, Dungeon Petz stands out as a game that could very well be exceptional. It is but one of three “putting on a show” style worker placement games that are to be released at Essen 2011, and takes several now well-worn tropes of the genre and gives them both a humor in the vein of 2009’s Dungeon Lords but also an additional level of strategic complexity and tension thanks to the need to meet multiple, competing requirements simultaneously. This combination has also made me more excited about a Vlaada Chvatil design then I have been for quite a while.
7. The Manhattan Project
While its thematic integration is quite impressive, the main thing that intrigues me about the Manhattan Project is its worker placement system. Unlike most other worker placement games which have set rounds for the placement and recovery of workers, in the Manhattan Project it is player-defined, with a player allowed to recall their workers on their turn in exchange for giving up the opportunity to place more, resulting in interesting possibilities for aggressive blocking and use of slower vs. faster placement and recovery as a weapon against your opponents. The rest of the game beyond this mechanic looks pretty solid too, with plenty of little twists and ideas.
8. Singapore
On its surface, Singapore is just another resource conversion game, but this surface view is almost certainly deceiving. The heart of my attraction to Singapore’s system is how it welds this resource conversion structure onto a strong spatial base, with both the creation of the board’s structure, and thus how you are able to take advantage of the resource generation/conversion buildings, being driven by the players themselves. The risks inherent in performing certain types of illegal activity add to the overall appeal, and I am fairly optimistic that this one will end up being worth opening.
9. Ora et Labora
Ora eta Labora looks to be a return to the Agricola/Le Havre style game that really brought Uwe Rosenberg to the attention of the board gaming world. Considering the great esteem I hold both for both of those games I consider this a positive development overall. Unfortunately, I am concerned that Ora et Labora will become a little stale after a while thanks to the lack of any random factors in the game or its set-up and its relatively low amount of direct player interaction. Still, I am excited enough about both its similarities to Rosenberg’s previous hits and its unique little touches that I am definitely going to pick it up.
Try!
10. Upon A Salty Ocean
Upon A Salty Ocean is a tight economic game where players may perform four separate actions, with each choice resulting in an increase in cost for further attempts to take said action. It has all of the features of a potentially great economic game, but I have enough concern about interplay variability that I admit I am a bit hesitant about this one. The potential for this one is strong enough though that I definitely want to try it because, even if it is a failure it will be an interesting failure.
11. Trajan
The mancala mechanic of this one looks both fun and difficult. Mastering it to be able to do what you want when you want it looks like it should be challenging, meaning that the learning curve in gaining mastery of the game should be a bit longer than average, increasing its replay value. Unfortunately, I’ve had enough of a negative reaction to Feld’s precious designs that I am going to try this one before I buy it. I think it is highly likely that I will buy it, but I need to experience it first to be sure.
12. Space Bastards
Space Bastards has a really interesting central mechanic, where players are taking actions based on the relationships between varieties of alien species in order to gain planet-based majorities during scoring rounds. It is not quite like anything I’ve seen before, and I am really looking forward to checking it out. The reason I am unwilling to buy it without trying it is because I am concerned that the rest of the game is not quite strong enough to allow for the central mechanic to flourish. There doesn’t seem to be quite enough turns to make it so the game has a good arc, and I fear that this will be Antics! all over again; a game with a great central mechanic that ultimately isn’t quite good enough because the rest of the game isn’t quite good enough.
13. Pret-a-Porter
The second of three “Lets Put On A Show” worker placement games being released at Essen 2011, Pret-a-Porter looks to be the most economically cutthroat of the three, with two kinds of debt, and a large need to properly manage a large collection of properties and employees in order to sell fashion designs. I am hesitant about this one for two reasons. The first is that I am not sure I need more than one “Lets Put On A Show” worker placement games, and Dungeon Petz looks to be the best of the three. The second is that this will end up being just another somewhat tired economic snowball game. Despite these concerns, it does look interesting enough to try, so it may end up sneaking into my collection after all.
14. Tournay
Troyes was my #3 game for 2010 and, like the rest of the Top 4, is one that I still play regularly. After its success, I am pretty much guaranteed to try the sequel game from these designers, so that alone is enough to get me to try Tournay. Unfortunately, the rules make this game look a bit too light for my taste. I am not sure the decisions are going to be complex enough to make this a game that is worth owning.
16. Belfort
Belfort has some interesting things going on for a worker placement game, both in the method of placing workers and how victory is determined, but I suspect it is not quite unique enough to make its way into my collection. It is interesting enough to investigate though, and I suspect I will try it out at BGG.Con, if not sooner (at Mike’s Mini Meet at the end of the month).
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Pound for pound, the amoeba is the most vicious predator on Earth!
) that I would rather stick to new stuff.
but that's playing blind. Next time we won't be playing so blind. Yes cards can be taken before your turn, but someone is going to pay a large price to do it, which appeared to balance that issue nicely. Union Boss throws everything out of whack though, so I'm waiting to see how that works out.
