This is #1 on my dance card, Lorna. I'm very happy that this got to Columbus so early.

See you tomorrow!

You both suck.

See you (sigh) Thursday!

pk

All 3 of you suck. See you next year.

awesome. wish i was there.

I've read several comments that Automobile is a sort of super-decorated Lokomotive Werks. Any truth to that?

yes it could easily be described as that

More than in Hansa (a game I really enjoy,) there's a feeling of sameness to this game as you progress.

i kind of sounded like hansa lite

Having played a few times now, I wonder about it's replayability.

I think it is highly replayable, as the random gem setup and multiple scoring options offer opportunistic situations. The turns are wonderfully fast.

Unlike Hansa, you don't have to worry about setting up your left-hand opponent, but there is definitely interaction in grabbing contracts where someone else has already become a master or is about to become one.

I thought Burger, Baumeister, & Co. was far less interesting than Valdora because once someone opens a zone with a park, residential building, or civic building, everyone else just piles on, normally with the second mover placing a crane.

I'm looking forward to Goldene Stadt.

One thing to watch out for [and this very well may have been a fluke] is a runaway leader with regards to collecting silver only. I took a strong lead in this game, and ended with 20+ points more than 2nd place because the only resource I saw immediately easy to obtain and fulfill contracts for was silver. I ended up grabbing all of the bonus markers for silver [adding one or two blues I think], and just kept fulfilling the contracts, racking up 10VP after 10VP after 10VP...I also was lucky enough to rarely pay anyone to walk into a city. Not sure if that helped much though.

I would like to hear further thoughts on this one.

This game has nice smooth mechanics. I didn't care for it because of the tactical nature of the rondel mechanism, but then again I don't care for games like Torres and Goa for similar reasons, so don't put too much stock in what I think.

Unlike Valdora, I thought Finca had a very flat mathematical feel, with no acceleration towards the end. It was more a process of doing the same analysis every turn and tactically making the best move or at least maintaining the most flexibility to be able to succeed at Plan B if one of your opponents takes Plan A away from you.

It had great bits. Other than that, I pretty much agree with Jonathan's assessment.

I totally agree. This is on my must buy as well. I've already printed out the "alternate" boards in anticipation

Got to play this one twice. I'll probably end up picking this one up.

I officially dub this game 'Latrina', not because the game is bad or anything, but because I'm convinced there is a 'Latrina' strategy that works . I also couldn't stop quoting the movie 'Top Secret' when people's dice got sent to the Latrina.

I recently posted much better English rules for this. Look under the game listing.

This one has always intrigued me.

Yes, this is my favorite 2008 release that is not an expansion or re-issue. A good mixture of planning and luck, and it even feels like dogsled racing to me!

Problem? I remember nothing but smooth sailing.

Amazon.de is a decent source if they have other German games you're looking for. (14 euro flat-rate shipping to US).

My copy has been a big hit with the 6 year old down the street. Haven't played it with adults yet. Looks like it'd be especially fun with 4.

Very vicious for such a small game. Pretty simple but definitely has a lot more going for it than meets the eyes.