I have posted a detailed game preview in the files section of Restaurant Row's BoardGameGeek entry. After you’ve taken the time to read all of the preview, please take this poll and let me know what you anticipate your interest level in this game to be. Please do this even if you have concluded that you are not interested in buying this game. Even that information will be helpful to me in figuring out how many people have read this preview, and how attractive this game is to the gaming public.

I think...it will be more attractive if using small wooden blocks/pieces instead of dry erase marker...just my 2 cents

I got to agree, it seems interesting but the aesthetic feel of the game is somewhat lacking. Maybe a more comprehensive graphics and bigger player screens might help out. The money tokens could be made into different forms of currencies for example Michelin stars instead of a plain boring poker chips. Hope it helps.

I had that at first, but it's too easy to brush the little wooden pieces accidentally.

I'm the first to admit that my limitations as a self-publisher will keep this game from being as well produced as a major release. That's part of the reason for the poll. I'm trying to see how big a barrier that is for people to buy the game given the price I need to charge.

Images and concept sound interesting - looking forwards to that preview file going up.

This looks really interesting - reminds me a bit of Hotel Life.

Can you provide more details of when you are planning on releasing this, and what the likely cost is to be?

Also, how many players does the game cater for, and how long does a game typically last?

Looks good - I'll be keeping a definite eye on this one.

Good luck !

If I had to give a date, I would say the end of August. What I'm doing now is sending the game out for a second round of blind playtesting, to make sure the rules in my head are the same as the rules as written. I'm also planning on attending Protospiel, the game designer playtesting conference, on July 24-26, for more playtesting.

The game plays from 2-6 players. The cost is likely to be in the $35-40 range MSRP, though past experience shows that sites like Boards and Bits and FunAgain may buy in bulk and then offer them a bit cheaper.

The PDF preview has yet to be approved on boardgamegeek, but boardgamenews has put it up: http://www.boardgamenews.com/articles/restaurantrowpreview.p...

I played this (in prototype form, obviously) at Origins last year. It was quite enjoyable. It had a Vegas Showdown kind of feel to me. The dry-erase instead of bits were an unfortunate necessity; in our game, we kept knocking the bits out of place. I hope you'll have a copy in the form it will be published at this year's Origins... I'd love to see what changes have been made.

I'm not sure that I'll be able to make it to Origins this year, but I'd be happy to appoint an emissary with a copy or two of the game. Let me think about this.

Hi,

I tried to play this last year at Origins, but I remember dozing off in the middle of the rules and the game (It was long day and VERY late.) I do remember really wanting to try it again. I liked the concept and the game, as much as I can recall, was quite interesting.

Sorry to hear you won't be making Origins this year.

Joe

My poll response would go from "Sounds fun!" to "I'm ordering..." if the overall design where made a bit more attractive.
Otherwise, as I'm a BGgeek and I work in a restaurant...I'm definitely interested!

As it is I can't see me buying a copy. As requested in this thread, the need for dice, blind bidding, and dry erase marker usage makes it less likely to be purchased by anyone I know.

If you could use a cube and cut a little area of the plastic open to place it on the actual board, it would stem more interest. Blind bidding is sometimes fun, other times not. It depends on the game whether it fits the theme. Dice needed for blind pricing? tokens placed in hand would work though that means the cost goes up. The cost might be your Goliath when it comes to producing this game. It seems like it needs a better production, and that might be out of your realm. Currently, I would make a few, and see how the game does. Take it to Essen if possible.
Pitch it to few publishers if you visit a convention or two. See what the publishers say.

And without camels it will be a hard sell. j/k

If it means that much to you, I could make camel one of the meats you can buy in the Butcher Shop.

No worry, probably tastes like chicken anyways. :P

The dice are used to set up the table. They introduce very little luck into the game. As it is, there is a lot of luck, but it comes from drawing the right tiles out of the bag.

The blind bidding only happens in special cases. Kind of in the same way as Leonardo da Vinci where you blind bid when a conflict shows up, but it isn't really the heart of the game.

Actually, this game is similar (at least the theme) to another PnP game "Delivery!"

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41413

Greg, will you post the full rule soon?

Thx

My wife is a foodie so I might have to pick it up as a Christmas gift for her. Keep me posted!!

Sounds interesting, but the preview left a few questions:

1) What do the scenesters use to determine placement?
2) Is there a downside to getting the critic? It seems like he ought to be a customer that you don't always want, particularly if he comes before your restaurant isn't quite done yet.
3) I think more people would have a better idea if they want to purchase with the rules posted, so they get a feel for play and flow of the game.

1) The Scenesters will go to whichever restaurant is most crowded that day.

2) The Critic judges how good your restaurant is in relation to the other restaurants in terms of food, service, and ambiance. The formula is this: Every restaurant must have at least 1 star. When the Critic visits, they receive two additional stars if they are the best or tied for the best in food, service, or ambiance. If they are 2nd best, they receive one additional star.

Given that all restaurants start out at 2 out of 5 stars, a visit by the Critic is likely to boost the rating early on. After that, however, if you've skimped on food for a round when the Critic comes or not kept up in service and ambiance, it's possible that he can drop your rating.

The Shill can bump up your rating by one star per visit, and the Critic and the Shill cannot go to the same restaurant in the same round effectively making your restaurant Critic-proof. But the Shill can't award the maximum amount of stars, and he doesn't pay.

3) Hmmm... I'd have to be convinced that publishing the full rules of the game before actually publishing the game is a good idea. Right now my agenda is final playtesting, then sending out copies for review, assembling parts, then publication.

Hi Greg,

While I'm most definitely interested in the game and love the theme, the price and artwork would most certainly keep me from picking up a copy. In it's current form, I'd be more willing to buy it as a PnP PDF and simply make up a copy on my own. As a suggestion, cleaning up and coloring the customer tokens would go a long way...

I did this one up quickly in Inkscape:



-Nate

After hearing Steven rave about it on the ride home from Protospiel, I'm even more disappointed I didn't get a chance to play. I'm definitely interested.

Yeah it's a fantastic euro, and the theme is a great fit. We played a 2 player game and it was really tense and interesting. There are alot of choices and alot of ways to win. There are short term and long term payouts. It has some blind bidding, but I like how it's used.

Solid design.

OK folks, I'm quietly opening the storefront for preorders before I send out mass publicity so I can start slow. Order before 9/5/09, when I'll begin shipping, and receive $5 off the eventual $34.95 price.

http://www.pair-of-dice.com/games/restaurantrow.html

Bon Appetit!

i oredered a game and ll arrive tomorrow.hope to try this weekend at a restaurant