Chicago Express – Review

Chicago Express is a train game currently published by Queen Games. Originally, it was known as Wabash Cannonball and was released in a limited format by Winsome Games. (This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com)

Chicago Express:

• Designed by: Harry Wu
• Published by: Queen Games
• Number of players: 2-6
• Playing time: 60 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Chicago Express pits players as investment tycoons attempting to maximize their returns in this stock market manipulation game.

Players take turns to purchase shares, develop land and expand railroad networks of four (or five) railroad companies. Once a railroad company reaches Chicago, the ambitious Wabash Cannonball comes into play.

After each round is over, the railroad companies issue dividends to share owners. After the last dividend is paid out, the richest investor is the winner.

Do you have what it takes to become the next wealthy railroad tycoon?

Game Play

On a player’s turn, they have available a choice among three actions:

• Auction a share
• Develop
• Expand railroad

In the game, there are 4 primary railroad companies, B&O, C&O, PRR, and NY Central and each has a limited amount of shares.

Auctioning shares is the primary way to put money into company coffers which is necessary for expansion. Other ways are to develop woodland areas.

Shares are also the means to receiving dividend income from the companies.

Developing other areas such as cities and mountain terrain increase the value of railroad companies.

And finally, expansion allows companies to attempt to reach Chicago.

Observations

I have played Chicago Express in both of its incarnations. Personally, I prefer the austere Wabash Cannonball look to Queen’s Chicago Express look.

Regardless of which you prefer, I think this is an excellent game!

For train enthusiasts who don’t wish to play several hours worth of a single game, Chicago Express provides an appropriate experience in about 60 minutes.

Game play is fast, decisions have significant impact on your financial standing and money is tight!

Wabash Cannonball listed the minimum age requirement as being “29+” but I have taught this game to younger players (11 & 13). The younger players have some difficulty in deciding what a good move is but that didn’t dampen their gaming experience.

What I have found about this game is that no two games are ever exactly alike and that is a great bonus.

I have played this game with all player ranges. I think it scales well for each of the player counts though I do prefer a 3-4 player game.

Also, I have found that players who played a single game immediately want to play another game of it right away. That, to me, is a sign of a great game.

Chicago Express definitely is a step up from lighter “train-themed” games such as Ticket to Ride.

While the full-flavour of 18xx games are richer and provide a greater breadth of stock market manipulations, Chicago Express does carve out a niche for itself in this economic manipulation genre.

I highly recommend it!

Happy gaming.

Dominion: Intrigue – Review

Dominion: Intrigue was first published in 2009 and is designed by Donald X. Vaccarino. It is the first expansion for Dominion. (This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com)

Dominion: Intrigue

• Designed by: Donald X. Vaccarino
• Published by: Rio Grande Games
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 30 min
• Player ages: 8+

A Quick Overview

“Something’s afoot. The steward smiles at you like he has a secret…”

Dominion: Intrigue is both an expansion and a stand alone game. It is possible to combine decks to create new sets of kingdom cards and further explore the kingdom.

To quickly summarize, Dominion: Intrigue adds new cards that have dual properties. For instance cards can both be action cards and VP cards allowing for more creative card play combinations.

Game Play

Game play in Intrigue is much the same as Dominion;

A player draws a hand of 5 cards (which may be modified by other players’ action cards) and then game play follows the A-B-C process listed in the rule book.

• “A” is for Action; a player can only perform one action using a card with an action property.
• “B” is for Buy; a player may only purchase one other card from the existing cards in play.
• “C” is for Clean up; a player then discards all cards, played or not, into a discard pile.

What sets Intrigue apart from the original game is the introduction of a “Pass” action where a card is passed to another player.

Also, some of the action cards provide a choice of actions. This can provide for a broader action sequence than the original, base game.

Observations

I had played Dominion several dozen times prior to getting Intrigue. I wanted to get Intrigue because I was getting a little tired of the basic cards and I wanted to try out something new.

Intrigue provided that and more.

With the new Intrigue, players can mix freely between the 50+ kingdom decks and create some interesting combination of cards.

As mentioned above, there are cards that provide multiple purposes. Among them is the “Harem” card which costs 6 and provides 2VP (an Estate equivalent) and is valued at “2″ coins during the “B”uy phase.

Normally, the VP cards generally serve to “clog” up your hand and are sometimes useless during game play. The Harem, however, is useful. Though it is not as valuable as a gold card, it will not diminish the hand as much as a normal VP card.

These multi-purpose cards are a great addition to Dominion and help to make the game richer than the base game.

Also, it seemed to me that Dominion, the base game, didn’t provide for as much player interaction as Intrigue. There are a number of kingdom cards in Intrigue that directly affect other players. I think this is a good thing.

This expansion is a more aggressive, more in-your-face Dominion. Some players will like this and some won’t.

Happy gaming.

Agricola – Review

Agricola is a game about creating the best farm you can! It was published in 2007, designed by Uwe Rosenberg and currently published by Z-Man Games. This review was originally published on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Agricola:

Designed by: Uwe Rosenberg
Published by: Z-Man Games
Number of players: 1-5
Playing time: 120 min
Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Players are farmers with a small plot of land that, over the course of the game, will develop into a robust farm consisting of animals in pastures, fields of vegetables and grains and the sounds of a happy, content and well-fed family!

Sounds like an intriguing game?

It sure is!

Game Play

In Agricola players attempt to turn a bare plot of land (except for two wooden rooms) and turn it into a diversified farm. How this is done is by sending mum and dad out to the fields to gather “stuff” to help the farm.

Some of the actions are to:

Collect wood
Go fishing (for food)
Sow a field
Get some animals
Enlist some help
And so on

Initially, players are limited to 2 actions (one for mum and one for dad) but as the family grows, additional actions are given per family member.

How to effectively make use of your actions over the course of 14 rounds is what makes this a gem of a game. And the winner of the game is the one with the most points.

Observations

I like Agricola but it is not my favourite game. That being said, Agricola is (currently) rated #1 on BoardGameGeek.com and there’s probably a good reason why.

It is a worker placement game and there are tense decisions which are qualities that I like. However, I don’t feel satisfied/full at the end of the game as I think I should feel.

The premise of the game is quite simple; take your almost empty farm and make something grand of it in the allotted 14 game turns.

The game rewards diversity instead of specialization. A well rounded farm, one that has sheep, cattle, boar, vegetables and grain, will score more than a farm with only sheep or only cattle.

The game is made more complex by the addition of the Occupation and Minor Improvement cards totaling 300+ cards. Each player is dealt 7 of each at the beginning of the game.

Careful play and interaction of these Occupation and Minor Improvement cards can give a player an advantage over another player.

Agricola is a fun game and engaging. I have played this game with younger players (ages 12 and 14) with mixed results. The youngest doesn’t like it too much but the older one enjoys it.

I have found this game to be more appealing to players who do not like direct confrontation. Even the farming theme brings forth the qualities of sharing and cooperation.

Happy gaming.

Reef Encounter – Review

Reef Encounter was published in 2004 and is designed by Richard Breese and is currently published by Z-Man Games. This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Reef Encounter:

• Designed by: Richard Breese
• Published by: Z-Man Games
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 90 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Imagine yourself as a parrotfish with a crew of 4 shrimp who help you to manoeuvre around the reef to feed your appetite for coral!

Well, that’s Reef Encounter for you! It’s a challenging game and requires careful and strategic management and placement of shrimp to guard coral, larva to instigate coral growth, polyps to grow coral, and algae to manipulate ocean conditions to favour one type of coral over another.

The winner of the game is the one (parrotfish) who has consumed the most valuable coral in the ocean.

Game Play

The goal of the game is to grow coral as large as it can be and then to eat it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is but game play is a bit trickier in how you accomplish the goal.

On a player’s turn, there are available ten possible actions; some which can be played multiple times and some which can be played once.

At the beginning of a turn (1st action), if you are able to, your parrotfish can eat a coral and its guardian shrimp.

At the end of the turn (10th action), you then replenish a set of tiles and larva cube from the ocean board.

In between the 1st and the 10th actions, you can:

• Grow coral
• Attack coral
• Change ocean conditions
• Move your shrimp
• Introduce a shrimp
• And other actions

Growing coral and attacking coral form a lot of your actions. How you do so affects the nature of the game and therein lies the skill in playing Reef Encounter!

Observations

I like Reef Encounter but, unfortunately, it doesn’t get played as much. This is because the game is very involved!

On your turn you decide whether to eat, create up to two new coral chains, introduce a single shrimp, (re)move shrimp and so on…

…There are many things going on and it takes a number of plays to wrap your head fully on the consequences of your actions.

Though there are “only” 10 possible actions you have to choose from, the way the actions interact have a great impact on how you make strategic decisions. This is how the game becomes “involved”.

Should I eat my shrimp now? Or should I wait to grow my coral a bit?

Should I lock the ocean tile now and ensure dominance or do something else?

Should I defend this coral and grow it or should I use another player’s coral as a temporary shield?

The answer to all these questions is: “It depends.”

Reef Encounter is a strategy game but you should also be noticing how other players are playing. In some ways the balance between strategic moves and tactical moves shifts during player turns.

Do you sacrifice that bit now and play to your overall strategy or do you cause a bit of a scare and respond to the threat?

I have played this game with 2, 3 and 4 players. The more players you add, the greater the time between turns (and not in a linear sense). If this is something that turns you off a game, please give this one a wide berth.

Is this a satisfying game? Most definitely yes! Try it over several games and come back to it every once in a while.

Happy gaming.