Goa was published in 2004 and is designed by Rudiger Dorn who also designed another one of my favourite games, Jambo. This is a resource management game with a bit of an auction mechanism thrown in. This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com.
Goa:
- Designed by: Rudiger Dorn
- Published by: Rio Grande Games
- Number of players: 2-4
- Playing time: 90 minutes
- Player ages: 12+
A Quick Overview
Each player takes on the role of merchant at the beginning of the 16th century. The goal here is to become the best company by trading spices, sending out colonists and developing various cities of India.
This game is a resource management game which means that the goal of this game is to develop certain parts of your company whether it be plantations, shipping abilities, income generating abilities and so on.
Player interaction in this game is generated by the auctions which occur eight times during the course of the game. It is here that players compete with each other to procure items that will help them develop their trading companies.
The winner is the one has succesfully developed the strongest trading company.
Game Play
The game is broken into 2 rounds of four turns each. Each of the turns is then further broken into (at least) three player actions.
Each turn begins with an auction that will give players a chance to bid for tiles which provide certain benefits for the player’s company. After the auction finishes, each player then takes their player actions.
Player actions are the biggest part of this game. Players must be careful and plan accordingly to make use of their limited actions to develop the best trading company.
Each action is a “micro” step which builds up an economic foundation for their company.
Do players advance in finance instead of developing their shipping capabilities?
Or do they balance their developments?
Observations
I like Goa very much. I think this game is an excellent game and that it plays well for 2, 3 and 4 players. It is also definitely a “gamer’s game”, a term used for games that have more involved mechanisms.
If you are interested in exploring the possibility of a more complex game (than the ones that have been reviewed to date) then I would strongly recommend this one. I find it to be a very rewarding game that plays in about 90 minutes.
What I like about this game is that there are many things going on and it is a challenge to keep track of these things. Money management and the auctions are very rewarding. “Do I bid on this tile? Or hope that another one will open up?”
If you get the Rio Grande version of this game, keep in mind there is a rule change from the initial, German printing. With Rio Grande’s rule change, the “Expedition” development track becomes overly powerful and, in my mind, prevents this game from being as fun as it should be. (I’ll post this rule change as a comment)
One of the things that I like is that points are awarded on an additive basis. For example, developing two tracks to the fifth level is far more rewarding than developing five tracks to the second level.
You have to begin the game with a few general strategies and refine them as the game progresses. During the early- to mid- game, if you haven’t gotten a firm strategy going, then you will have a hard time with the rest of the game.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe this is a game that the younger players (12 and under) can easily take to because it is very involved.
As well, finding this game will be difficult as it is out of print currently. I have heard that a reprint will be available sometime in 2010. In the meantime…
Happy gaming.
Thushyanthan
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