Louis XIV – Review

Louis XIV is an area control game designed by Rudiger Dorn in 2005 and is currently published by Rio Grande Games. Mr. Dorn also designed Goa and Jambo. This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Louis XIV:

• Designed by: Rudiger Dorn
• Published by: Rio Grande Games
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 100 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Each player is a member of Louis XIV’s (also known as the Sun King) Court and carry out missions and goals at Versailles.

Players, through the careful playing of influence cards, secure favours from other members of the Court. Each of these 12 members of the Court provide various items to the players which help fulfill missions and thus earn victory points.

Securing favours from these 12 courtiers (represented by 12 board tiles) is determined by the player with the most influence markers.

The player with the most victory points wins.

Game Play

On a player’s turn, he plays an influence card. The influence card can either be a curtain (wild) or indicate one of the 12 members of the Court.

Each courtier card is worth up to 3 influence markers which the player places on the board from his personal supply. Instead of playing on the board, the player can choose to add 3 influence markers to his personal supply from the general supply.

The wild influence cards are valued at 2 influence markers.

When placing influence markers on the board, the player places markers starting on the character on the card. The wild influence cards allows the player to start at any courtier.

The round ends after all but one of the influence cards are played. Then the winner of each of board tile is determined and receives their reward.

Play lasts for four rounds. The winner is the one with the most victory points after four rounds.

Observations

I like Rudiger Dorn’s games and this one is no exception.

Louis XIV can easily be played in about 45-60 minutes by experienced players and provides a lot of enjoyment. Setup time for this game may take a couple of minutes or so but it is worth it.

In the game play above, I didn’t mention anything about Louis XIV but his presence is very subtle. You see, Louis visits one of the 4 courtiers closest to him every round and grants a gift to the winner of that courtier.

This provides yet another way to obtain tokens to fulfill mission cards.

So you see, there are quite a number of things that a player has to keep track of in this game. And that is something that I find quite enjoyable.

I have played this game with all the player counts and I enjoy each one of them. A 2 player game is great fun and a 4 player game provides much angst.

What a delight!

Happy gaming.

King of Siam – Review

King Of Siam is an area control game designed by Peer Sylvester. It is currently published by Histogame. (This review was originally published on BoardGame-Reviews.com)

King Of Siam

• Designed by: Peer Sylvester
• Published by: Histogame
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 30 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

It is 1874 and the king of Siam (now Thailand) has introduced some contentious reforms resulting in a struggle between three factions, the Malays, Lao and the Royalists.

To stay strong between the colonial powers of the British Empire and French Indochina, King Chulalongkorn must ensure that unity is preserved.

Players use action cards to move factions into and out of the eight Siam provinces and ensure that Siam isn’t colonized. Each card played gives a player influence in one of the three factions.

The winner is the one with the most influence over the winning faction.

Game Play

Each player is dealt the same number of cards. From these cards, the player has, on his turn, a choice to play an action card or pass.

If an action card is played, the action is taken and the player then removes a follower from any province on the board.

The provincial struggle is ended when all players pass in succession. If there is any tie between the three factions, the British arrive and forcibly take control.

The game ends immediately when the British control four provinces or after eight provincial struggles.

Observations

I bought King of Siam because it is not a widely available title and it had strong recommendations from fellow boardgamers.

It is a mentally involved game and doesn’t provide the necessary fun for me. Thankfully, it is also a very short game and can be played in about 20-30 minutes.

The scoring in this game is key to play. And the better you understand it, the better your chances of victory. Also, of the games that I have played, there have always been ties so it is also best to understand the tie-conditions too.

All in all, it is an elegant series of rules and winning conditions that make this a clever game.

Unfortunately, it is not my kind of game.

Happy gaming.

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.