If you are a very avid reader of mine you know I enjoy board games. I thought I would take a little bit of a detour and share a little from the past game night we had, last Sunday. I hope you will enjoy it. =)
I was finally able to get away to a game night with an old friend and two new ones. The game in question to be played was Anno 1800, by Martin Wallace. And if the name sounds familiar to you it is most likely because you have played the computer game this is based on, or one of its many predecessors.
The game does a surprisingly good job of capturing the feel of the computer game. Just like there, you have a population of different types, and each type of population has different needs and wants. In this game it is represented by cards, they have a need on them, and if you are able to fulfill that need. Produce the required gods, then you can play the card. And you get a bonus.
These bonuses can in most cases be saved and used on a future turn. Allowing you to make bigger more impactful turns in the future.
There however is no combat in this game, so if you enjoy that part of the computer game you will most likely be disappointed.
We started off with me being late, of course. I managed to miss my buss so I arrived 15 min late. Not a big deal but probably a sign of things to come in the game. Lucky for me the game was already set up. So they used the time I was late efficiently, typical of board gamers. =)
The game is about to start
Each player has their own player board in front of them. This is representing their town or settlement if you will. It allows them to produce a vast assortment of gods. In the middle of the table is the general play area, this is where all the industry tiles are. These can be built by the players in their play area on future turns. Allowing them to produce a new type of gods or gods with a different type of worker.
You can also annex more areas for you to build on. As well as establishing colonies in the new world, allowing you to produce exotic goods like cotton, rubber or sugar just to name a few.
The goal of the game is to earn as many victory points as possible. This is done by playing the aforementioned population cards. The more demanding goods are required, generally the better the reward. There are also common goals, that the players compete with each other in order to complete. In this game, we had three goals that each gave points for having a certain type of factory in your settlement. And two goals that gave points to the player with the most trade tokens and the most population cubes.
The game went relatively smooth all though out. My initial usage factory was the hit of the game. Allowing me to earn a lot of money from trading with the other players. And if crypto has thought me anything, more money is always better. ;)
The game is designed so it is hard for the players to keep track of who is winning and who is not. This is because players usually end up with a lot of different population cards in front of them. Making up the bulk of the points for the player. And the game takes long enough that no one is constantly asking others to count up their cards and points. Heck, I don't even count my own.
My play area around halfway through the game
And when the dust had settled around 3.5 hours after the game started, the victory points had been added up. I was victorious. Coming in at 140 points and the player in second place at 120 something. So it was far from a landslide victory.
While I do like it. And I think it is one of the better Martin Wallace games I have played over the last couple of years. I see some red flags that it is good to be aware of if you are planning to get this game.
The first one is if you or anyone in your playgroup is suffering from analysis paralysis, this game is probably not a good fit. Meaning it will most likely take a lot of extra time.
The second is, unlike most games this game only hints at the middle game and the end game. It sets you up knowing what to do to start out. But then from the start to the end you are pretty much left to figure things out on your own. While this is not a bad thing. It is one thing that you should be aware of. And a reason I think the game is better suited for players who have played a couple of different games already. And built up some experience.
The third one is, while it does not have to. The game can tend to take quite some time to play. For me, the times I played it, it usually comes in at around 4 hours. So this is something you want to be aware of also.
Al in all I think it is a very good game, and one I look forward to playing again.
I hope that you have enjoyed this foray into non-crypto territory. And who knows, there might be more posts like this to come in the future as well. =)
See you on the interwebs!
Picture provided by: https://boardgamegeek.com/
Resources: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/311193/anno-1800
