November was one of my lightest gaming months. Too much food and shopping I guess. I had 2 new to me games played and both were excellent. I have been working on my Top 50 games list. So I will include the link to the Geeklist here (https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/210590/martys-top-50-game...). Hope you see something you like. Enjoy!
New to me Games:
Tuscany Essential Edition - Played Normal Automa. Won 35-25
As always, beautiful presentation and components. Adding an expanded player board, structures, and special workers. These elements were the most popular from the full Tuscany game and put into this Essential Edition compilation. I drew many structure cards but didn't find an opportunity to take advantage of any of them. The bonus provided was minimal and not appealing enough to make the investment. I do want to try them out. The special workers were excellent. They help create combos and diversification that didn't exist before. The player board is much larger but still feels tight. The influence map is another interesting piece. It creates a mini-game of area control. Overall there is a lot going on. Tuscany makes Viticulture a much heavier game. Because of that I can see myself playing either just Viticulture or just Tuscany on any given day. The additional elements distract the streamlined design of Viticulture. Def. worth a try but I would say it is not a mandatory expansion.
Viticulture EE - [BGCOLOR=#009900]10/10[/BGCOLOR]
Tuscany EE - [BGCOLOR=#66FF99] 8/10 [/BGCOLOR]
American Railroads - 2 plays
This expansion adds a new board, a dynamite mechanism, 2 factory markers, and a stock market track. The changes encourage diversification. American Railroads won't change your opinion on any of the previous installments. This is one of the best worker placement games in existence. American Railroads gives you another way to play the game and is a must for those already in love in this series. For pure variability, German Railroads is still king.
[BGCOLOR=#009900]10/10[/BGCOLOR]
New to me Games:
Tuscany Essential Edition - Played Normal Automa. Won 35-25
As always, beautiful presentation and components. Adding an expanded player board, structures, and special workers. These elements were the most popular from the full Tuscany game and put into this Essential Edition compilation. I drew many structure cards but didn't find an opportunity to take advantage of any of them. The bonus provided was minimal and not appealing enough to make the investment. I do want to try them out. The special workers were excellent. They help create combos and diversification that didn't exist before. The player board is much larger but still feels tight. The influence map is another interesting piece. It creates a mini-game of area control. Overall there is a lot going on. Tuscany makes Viticulture a much heavier game. Because of that I can see myself playing either just Viticulture or just Tuscany on any given day. The additional elements distract the streamlined design of Viticulture. Def. worth a try but I would say it is not a mandatory expansion.
Viticulture EE - [BGCOLOR=#009900]10/10[/BGCOLOR]
Tuscany EE - [BGCOLOR=#66FF99] 8/10 [/BGCOLOR]
American Railroads - 2 plays
This expansion adds a new board, a dynamite mechanism, 2 factory markers, and a stock market track. The changes encourage diversification. American Railroads won't change your opinion on any of the previous installments. This is one of the best worker placement games in existence. American Railroads gives you another way to play the game and is a must for those already in love in this series. For pure variability, German Railroads is still king.
[BGCOLOR=#009900]10/10[/BGCOLOR]