Wednesday 15 August 2012

Macao!

As planned, Andrew and I spent an hour or so writing this evening, feeling like we were doing something productive.

As also planned, we then played a game.

During the Writing Phase, we ummed and ahhed about what to play, and it was only afterwards I realised we had progressed through the Guiltiest Three (the longest-owned unplayed games): we discarded First Train to Nuremburg on account of the length of rules and weight of meeples, then got as far as setting up Comuni before giving up on the rules and finally settling on my birthday present from Chris: Macao. I had wanted to debut it on a Tuesday but time was a-pressing, with almost 6 months past and the cardboard unpopped.

We then moved into Game Phase, and indulged ourselves in this quite highly thought-of creation, which we both liked a lot. A little like Navegador - but less dry - a little like Taj Mahal - but less elephanty - and a little like something else that currently escapes me. Players are making a living trading goods at the port of Macao, sailing their ships off to distant climes and trying to establish themselves in the quarters of the city... so far, so very gamey. But what marks Macao out is the unique dice-rolling element.

Each player has a 'wheel' that shows how many actions they can make this turn and in subsequent turns - and the wheel turns between rounds. Everyone having added a card to their 'tableau' of actionable cards, the starting player (there is a definite advantage in starting, more so with more players I would imagine) then rolls five coloured dice, the colours representing five 'action cube' colours. Everyone chooses which two dice they will add to their wheel - if there is a red five, they put five red cubes next to the five dots on their wheel. If there is a green one, they add one green cube to the one dot. It may sound like you'd always go for the high numbers, but because your next turn will always be the one dot, it's often beneficial to add cubes there.

Hmm - easier to explain with the wheels and cubes present perhaps.

Anyway we had a lot of fun with it (thanks Chris!) and I suspect others may like it too. It's got that nice combination of simple rules but room for strategy. Do you expend resources getting first player place so you cherry-pick the best cards? Do you try and become a powerful presence in the city? Or do you establish yourself at sea, dropping off rice at Marseilles with your cooperage earning you bonuses?


In the event, we both did a bit of everything and it was close until the last round, when I surged past Andrew courtesy of my jade-trading and Abbott card waiving my "un-actioned cards penalty".

Sam 84
Andrew 46

The dice can hamper you or give you a boost, but the luck is managed by everyone's decisions on how to use them, so it never feels like you're getting a bum deal. I think this game has bumped Navegador from my top ten...


5 comments:

  1. I enjoyed it but we were both too naive in the early stages, picking up cards we had no hope of completing for several rounds. In fact, I never did complete my Helsman, and what a fat load of use he turned out to be.

    I also under-estimated the importance of going first, allowing Sam to take the Abbot, which is the most powerful card I think we saw.

    I was comfortably in first in the middle of the game, and then hopelessly behind by the end. Tortoise and the hare? Or the hoarder and the spender?

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  2. Ooh it looks good - I like the dice, they look almost bibliotic . . .

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  3. We played again last night and having got our heads around it a little more it was tighter - I won again (identical score, 84pts) but Andrew was closer this time with 66pts. I benefited from clearing my tableau (buildings left in it score -3) and getting a couple of cards that scored my active cards and city quarters - both catapulted me down the track on the final scoring.

    Bit of a misnomer by me in the initial report when I said re: strategy Do you do X, or do you do Y, as if you're trading with your ships you need to be picking up goods from the city quarters, and if you're picking up goods then it makes sense to trade them or they're worthless... so more integrated than I gave the impression of.

    We both like this game, and we both anticipate Adam being very good at it!

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