Auction Stations, Gents!

James, Chris and Paul could have been playing Scene It: The 80s! But tucked behind a pile of those in The Works, was a Rio Grande Games offering. Industry. For just under a tenner.

“From the clay pit to the robot factory you must successfully steer your dynasty through 5 different eras in this exciting auction game.” Okay, then..

It was written by Michael Schlacht, author of Germany’s 2007 Game of the Year. So why was this in the bargain bin? Was Herr Schlacht past his prime? Was this just utter rubbish, bitterly written in a desperate attempt to regain his 2007 prime? (Maybe Michael Schlacht was another of JK Rowling’s pen names. Who knows these days?)

So anyway. The game looks extremely serious. All factories, technologies and minerals. Slightly less serious when surrounded by bowls of white mice, jelly snakes and foam bananas. Ah, well. James had pre-read the rules and explained them to the others.

You have to buy factories or technologies and endeavour to link them by their roads or ‘cables’. Ports, railways stations, pump stations and power stations also link to factories and give multipliers. Cue much squinting at the beautifully illustrated board. Like those picture riddles, you have to decipher the points-producing links from the board (or look at the game aid. A lot).

 

The obverse of the counters were a disappointment to James

Each era is played by taking turns auctioning off that era’s row of stuff. They’re drawn from the bag and it was pretty interesting figuring out how the random appearance can affect how one might or might not be able to develop one’s factories and links. Because winning it in the auction is one step, but activating it during the development stage can become tricky. The auction system worked well, with money flowing freely towards you one moment, then alarmingly away the next.  

So the trio hunched over the board, captains of industry all, each trying to form a plan. Chris was rather cautious at first and soon lamented the fact that James and Paul’s much more aggressive tactics had reaped them far more properties. From then on, Chris desperately tried to catch up. James’ frugal nature made him regret under-bidding in some phases.( It’s only cardboard money after all.) But Paul seemed to ‘get it’. Eyes darting back and forth, he was gamely pointing out connections for the other two. “The refinery is connected to the oil field by road. And the pharmaceutical lab. But the lab’s the only one on the train track. And you’ll need Chris to develop his such-and-such or thingamagig won’t be available. Then you might get stuck.”

There was similar commentary from Paul during the auctions. Was he being helpful, or had he turned into Sgt. Bilko? James put his hands round his money in case it was all a con.

As the final era played out, Chris seemed quietly depressed. James kept things tidy. Paul swooped again and again. Who was winning? First time round, the trio had no idea. To work out the bonuses, the industry captains stood over the game board and pointed a lot. Paul had a huge amount of bonuses. He was the runaway winner. Chris wasn’t as far behind James as he’d feared.

 

Danger?

The game’s pretty intriguing. The way the era’s items and properties are auctioned in a randomly drawn order, it had a replay factor. The board is intricately pretty, and though it could have been made more functional, there was some appeal in tracing painted links with your finger. It had been bought on the proviso that a dull showing would see it wazzed straight onto ebay to recoup its £9.99 outlay. Maybe there’d even be profit. But the trio agreed, they’d like to play it again. It might never ever be a favourite, but it was worth a nobble at that price. Thank you, The Works.