San Juan renewed my interest in games!By Atomicwasteland, January 3, 2007I am an ex-computer games junkie and was always playing city building games like Civilization. I don't have the time I once did, and I am not spending the hours on the computer like I used to. Well, this Christmas I received this game and was pleasantly surprised. After the first game I knew we had a winner. We proceeded to play it four more times over the next few days.
Why do I like this game?
It can be played with TWO people. Yes, it may not be quite as exciting with two people (as it is with three or four), but it is still fun. I will say, however, that it is nice to vary the number of people you play with. Four people is fun in a way that three is not. Three is fun in a way two is not. There are cards that get played a lot more often in larger games, and the strategy changes based on the number of people you have. For example, with four people you are almost always trading your goods each round, so it is important to build a strong economy. (This is not as important with two or three players, where building might be your priority).
This game doesn't require any special equipment -like a board- and it is very portable. (You might even be able to play it on a plane.)
The games last about 45 minutes (at the longest) so you really can get a quick play in before moving on to something else. There are no worries that the game is going to go on forever. Basically, the game ends when ANYONE has built 12 buildings, so no matter how complex a strategy you have, if you don't hurry it up and time it to coincide with the quickest builder in your gaming party, you might lose.
Another thing that makes it fun: You DON'T keep score during the game (like with Scrabble or Hearts), so you don't really know how you are doing during the game. It is only at the very end when you tally up all your points that you know if you won or lost. (Sure you can look at players' hands, but some key "multiplier" cards are only played in the last rounds, so you never really know...)
And finally, unlike with games such as Monopoly, or Chess, or Risk, one person does not "crush" or "destroy" the other. You are not going to have a complete winner with all the money and all the armies (leaving the others broke, or with no armies). This means you can really have an enjoyable time, playing your best, and not feeling like you can never win, or that you are much worse than the others. Everybody has the same access to all the cards and their likelihood of winning does not go up or down just because someone else is playing really well, or really poorly.
This game is highly recommended and I am starting to research other Rio Grande games as well because I enjoyed this one so much! It is well worth buying from another vendor if Amazon does not stock it.
Source:
amazon.com
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