Game Rules

Genesis: Many of my Geek Buddies are all over this game. I have to say, for a Knizia design, it is a huge disappointment to me. It feels like Hacienda, which I also dislike immensely. There is nothing redeeming about either game in their mechanics or their presentation.

Himalaya: I had to re-read the rules to this game to decide if I was going to buy it or not. I've been on the fence for so long. With the impending release of Taj Mahal (which triggers my next game order), I had to make a call. Himalaya is now on my buy list.

In the Shadow of the Emperor: I decided to help beta test this game on MaBi. I had to refresh the rules for myself before diving in. MaBi's implementation is up to his usual standards (ie fantastic). This may be in beta for a while; there are so many special cases and rule consistencies to work through.

Leonardo da Vinci: I have no idea what to think of this game. It's definitely deep enough and rich enough for me. Parts of it seem very well done, and other parts seem very clunky. And regardless of how dismissive I am of themes (they don't make a game for me), the mechanical man thing is just weird (they can break a game for me). I am going to wait until this comes out and gets lots of feedback from my guinea pigs Geek Buddies.

Midgard: My first pass through the rules gave me the impression this game might feel quite a bit like El Grande. But a more detailed second pass revealed that there is in fact no "map". That is, there is no movement between adjacent spaces. The board could have been drawn as 13 separate boxes. Of course, this is also true of Liberte. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The drafting mechanic seems to work. I'm still trying to decide if I like the scoring system.

Yspahan: Another potential hit from Ystari with that undeniable Ystari style: cubes, gold, buildings, move the "provost". But Caylus it is not. The action allocation/selection mechanic is very clever. Like Mykerinos, the game is for 3-4 players, yet is missing a 2p variant. I proposed one on BGG.


I am eagerly awaiting the release of Taj Mahal. I assume it is very near to being "in the pipeline". This game is my only 10 so far, but I have only played it once, and that was online. The release of Taj Mahal was supposed to trigger my last 2 game orders, but I couldn't wait that long. Let's hope it's for real this time.