Machi Koro
It’s cute! Very easy, don’t know that it has a ton of replay value. It’s a very solid drinking/family night game though. Missus thinks she’ll get five plays before she’s done. Haven’t added any cards though, and there are two expansions, so she may be right about the basic game.
Quick overview: you are building a tableau of cards that trigger on certain die values. Mostly you want to make as much money as possible, although there are also cards that let you take money from people as well.
You roll dice and earn in any of the cards that tell you they activate. Some score on everyone’s turn, others score only on your own turn, some score only on others’ turns. So you’re trying to nail down a wide spread of numbers, a lot like Catan.
There is kind of a neat evolution in the game, though: one of the first of the four Landmark cards you’re trying to build gives you the ability to roll two dice instead of one. That means the 1 card never fires, and the 2 and 3 get really rare. But then there are higher-value cards, in the 10-12 zone, that rely on you owning those low-number cards. The shift in play from a flat roll to a curve is really neat and interesting. Don’t know that I’ve seen that trick before.
Anyway, totally a filler. Play it with your parents, play it when you’re sick. I like it and I’m glad I have it.
It took three plays for me to give up on the base game, as the two best strategies for winning are overly obvious. The expansions are supposed to help, given that you use a random setup.
I’m glad that you’re enjoying the game.
The strategy in the base game is almost strictly dependent on number of players. The expansions change the way cards are available (more ascension than dominion) so the game becomes much more interesting.
Agreed about the expansions’ value. I prefer Harbor to MR, but either one gets you drawing a random ten cards.
Haven’t tried Millionaire’s Row, but I wouldn’t play the game without Harbor in the mix.
Common wisdom around here is that the expansion(s) are basically non-optional.
Expansions FTW.
I’m thinking that maybe I should play with an expansion next time.