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In Soviet Russia…[insert extremely dated reference here]

RussianRailroads

“Russian Railroads”

designed by Helmut Ohley & Leonhard “Lonny” Orgler

It turns out that in Pre-Soviet Russia the railraod rides you as well. A complex worker-placement game where you race on your personal player board to complete up to three rail lines while increasing your industry. Go further on different lines to get bonuses and to increase your scoring: but choose wisely, you only have 7 turns to do everything you need to do. Definitely a brain burner becasue you need Plan A, B, and C as people WILL take what you need. And Scoring is, I guess appropriately enough, quite a bear.

An extremely tight game that forces to make hard decisions.  The between round scoring is the hardest part: different rail will give you different point values and they are multipliers as well.  But, a great brain-burning, strategic worker-placement game.

 

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Play the Pax Romana

Concordia

“Concordia”

designed by Mac Gerdts, published by Rio Grande Games

Build your trade empire during the height of the Roman Empire. Using a hand of cards, send your traders out, collect resources, and sell those resources to buy more cards that gives you better versions of those beginning actions. In other words, build a more powerful deck of cards.  The resources on the board are randomized at the beginning of the game, so you never know what each city will have. Like “Settlers of Catan” on steroids: more decisions, less randomness, and at times, achingly slow at the beginning as you watch your opponents range across the Mediterranean and you barely get out of Italy.

Quite the brain burner as you try to maximize your very few actions.  One of these games where it seems like there’s always more to do then you’re able.  But fun.  Still fun.