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The Most Euro-y Game of Them All?

Orleans

“Orleans”

designed by Reiner Stockhausen, published by Tasty Minstrel Games

Raise your power and prestige in the Medieval French city of Orleans! In this “bag-building” game, randomly draw up to four different workers from your bag: knights, craftsmen, monks, farmers, and boatsmen. Assign them in groups of two or three to different actions on your player board. Advance on different progress tracks to collect resources or build buildings (which provide more spots to place workers), or to travel through France building trading houses and collecting resources. Collect citizens from the progress tracks to earn extra points. And then stare at the workers you drew and realize you are only one worker away from a MONSTER turn.

Easily the most Euro game you will every play: so many decisions with multiple paths to victory. The blind worker draw adds just right amount of randomness. But so many decisions…

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Do You Know the Way to E-ly-sium?

Elysium

“Elysium”

designed by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert, published by Asmodee Games & Space Cowboys

Call upon the powers of the Greek Gods and build your legends! Yes, it is a resource management game, and yes, it is a set collection game, but never done like this.  Choose from a variety to different gods to start the game: some gods have attack powers, while others are far more peaceful.  Each round, draft a card from a central pool and knock down one of four pillars, but make sure the pillar you knock down doesn’t stop you from taking a future card.  Then use card powers, but only score them once you transfer them to your Elysium…and then you score points by sets. And it’s maddening in you only get five turns to do all this!

Hard to wrap your head around the mechanic at first, but once you figure out, it’s an elegant system of drafting and building.  The variable god powers will set the level of player interaction as well.  That’s a good thing.

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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.