Author Topic: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY  (Read 24966 times)

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #15 on: November 13, 2013, 06:34:46 AM »
REVIEW of the fan-made NOBLEMEN expansion, by WICKE

This review is VISUALIZED only.

INVASIVENESS: B
-Tiles used in said game: 72, no change from base game
-Number of total followers per player: 10 (7 normal, 3 Noblemen) 3 Noblemen added per player for this expansion
-Meeple Types: 3 (normal, Noblemen, Neutral Noblemen), 2 meeple types added by this expansion
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 4 (City, Road, Field, Cloister), no change from base game
-Other additions: 1 (Noblemen placement/ownership rules)
-There are no new tiles, and tile placement is unaffected. The addition of the 2 meeple types, and the rules that govern them are semi-complex and affect both placement, ownership of meeples AND ownership of features, putting this expansion in the B category.

QUALITY: 3
-The rule quality and detail is good, the opening line about the 'French Farmers' is excellent, and the images used are also good. However, turn phase isn't broken down using the standard form, which is minor but affects readability. There is a lot of detail that governs the White Noblemen, and there are gaps in the rules to govern who owns a White Noblemen, when and for how long. The Q/A sections at the bottom of each rule page help to answer these gaps in many cases.

FUN-NESS: 2
-I like the inventiveness of the story and the idea behind the new followers. However, when played with ONLY the base game, this expansion changes follower management in a way I find off-putting. One of the staples of the base game is how you play so that you don't 'over-extend' yourself and end up with no followers to place mid-game. The addition of the 3 Noblemen per player, each one worth the same as 2 NORMAL followers for ownership purposes, almost negates the need for any kind of follower management. In addition, a player can 'earn' another follower, the SPECIAL WHITE NOBLEMEN (worth 3 NORMAL followers for ownership) by meeting certain criteria with normal Noblemen placement. The idea behind the White Noblemen is very cool and dynamic, but it also further negates the need for follower management, which decreased fun-factor, IMHO.

OVERALL: 2
-Simple to implement, good use of meeple types from another game, good story and inventive idea. However, basically negates the need for follower management, which is a negative for me. That combined with semi-confusing rules to govern the White Noblemen, is the reason for my score. If you are a player who dislikes follower management and welcomes its negation in this way, please add one, if not two points to the OVERALL score and consider giving this one a try.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2013, 09:54:45 AM by Big Guy »
A good board game brings people together.

Check out my Variants:
THE TOWER (NCV)
PLAY AS THE DRAGON

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #16 on: November 13, 2013, 07:11:21 AM »
It's a WICKE double-header today :c).

REVIEW of the fan-made THE HOUSE OF VALOIS expansion, by WICKE

This review is VISUALIZED only.

INVASIVENESS: A
-Tiles used in said game: 72, no change from base game
-Meeple Types: 1 (normal), no change from base game
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 4 (City, Road, Field, Cloister), no change from base game
-Other additions: 1 (2 GOLD special meeples, both royal Valois family members)
-This expansion is incredibly simple to play and to understand. No new tiles and turn phases are almost unaffected. The expansion effectively adds one additional MOVING OF THE WOOD choice and some changes that affect scoring. Category A, all the way!

QUALITY: 4
-Rule quality, detail and simplicity is great. Images used are high quality. Taking one point off for two VERY minor notes: the rules have minor gaps, and are not in the standard turn phase format. See below for specific rule gaps: Again, overall great quality here.

1) When a player attempts to use his MOVING OF THE WOOD action to place a GOLD meeple when both GOLD meeples are already deployed to cities, who chooses which meeple is moved in the case that either meeple could be legally moved?
2) What happens at end-of-game to incomplete cities with these meeples? Assuming they score no points, as the rules refer to a COMPLETE city for scoring.


FUN-NESS: 5
-I find this expansion simple and intuitive, and I think it plays well without introducing any balance issues. I appreciate that the main driving force for these new meeples is the placement of a tile with a pennant onto a city already owned by the player. This expansion adds something simple and fun, without detracting from the base game at all, IMHO.

OVERALL: 5
-Very simple, great quality, great story as an opener, and great fun. Highly recommended, especially for those who don't have easy means to create their own tiles.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2013, 11:24:44 AM by Big Guy »

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #17 on: November 15, 2013, 07:03:00 AM »
Initial posted updated.

EDITS MADE AND SCORE CHANGED ON 11/22, to account for LEVENs updated version of the rules (1.1) :c)

REVIEW of the fan-made WANDERER and MAYORS OFFICE expansion, by LEVEN

This review assumes that all 8 tiles are added into the base game tiles. This review is visualized, as I haven't printed these tiles yet.

INVASIVENESS: C
-Tiles used in said game: 80, New Tiles from expansion: 8
-Meeple Types: 4 (normal, Mayor, Mayor's OFFICE, Wanderer), New meeple types from expansion: 2 (Mayor's OFFICE and Wanderer)
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 4 (City, Road, Field, Cloister), no change from base game
-Other additions: 3 (Wanderer placement/movement, Mayor's OFFICE placement/movement, ROAD NETWORK mechanics)
-I consider this expansion a C, as 3 additional meeple types are involved for the expansion to work (2 of them new), because of the relatively complex rules required for the new movements and placements, and because the ROAD NETWORK, while not technically a new feature, becomes much more important and adds a completely new level of complexity to how features are connected by roads. Lots of content here.

QUALITY: 4
-Tile quality is excellent, rule detail is great and considering the complexity of what is introduced here, overall quality is very good. Especially like the tile breakdown examples, as they illustrate the new mechanics very well. The rules do not use the most recent turn phase breakdown, and include expansion interaction and footnotes to cover many different play scenarios. Both of these choices were made deliberately by the author for the sake of detail and accuracy, but readability suffers as a result, as many of the rules reference interactions not needed if playing with just the BASE GAME, the MAYOR, and this expansion. That said, because of the detail included, there are no noticable gaps. Overall excellent quality here.

FUN-NESS: 5
-This expansion is a blast. Extremely inventive and very fun ideas, implemented well. I almost classified ROAD NETWORKS as a new feature because of how well they're implemented here and how much they add. And based on my visualization, they introduce no balance issues, since they don't interfere with how other features are played and scored. It makes the game board feel more connected, feels intuitive, and looks great. TOP SCORE!

OVERALL: 4
-I like this expansion a bunch. It does a lot of very complex things very well, and the turn examples are an awesome tool to assist with understanding all the new complexity. There is a lot of detail and depth to take in initially, but it's inventive, intuitive and very well implemented. Highly recommended overall!
« Last Edit: November 22, 2013, 06:20:44 AM by Big Guy »

Offline Leven

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #18 on: November 16, 2013, 04:21:09 AM »
Thanks Big Guy for this overall positive feedback about W&MO, especially that you could not try the expansion so far. I hope your opinion won't change after playing it.
I agree that there are gaps in the rules. I'll try to answer your questions in the topic of the expansion soon.

Offline harvster

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #19 on: November 17, 2013, 04:33:47 AM »
Like your work Big Guy!

I wonder if just the rankings could be placed in a spreadsheet as a quick reference?  Possibly something like on BGG, along with links to game rules, reviews, etc.

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #20 on: November 18, 2013, 06:54:41 AM »
Thanks Big Guy for this overall positive feedback about W&MO, especially that you could not try the expansion so far. I hope your opinion won't change after playing it.
I agree that there are gaps in the rules. I'll try to answer your questions in the topic of the expansion soon.

Thanks Leven. I'm excited to try W&MO out, as well as many others. I just don't have the means or the time to actually create and play much right now.

Thanks for the feedback. I wonder how my reviews are being received, and I want to show my honest opinion without stepping on any toes, so I appreciate your input. :c)


Like your work Big Guy!

I wonder if just the rankings could be placed in a spreadsheet as a quick reference?  Possibly something like on BGG, along with links to game rules, reviews, etc.

Thanks harvster. The closest thing I have to your request is the initial post in this thread, which has a short list of all reviews with their scores, along with a link to each fan-expansion reviewed. I'll keep that list updated with all reviews here in this thread. I don't have plans to maintain a document separate from this, at least not for now. Maybe every 20 reviews, I could generate something like that and post it, if there's interest. I'm sure you can copy the short list I've provided from my 1st post into a spreadsheet for the time being.

Thanks again for the input.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2013, 06:59:44 AM by Big Guy »

Offline wicke

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #21 on: November 19, 2013, 02:12:12 AM »
It's a WICKE double-header today :c).

REVIEW of the fan-made THE HOUSE OF VALOIS expansion, by WICKE

This review is VISUALIZED only.

INVASIVENESS: A
-Tiles used in said game: 72, no change from base game
-Meeple Types: 1 (normal), no change from base game
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 4 (City, Road, Field, Cloister), no change from base game
-Other additions: 1 (2 GOLD special meeples, both royal Valois family members)
-This expansion is incredibly simple to play and to understand. No new tiles and turn phases are almost unaffected. The expansion effectively adds one additional MOVING OF THE WOOD choice and some changes that affect scoring. Category A, all the way!

QUALITY: 4
-Rule quality, detail and simplicity is great. Images used are high quality. Taking one point off for two VERY minor notes: the rules have minor gaps, and are not in the standard turn phase format. See below for specific rule gaps: Again, overall great quality here.

1) When a player attempts to use his MOVING OF THE WOOD action to place a GOLD meeple when both GOLD meeples are already deployed to cities, who chooses which meeple is moved in the case that either meeple could be legally moved?
2) What happens at end-of-game to incomplete cities with these meeples? Assuming they score no points, as the rules refer to a COMPLETE city for scoring.


FUN-NESS: 5
-I find this expansion simple and intuitive, and I think it plays well without introducing any balance issues. I appreciate that the main driving force for these new meeples is the placement of a tile with a pennant onto a city already owned by the player. This expansion adds something simple and fun, without detracting from the base game at all, IMHO.

OVERALL: 5
-Very simple, great quality, great story as an opener, and great fun. Highly recommended, especially for those who don't have easy means to create their own tiles.

Thanks for the positive feedback to my "The House of Valois" expansion.
My website:
http://www.wikstromtree.org/
although the games page is yet to be started

Offline wicke

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #22 on: November 19, 2013, 02:19:42 AM »
REVIEW of the fan-made NOBLEMEN expansion, by WICKE

Sorry to see the low score for my "Noblemen" expansion.
We only play this expansion in Mega Carc games so then the factor of follower management doesn't affect the game that much.
But I see your point if you play this expansion with just the base game, but that's every players choice, I wouldn't.

Offline Carcking

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #23 on: November 19, 2013, 03:13:54 AM »
Hey Big Guy, have you considered rating the official expansions to establish a frame of reference? Might be interesting to see where they land.
I just drew the perfect tile for my MonKnighThieFarmer!

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #24 on: November 19, 2013, 06:43:31 AM »
Thanks for the reply Wicke. I'm glad the reasons for my scoring of NOBLEMEN made sense, as I didn't want to step on any toes. And you're right, playing in a MEGA CARC game changes the parameters quite a bit, reducing my main gripe about follower management.

Carcking, thanks to you too. I've only done I&C and THE TOWER so far, but I think you're right. I'm interested to see those scores too. As such:

REVIEW of the PRINCESS & THE DRAGON expansion

INVASIVENESS: C
-Tiles used in said game: 102, New tiles from expansion: 30
-Number of total followers per player: 7 normal, no change from base game
-Meeple Types: 1 (normal), no change from base game
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 4 (City, Road, Field, Cloister), no change from base game
-Other additions: 1 (Dragon placement/movement rules, Fairy placement/movement rules, Magic Gates and their rules, Princesses and their rules)
-If you'd never played this expansion before, you might not expect the level of change it introduces. But having a dragon looming nearby changes the way you think about placing tiles. There are two forces at work here (dragons and princesses) that force a follower to be removed from a feature prior to completion, with no points scored in either case. There is an additional MOVING OF THE WOOD action, which has a direct effect on scoring overall. And placement of a MOVE THE DRAGON tile halts other gameplay so the dragon can stomp around, which is also invasive. I'm giving this one a C.

QUALITY: 4
-The new tiles are excellent quality, rule quality and detail is good, and the new meeple types look good. If you are reading from the latest CAR document, there are no noticable gaps, and the rules reflect the latest turn phase breakdown. However, taking off one point here for the balance issues I'll detail below.

FUN-NESS: 2
-THE DRAGON DWINDLES: Anyone whos ever had a dragon visit their countryside can tell you: It changes things. In my experience, the dragon is very important early on in the game, due to the small size of the countryside. However, his overall importance decreases as the play-field gets bigger. He eats a few followers early on. Then, satified, he hangs out around an edge, and stomps around every so often, or flys to another edge. Players can place followers a safe distance from him in these cases, making him just another part of the landscape by end-of-game.
-THE MVP: The fairy, on the other hand, is pivotal throughout the game. The fairy introduces chances for extra points, and her 1point bonus per turn adds up to quite a lot. That combined with a 3point bonus if shes close by when you score something, makes her overpowered, IMHO. Fairy Management becomes very important, to the point that it can be the deciding factor in how players place tiles. Do you get those 4 points for finishing that small city, or do you forego those points to grab the fairy from your opponents? Do you hold off on placing that final tile to complete your cloister because you want that fairy bonus when you do complete it?
-THAT DAMN DAMSEL: The princess is annoying. I'll just say it. The mechanic she introduces is powerful, and feels unbalanced in how easy it is to remove an opponents knight, and how there is no way to see it coming or defend against it. At least there is balance in the dragon placement and movement that gives players a chance to defend against him. Not so here. Like I said, annoying.
-ITS MAGIC: The magic gate tiles are excellent and inventive, but again, very powerful. This mechanic works very well for allowing players to reconnect to incomplete features and feels intuitive.

OVERALL: 3 (4 if youre feeling Lucky)
-In short, this expansion introduces more luck-of-the-draw, and adds fairy management onto your list of important considerations. The ideas are inventive and exciting, and watching a dragon stomp around the game board can be quite fun, but the dragon loses his steam through the game, the fairy can dominate your mind, and the other supporting tiles are awesome if youre the one who draws them. The balance issues and a higher reliance on luck are the reason for my score overall, due to how different this feels from the base game. If you like the fantasy behind these ideas, and also welcome more luck-of-the-draw, try this one. It makes for a very different game for sure.

SHAMELESS PLUG:
-Derek Whaley and I designed a variant of the P&D rules which allows 1 player to play as the Dragon. This variant changes all aspects of dragon placement and movement, and re-purposes many new tiles from the P&D expansion. If you're interested in trying our variant, please the link is below.

LINK: PLAY AS THE DRAGON
« Last Edit: November 10, 2014, 06:56:25 AM by Big Guy »

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #25 on: November 20, 2013, 06:48:04 AM »
(Fan Made) THE ABBOT expansion, by BT

Review is VISUALIZED only.

INVASIVENESS: B
-Tiles used in said game: 78, New tiles from expansion: 6
-Number of total followers per player: 7 normal, no change from base game
-Meeple Types: 1 (normal), no change from base game
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 5 (City, Road, Field, Cloister, Yellow-Cloister), New tiles from expansion: Yellow-Cloister
-Other additions: 2 (Abbott placement/scoring, cloister chain mechanics)
-I'm counting yellow cloisters as a new feature due to their additional rules. Tile placement is unaffected, MOVING OF THE WOOD is barely affected, and the additions to the rules are simple to moderate, but never complex. Overall, very un-invasive changes here. B

QUALITY: 5
-Tile quality is great, rule quality and turn phase breakdown is great, and awesome tuck-boxes, all packaged into one document. Well done and great quality here. There are some gaps and balance issues that I'll address below, but due to the great production here, and the inclusion of tuck-boxes, I'm giving a top score!

FUN-NESS: 3
-The Lonely Abbot: The life of an abbot is a lonely one. He works hard to complete his cloister and never leaves, always waiting for the prospect of neighbors. It can be his great reward, but others can just as easily cut him off from his surroundings, leaving him to languish until end-game. Your opponents have an incentive to complete one of your abbots, because if theyre the ones who place tiles around him,  they can effectively trap him where he is, without neighbors. TRAPPING an abbot in this way feels slightly unbalanced, as there is no way to get your abbot back from this situation.
-Chain Reactions: On the flip side, TRAPPING can also be viewed as part of the risk, because the reward for a big cloister chain is quite a lot. This reward feels balanced because your opponents have two courses of action to defend: TRAP your cloister chain, or challenge you for control. This risk/reward system is very fun and plays well, making the creation of a chain very rewarding. Awarding a score of 3 here for a very fun idea that suffers slightly from gaps and the TRAPPING scenario, but adds depth to the cloister system, which I welcome.
-Gaps in the Chain: Can a follower be placed upright on a yellow cloister as a normal monk? This is not detailed in the rules, leading to the assumption that this is NOT allowed. Also, when determining ownership of a cloister chain, are only abbots counted, or are monks counted as well? This is extremely minor, but the rules reference determining majority without noting whether its simply abbot majority or something else.

OVERALL: 4
-I'm biased towards expansions that add depth and detail to roads and cloisters, as these two features are secondary to fields and cities in the Base Game in several ways, IMHO. Great quality on the tiles and tuck-boxes. Very good rule quality. Fun idea implemented well, with good balance for cloister chains, IMHO. Some gaps and slight imbalance from TRAPPING, but overall great work here, especially considering my opinion on cloisters. Highly recommended, especially for cloister fans.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2013, 09:42:33 AM by Big Guy »

Offline wicke

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #26 on: November 21, 2013, 12:10:08 AM »
(Fan Made) THE ABBOT expansion, by BT

I just printed these Abbot tiles a few days ago, will try it out this weekend together with Carcatronn's Zombies! and JPutt's Barbarian Horde.

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #27 on: November 22, 2013, 06:22:45 AM »
Updated the W&MO review to reflect LEVENs updates. Hear that everyone? A great fan expansion just got even better!

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #28 on: November 27, 2013, 07:28:11 AM »
REVIEW of the CULT PLACES/SHRINES tiles, from CULT, SIEGE and CREATIVITY

INVASIVENESS: B
-Tiles used in said game: 78, New from expansion: 6
-Number of total followers per player: 7, no change from base game
-Meeple Types: 1, no change from base game
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 5 (City, Road, Field, Cloister, Shrines), New from expansion: 1 (Shrines)
-Other additions: 2 (Shrine/Cloister placement rules, Shrine/Cloister competition rules)
-1 new feature type here. Most phases are unchanged. Moderate rule changes to deal with Shrine/Cloister placement and Shrine/Cloister competition. Overall rather uninvasive, but restricts tile placement. Category B.

QUALITY: 5
-Overall rule quality is good, and tiles are good quality. No noticeable gaps in the rules if reading from the latest CAR document. Tiles play well and don't introduce noticeable balance issues. Top score.

FUN-NESS: 4
-1) You now have twice as many features that act like cloisters in your draw bag (or tile pile, etc...)
-2) There are minor restrictions to where you can place these features to avoid over-complicated rules
-3) You can compete with others or yourself, to possibly lose the points you would otherwise score.
-Item 1 is a big plus if you like cloisters, which I do. If you didn't like cloisters in the first place, you won't like this. Item 2 is a non-issue if no challenges are ever laid, and can be clunky but is minor overall. Item 3 is inventive and adds some risk/reward to cloister/shrine scoring. The reward in this case is preventing someone else from scoring, rather than scoring more yourself, but still. I appreciate this risk/reward, as it nudges players toward completing their cloisters/shrines sooner, which is usually a smart plan regardless. Overall, fun to play once you adjust to the risk and expect to lose your score for a cloister or two if you're not careful.

OVERALL: 4
-I appreciate how this expansion trains players, in a sense. Finishing cloisters quickly is the best way to get your follower back for other purposes, so this expansion functions well as additional motivation to do that. Tile placement can be slightly clunky, but rules are intuitive and challenges feel exciting. And the challenge rules can be ignored completely if Cloisters and Shrines are spread out. I'd highly recommend this expansion if you like cloisters, and want to see more of them, plus some exciting interaction.

Offline Big Guy

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Re: Rating System for Reviews, by BIG GUY
« Reply #29 on: November 27, 2013, 07:47:10 AM »
REVIEW of the SIEGE tiles, from CULT, SIEGE and CREATIVITY

INVASIVENESS: B
-Tiles used in said game: 76, New from expansion: 4
-Number of total followers per player: 7, no change from base game
-Meeple Types: 1, no change from base game
-Tile Shapes: 1 (square), no change from base game
-Tile Side types: 3 (City, Road, Field), no change from base game
-Feature Types: 4 (City, Road, Field, Cloister), no change from base game
-Other additions: 3 (updated field scoring, updated city scoring, knight escape)
-No new features and only scoring is affected, with the exception of the possible knight escape. Relatively minor rules for updated scoring. However, due to the weight of the possible scoring changes, category B.

QUALITY: 4
-Rules are detailed with no gaps. Tile quality is good, but field color is a different green than seen elsewhere. Introduces slight balance issues due to the power inherent in the possible scoring changes here.

FUN-NESS: 3
-I like these tiles overall, but I find myself not playing with them as much due to their power. These tiles are great, if youre the one who draws them. You can reduce the scoring value of an opponents city, stop that scoring altogether if the city isnt completed by end-game, and add to the scoring for a field. So balance is dependent on the lucky ones who draw the tiles. This expansion also forces players to focus more on smaller cities by reducing the possibility of successfully completing a big one. There is now a risk that your big city project will never reach its greatness if your opponent draws the right tile. Better to finish that city and soon, to capitalize on points. Ive never used the ESCAPING KNIGHT rules, even after several playtests, so no comment on those. Giving a score of 3 due to the higher focus on luck and the higher risk to creating big cities.

OVERALL: 3
-I think cities are important, and I like building large ones. But I also feel that cities are slightly more important than most other features. For those reasons, I both like and dislike this expansion. Im not a fan of the higher luck involved in the tile draw, but I feel it attempts to introduce some balance to countering large cities of opponents. If you welcome some luck and a focus on smaller cities, youll love this expansion.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2013, 05:57:43 AM by Big Guy »


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