Hmm. I like PR and Goa; haven't tried PotE nor, I think, LdV, though probably should.
I note with wry amusement reviews of RftG echoing the same bogus idea in early reviews for PR -- that the game, because it takes the form of competitive solitaire, somehow has a "lack of interaction". (and that this is somehow a feature of Eurogames -- haven't these people ever played crayon rail games or the like? How is this feature unique to new games?). My point, of course, being that direct interaction isn't necessary for a good game; just competition; in Merchants of Venus, which is less fun if including the warfare rules, players affect others by manipulating the pace of the game as well as racing for different goals and taking resources others want; a similar mechanism exists in a crayon rail game. Similarly, in RftG, watching what other players are doing is a key element to predicting what they will do, and by the same token, to deciding what you have to do. It's on some levels, a very complicated game of RPS -- but it's an -interesting- variant on rps. (for example, I've found myself often taking the Explore +2 option as insurance -- I could get more cards with a Produce, but I have a card in my hand I'd really like to build, so if a build phase happens, getting two extra cards will let me build it, whereas taking the build action or production won't).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 22:26 (UTC)I note with wry amusement reviews of RftG echoing the same bogus idea in early reviews for PR -- that the game, because it takes the form of competitive solitaire, somehow has a "lack of interaction". (and that this is somehow a feature of Eurogames -- haven't these people ever played crayon rail games or the like? How is this feature unique to new games?). My point, of course, being that direct interaction isn't necessary for a good game; just competition; in Merchants of Venus, which is less fun if including the warfare rules, players affect others by manipulating the pace of the game as well as racing for different goals and taking resources others want; a similar mechanism exists in a crayon rail game. Similarly, in RftG, watching what other players are doing is a key element to predicting what they will do, and by the same token, to deciding what you have to do. It's on some levels, a very complicated game of RPS -- but it's an -interesting- variant on rps. (for example, I've found myself often taking the Explore +2 option as insurance -- I could get more cards with a Produce, but I have a card in my hand I'd really like to build, so if a build phase happens, getting two extra cards will let me build it, whereas taking the build action or production won't).