This is a report of my second game of Macao. My first game was a three player try-out at Spiel'09. I liked it well enough to take it home, where I played this two player game against Scarlet.

My first cards gave me a nice money making combo, and I decided to play on money and buying points, bothering with ships and goods only when I had the cubes for it. Scarlet's cards weren't as nice, and she had trouble activating them in the beginning of the game, which did mean she had some more cubes to spare for getting City Districts and shipping.

In the end, I won the game by quite a big lead. Scarlet decided that this was because she hadn't focused on money enough, and that buying points is one of the main ways of getting points. Hence, she reasoned, she should have picked up some more Office (Ämter) cards early in the game. I felt that luck also had contributed a lot to my victory: I had gotten cards that combined very well, whereas Scarlet's cards were not that great.


White starts the game with Donna Blu on his tableau, while Brown starts with Edeler.

Round 1
White gets Justiz(1), Brown takes Spekulant.
White takes the 1-Blue City District, getting a silk. Brown moves one step on the Wall.

Round 2
Brown takes Verwaltung(3), while White takes the Richter.
Brown buys the 1-Red City District and gets silk, and moves her ship one space out of the harbor. White activates Justiz(1) and uses it to get one gold coin.

Round 3
Brown takes the Schatzmeister(3), while White gets the Finanzen(1).
Brown buys the 2-Black City District and gets a second silk, and moves her ship one space out further. She also buys points (4PP for 0GM). White activates the Richter, uses Justiz(1) and the Richter to get two gold coins, and buys points (4PP for 0GM).

Round 4
Brown takes Finanzen(2), while White takes the Pfandleihe.
Brown buys the 2-Blue City District, getting rice, and buys points (8PP for 4GM). White activates Finanzen(1) and uses Finanzen(1), Justiz(1) and the Richter to get three gold coins. He buys rice from the 1-Grey City District, moves one step on the Wall, moves his ship one space, and buys points (8PP for 4GM).

Round 5
White gets the Botschaft and Brown takes the Frau Rot. Brown incurs a penalty marker for having six cards on her tableau and discards the Spekulant.
Both players incur a penalty marker for having no action cubes for this round.

Round 6
White takes the Diplomat, while Brown takes Zoll(1). Brown incurs a penalty marker for having six cards on her tableau and discards Verwaltung(3).
White buys the 1-Green City District and gets lacquerware. He also takes on step on the wall and moves his ship three spaces. Brown activates Frau Rot and Zoll(1) and uses Zoll(1) to get one gold coin. She also takes a step on the wall.

Round 7
Brown takes Baronesa Dois, while White gets Bau(3).
Brown activates the Edler, Finanzen(2) and the Schatzmeister. She uses Zoll(1), Finanzen(2) and the Schatzmeister to gain three gold coins. She buys the 2-Red City District (getting Porcelain), buys points (6PP for 4GM), takes one step on the wall and moves her ship eight spaces to Antwerp, delivering rice for 5PP. White activates Donna Blu, the Pfandleihe and the Botschaft. He uses Justiz(1), the Richter and the Pfandleihe to get three gold coins. He takes one step on the Wall, moves his ship three spaces and buys points (6PP+2PP from the Botschaft for 4GM).

Round 8
White takes Justiz(2), while Brown takes Militärwesen(4).
White activates Justiz(2) and uses Justiz(1), Justiz(2), the Richter and the Pfandleihe(1) to get four coins. He buys points (4PP+2PP from the Botschaft for 2GM), moves one step on the Wall and moves his ship one space. Brown activates Militärwesen(4). She buys the 2-Purple/2-Black city district, uses the Militärwesen(4) (using her Joker) and Zoll(1) to get two coins, which are used to buy points (4PP for 2GM). Her ship moves on to Genoa, were she delivers her two silk for 8PP.

Round 9
White takes Justiz(3), while Brown gets the Palast.
White activates Bau(3), and uses Bau(3), Justiz(1), Justiz(2), the Richter and the Pfandleihe to get five coins. He buys points (10PP+2PP from the Botschaft for 7GM), moves one step on the Wall and moves his ship one space. Brown activates Baronesa Dois, and uses Finanzen(2) and the Schatzmeister to get two coins. She acquires the 3-Green City District, receives rice, and moves her ship three spaces to Antwerp, where she delivers the rice for 3PP.

Round 10
White takes the Tor, while Brown picks up Bau(1).
White activates the Tor and the the Diplomat. He uses Finanzen(1), Bau(3), Justiz(1), Justiz(2), the Richter and the Pfandleihe to get six coins. He activates the Tor for 1PP, and the Diplomat to buy points twice (2x 9PP+2PP from the Botschaft for 3GM). He buys the 2-Green City District and gets Paper. He moves his ship into Antwerp (one space) and delivers his rice for 2PP, then moves to Amsterdam to deliver his paper for 5PP, and the moves one space towards Lisboa. Finally, he moves one step on the wall.
Brown uses Zoll(1), Finanzen(2) and the Schatzmeister to get three coins, which she uses to buy points (9PP for 3GM). She acquires the 1-Purple City District, which gives her paper, moves her ship to Amsterdam to deliver the paper for 3PP and finally moves on to Hamburg to deliver porcelain for 5PP. She also moves three steps on the wall.

Round 11
Brown gets Bau(2), while White takes the Geldverleiher(1).
Brown actives Bau(1) and Bau(2). She uses Zoll(1) to get a coin, and purchases the 3-Black City district, getting Jade. White activates Bau(3) and moves one step on the wall. He uses Finanzen(1), Bau(3), Justiz(1), Justiz(2), Justiz(3), the Richter and the Pfandleihe(1) to get seven coins. He uses the Tor to gain 1PP. He buys points (11PP+2PP from the Botschaft for 8GM). He buys the 4-Green City District, getting Tea.

Round 12
White takes Verwaltung(1), while White takes the Geldverleiher.
White activates Verwaltung(1) and the Geldverleiher. He activates the Geldverleiher, the Pfandleihe and the Tor for two coins and 2PP. He activates the Diplomat to buy points twice (2x 5PP+2PP from the Botschaft for 3GM). He purchases the 3-Blue City District and gets a second laquerware. His ship moves to Lisboa and the to London, delivering the lacquerware and tea for 13PP. He also moves two steps on the wall. Brown activates Palast and the Heiler. She buys the 3-Red City District, getting porcelain. Her ship is sstill in Hamburg and delivers it for 3PP, the moves to Marseille to deliver jade for 5PP.

Thus far, White has scored 111PP. He subtracts 3PP for one penalty marker, and adds 8PP for this biggest city area (four districts). His total score is 116.
Brown has gathered 63PP. She has three penalty markers, reducing her score by 9. Her biggest city area is eight districts, adding 16PP. The Baronesa Dois adds an additional 3PP, and the Palast adds 4PP. Her total score is 77PP.

thx for the session report

So (besides that you won ) how did you and Scarlett like the 2 player game. Would you recommend it?