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Municipium

Posted by Burke Glover

28 Mar 2011

Burke Glover

(HBGlover)

United States
Unspecified
Delaware

Municipium

This may not be the good Doctor's greatest, but it seems woefully underrated to me. Municipium combines area majority with worker placement in a fresh and compelling way. Getting the majority in an area lets you take the action available there, which seems pretty standard (think Royal Palace). The big wrinkle is that you don't know for sure when you'll actually be able to get that action--figuring out the best time and place to commit your guys is crucial. It moves quickly and keeps everyone involved, and it's over before you know it. The presentation is great, and I like that the rules reminders are all right there on the board in English-- you don't have to decipher or look up anything. I wish more games were printed this way. First impression's a solid 8, I could see this moving up.

(1 play)

3 Comments

Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:56 am

Post Comment

Laszlo Molnar

(lacxox)

Hungary
Budapest
Hungary

Quote:

I like that the rules reminders are all right there on the board in English-- you don't have to decipher or look up anything. I wish more games were printed this way.

I wish no games were printed this way. The text on the cards and the board is one of the main reason I still could not play the game with my family as they are not really good in English. Also I think the symbols for the actions - medium brown on light brown, very aesthetic and very unuseful - are not really visible from the other side of the table.
Otherwise I really like the game too.

Posted Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:37 am
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Surya Van Lierde is pure Eurosnoot and proud of it!

(Surya)

Belgium
Gijzegem

The icons are quite complex, so having the text there for the first few plays is a great bonus, but after the first couple of games, you should be able to use the icons.

And indeed an underrated game.

Posted Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:03 pm
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Burke Glover

(HBGlover)

United States
Unspecified
Delaware

lacxox wrote:

I wish no games were printed this way.

I have no doubt it turned off a lot of non-English speakers, and that's a shame. To me, everyone would ideally have materials in his own language. It's certainly what I prefer--that's why the production on this particular game is ideal for me. Frankly I never even glanced at the icons on the board since clear, precise language was available.

The way I see it, the hieroglyphs we see on so many games these days make them harder to learn and add extra effort that is often just not worth it! Just as translating English is not worthwhile for your family, translating arcane Egyptian-style icons and pictograms is equally likely to mean I won't want to play a game. It can't kill a good game (Burgen von Burgund) but it can pull a so-so game (like Cyclades) down into the realm of "don't bother."

I understand why publishers are pushing this style of rules explanation on us--it saves them money. But it is not a customer-friendly move, as it makes the rules tougher to learn and retain. Now instead of some customers having to translate materials from a handful of languages, everyone has to translate from a made-up language of icons, which is totally unique to any given game. I think it's reasonable to prefer materials in one's own language.

Posted Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:12 pm
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