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sean johnson
United States
avon
Indiana
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When our son was only a few weeks old, we developed a bit of a routine. We would put him to bed, but in 2 1/2 hours he would wake up to eat. We both felt it was to early for us to go to sleep this time, just to wake up. Often we would play games during this time, and then go to sleep after his first night time feeding. During these few weeks, one of the games we played the most was this one. We had just traded for it a month prior, and my wife instantly loved it. However, before this most play the last time we played was almost a year ago in January 2011. I remember after playing it then, my wife said she may not like this game anymore, and it then sat on the shelf unplayed for a year. So is Attika still a favorite game or has that flame burned out?
Game Overview
Attika is a very abstract building and resource management game. There are two ways to win. The first way is to connect two temples. There is one temple for each player and they are set up on opposite sides of the board. The second way to win is to play all 30 buildings to the board. The board are geomorphic tiles that form a hex board. On a player's turn they may play three tiles from their player board or draw two tiles from one of four stacks. When a player draws tiles from the stacks, they may play them immediately or store them on their player board. To play a tile there is a resource card. There are some resource spots on the board, and all open resources adjacent to where a tile is placed reduce the cost of that tile. The rest of the resources must be played with cards from a player's hand. Another way to play tiles for free is to play them in a certain order, as marked out on the player board. For example, if I have a quarry tile out, then I may place the fortress tile adjacent to it for free. Once I have the fortress out, I may play the tower adjacent to it for free. Taking advantage of playing tiles for free is key to winning the game. If a player does not use all of their actions, either drawing tiles or playing from the player board they may use the unspent actions to draw resource cards. When one of the player's tile stacks runs out, they get to add a new piece to the board. The game continues until someone meets one of the two victory conditions.
The Game We Played
My wife started out by playing very defensively, by playing tiles in such a way that she blocked off one of the temples. I played to the center of the board, so that I had access to more open resource spaces. I drew tiles from my four stacks equally so they were all low at the same time. I played tiles when I could using the resource spaces, but I put several tiles on the board, so that when I played from the board I was able to play tiles for free. The fact that my stacks ran out close to the same time meant that I was able to place new board pieces, which gave me access to more resources. When tiles are placed in groups so that certain tiles are together (for example the harbor in a group with all three ships), the player earns a little piece that can be used for an extra turn. I earned several of these and the extra turns also helped me get my tiles out faster. I played my last tile when my wife still had about eight left to play.
Our Thoughts
My Rating: 2.5 (do not care for)
My Thoughts: Attika is not a bad game, but I do not find it a very fun game either. The game is extremely abstracted and I do not find it terribly compelling. I will play it but it is not a game I actively want to play. For me Attika is kind of boring.
Her Rating: 3 (it's OK)
Her Thoughts: I like the way the game plays, but I never win. I also can not figure out how to play it better so the game is very frustrating to me. I like it but I am willing to trade it.
Verdict
Combined Rating: 5.5
The quick play time and low set up time of Attika made it a good fit for us in the early months of 2010. However, as we have continued to experience new and different games we have moved on, and it appears moved away from Attika. This is especially true for my wife. At one time, Attika was among her favorite games, but now she would rather play something else. We may end up keeping Attika in the end. However, since my wife is willing to trade it I am going to mark the game "for trade" and see what happens.
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