Jaime Lawrence
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
See Below.
Evil Bob: Lawful good since 2038!
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I should preface this report with the fact that we only played with 3 players and there are additional rules for 4 or more - I'll give them a go when I get the chance.
Each of us (myself, Rhys and Luke) took our pieces and got down to business. I read through the rulebook (a tedious, over-wrought process - were actual boardgamers consulted on its production???) and we nominated Luke as first player. All 3 of us placed out our games and rolled our dice. I collected a quick set of 1,2 and 3 Hans Um Gluck games (not my colour, sadly - I only seemed to be distributing 5s and 6s) and my opponents took a variation. Play progressed and by the 4th turn I had complete sets of Hans Um Gluk and R&D games - neither of which was my company. My games sold only in drips and drabs. I spent the last two turns collecting high-priced games from low-priced shelves and ended up scoring about 100 points.
Luke, who won, bought his own games and a set of someone else's and ended up closer to 130.
What upset me was that there seemed to be no surprise ending - all 3 of us collected 2 sets of games and the decision came down to what people had scored on the board. The game needs a twist or a new dynamic - at least for 3 players.
I look forward to trying it out with 4 players in the hopes of a more competitive experience
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Matt Davis
United States
Upland
California
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Can you buy your own games in the 3-player? I've only played the 4 and didn't read the rules, so I dunno.... I hope you don't score points for buying your own games, at least.
As for the rules, I can't say I've ever been impressed with Richard Breese's rules. Some fine games - some bad rulebooks.
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Steve Duff
Canada
Ottawa
Ontario
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Yes, they should have discarded any of their own colour that they bought, and not scored them.
I suspect they missed that. Based on the description, I think Jaime won.
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Jaime Lawrence
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
See Below.
Evil Bob: Lawful good since 2038!
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...And that, ladies and gents, is why session reports are important... so others can point out your mistakes...
That said, 3 player still seems less good as there's enough sets in your 20 tiles to supply 2 other players. Definitely needs some homebrew!
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Rich P
United Kingdom
Sheffield
United Kingdom
I didn't know what to do with my UberBadge, so I left it as a GeekBadge.
Back home after a world tour. How quickly a year goes...
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It's not very exciting 4-player either. I like it much more with 5 or 6: there's much more tension over whether you're going to be able to collect a full set and you also have to pay attention to who's visiting the same shop as you and whether they could grab a game you want. Plenty to think about and it's much more interesting. I wouldn't play it again with fewer players.
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David Brain
United Kingdom
London, UK
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But there are ways to make it difficult for the other players to get sets, even in a three-player game. For instance, put all of your games of one value straight onto the back shelf of a shop. Sure you get a lower price, but if they aren't bought, then they drop off immediately and are gone forever. Or, you could try putting out far more games than the others can buy in a single turn (combine this with the first tactic to cause anguish.) Or you could even buy your own games (no, you don't score for them, but that may be worthwhile.) And I've even seen someone try the "don't put anything out at all on turn one" approach (it didn't work out, but it was a pretty interesting idea.)
The thing I like about the 3-player version is that it is actually possible to keep track of who has bought at least some of your stuff (you only actually need to track one or two of your games.) This means that you can exploit placement later in the game when you have a better idea of relative value. Once you get to four or more, I find this very difficult.
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