Brian Spieles
United States
West Carrollton
Ohio
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Last night, our local game shop owner decided to open up a copy of Macao and test out a game we had all heard a lot of good buzz about. We had four players interested in playing and luckily we had one player who had already logged three plays, so set-up and rules explanation moved along quite smoothly. As the rules were explained, everything seemed to make sense, but as more and more aspects of the game were explained, it did seem that the game would be a bit challenging.
Once play started however, the design of the game worked its magic, with the seemingly endless number of choices presented to the player elegantly narrowed as you move through the various phases of each turn. If this was not the case, the already AP prone nature of a game like this would likely become a bit unmanageable. Depending on which cards you take and which cubes you have available each turn, the game decreases the available actions you have and forces you to adapt your strategy as the game progresses. I felt that the dice mechanic, while occasionally frustrating each of the players at various points throughout the game (all of us had at least one card that they simply could not get out), added a fun, novel element to the game. Even on a first play, the value of the cards seemed fairly easy to discern and most of the gameplay seemed fairly straightforward (buying sections of city/goods, moving your ship, moving on the wall, buying prestige points, etc.) For the first third of the game or so, I did feel as if there were parts of the game that I was missing out on as I was alternatively focusing on specific aspects. The first few rounds, it seemed as if all I was doing was making sure I would be able to remove cards from my tableau and avoid the -3 point penalty. As we approached the midgame, I got a handle on managing my tableau and began to establish a coherent strategy for the remainder of the game. I had claimed all three of the silk wares and one jade and was in a position to play the Silk Warehouse (?) and then deliver all of those towards the endgame for a big prestige point boost. As I mentioned earlier however, the dice prevented me from doing everything I wanted, which included preventing me from playing my Silk Warehouse. Since all players were dealing with this mechanic as well, it did not seem like a significant detriment to the game. In the end, I managed to deliver all my goods (not for double points, however) and ended with a fairly clean tableau (only two cards remaining for -6 points) and finished 3rd out of 4 players.
This is a game I would love to play 3-4 more times, as it felt as if I had just become comfortable around the midgame. The game presents multiple paths to victory and requires both long-term strategic planning as well as short-term flexibility to deal with the cards and resources available to you. My group was a bit AP prone with this game, but I think that with multiple plays that may improve. Overall an excellent game that I think will have tremendous replayability.
8/10
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Andrew Foerster
United States
Charlotte
North Carolina
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It is a good one. Many feel it's a classic Feld "soulless Euro" but I have to say that Feld's fast becoming one of my most reliable designers (even if he doesn't tend to hit grand slams).
There can be a lot of punishment in the dice, though, if certain strategies leave certain slots open that won't get filled, or if the right numbers don't roll on certain dice. That can be a little tough to handle but, in general, I think that everybody's going to pretty much have to make the same tradeoffs. And again, like many Feld games, turn order actually becomes crucially important. I do like this aspect because in many games turn order gets rotated or the impact is attempted to be balanced, but making it crucial just adds another dimension to compete on (besides points).
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Carl Garber
Canada
Vauxhall
Alberta
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It was good to read this session report! Congrats on picking up the game fairly quickly! I find for inexperienced players it can take a game or two to figure things out. Thankfully most people have fun while they are figuring stuff out! I think what gets some newbies in trouble is they fall in love with the BIG Cards and then get frustrated when they find out how hard it is to activate them and start taking -3. I try to stress the need to balance bigger cards with smaller ones especiually in the beginning game when I explain the game to newbies.
Some people knock Feld on theme and that is totally fair. In an interview he said that he designs the mechanics of the game first and then looks for a theme late in the process. Also, he says he won't sacrifice aspects of the game design just to make it line up with its theme better. When this is a designer's process you are bound to routinely have weak themes. Fortunatly, many of us will take a well made game over a more themed one. As long as Feld can keep his games from feeling abstract that will be enough theme for me!
Happy Gaming!
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Kathy Sheets
United States
Port Saint Lucie
Florida
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CarlG wrote: It was good to read this session report! Congrats on picking up the game fairly quickly! I find for inexperienced players it can take a game or two to figure things out. Thankfully most people have fun while they are figuring stuff out! I think what gets some newbies in trouble is they fall in love with the BIG Cards and then get frustrated when they find out how hard it is to activate them and start taking -3. I try to stress the need to balance bigger cards with smaller ones especiually in the beginning game when I explain the game to newbies.
Some people knock Feld on theme and that is totally fair. In an interview he said that he designs the mechanics of the game first and then looks for a theme late in the process. Also, he says he won't sacrifice aspects of the game design just to make it line up with its theme better. When this is a designer's process you are bound to routinely have weak themes. Fortunatly, many of us will take a well made game over a more themed one. As long as Feld can keep his games from feeling abstract that will be enough theme for me!
Happy Gaming!
I agree. This is my favorite game and maybe the theme isn't strong enough for some, but it's perfect for me. I just find something really fun, addictive and satisfying in the the way the game flows. It is surprisingly intuitive and easy to learn despite the many different mechanics and paths to victory. That was really interesting to hear how Feld designs, too. I'm going to have to check out more of his games.
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Carl Garber
Canada
Vauxhall
Alberta
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Kathy: Yes, I found that Feld interview quite interesting. I don't mind his process at all because it is exactly how I would make a game! Your probably already aware of it, but just in case your not, Feld has a new game coming out that looks amazing called Trajan. I think it might be a little more longer and more complex than Macao but looks like it will have a similar (yet different) vibe. It also looks really nice (which is important ot me). Besides that I've also heard Die Burgen von Burgund described as Macao in reverse and with tiles. I haven't played it yet (and it looks pretty ugly at first glance) but it is moving up fast in the rankings (it just passed Macao) and has the higest average of any of Feld's games. Lastly, Strasbourg looks like it could be a nifty auction game (I think the auction is the main mechanic but it has much more going on as is usual for Feld it seems).
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Kathy Sheets
United States
Port Saint Lucie
Florida
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CarlG wrote: Kathy: Yes, I found that Feld interview quite interesting. I don't mind his process at all because it is exactly how I would make a game! Your probably already aware of it, but just in case your not, Feld has a new game coming out that looks amazing called Trajan. I think it might be a little more longer and more complex than Macao but looks like it will have a similar (yet different) vibe. It also looks really nice (which is important ot me). Besides that I've also heard Die Burgen von Burgund described as Macao in reverse and with tiles. I haven't played it yet (and it looks pretty ugly at first glance) but it is moving up fast in the rankings (it just passed Macao) and has the higest average of any of Feld's games. Lastly, Strasbourg looks like it could be a nifty auction game (I think the auction is the main mechanic but it has much more going on as is usual for Feld it seems).
I had NOT heard of Trajan and just spent half an hour reading about it. Thanks for the tip! Anyway, I would love to play Die Burgen von Burgund but hesitated to buy since I only have my husband and adult son as gaming partners. They are so nice to play games with me but don't share my passion for them. They both do like Macao but we don't play it a lot due to the time commitment. I don't think it's that long but they do and it looks like Trajan and Die Burgen are similar play times. I'm going to also have to check out Strasbourg...I spend WAY too much time on the geek...
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David Boeren
United States
Marietta
Georgia
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Does anyone have a link to that Feld interview? I'd like to read/watch it.
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Kathy Sheets
United States
Port Saint Lucie
Florida
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dboeren wrote: Does anyone have a link to that Feld interview? I'd like to read/watch it.
Look at the links at the very bottom of his page:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/4958/stefan-feld
I hope it's one of those.
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Carl Garber
Canada
Vauxhall
Alberta
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It's actually near the top of the Stefan Feld page that you linked Kathy, under "description" listed under "interview"
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David Boeren
United States
Marietta
Georgia
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Thanks, guys!
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