Games Session
|
|
| Date: |
7th May 2004 |
| Game Played: |
Auf den Spuren von Marco Polo |
|
|
| Players |
Result |
Win |
Ratings |
| Mark K |
14 |
P |
6 |
| Mark G |
12 |
|
6 |
| Nige |
11 |
|
7 |
| Garry |
11 |
|
6 |
| John |
9 |
|
7 |
We finished off with a new game from the prolific Reiner
Knizia, this one based around the journey of Marco Polo from the
Mediterranean to China. The game is a card set collection game, whereby to
move from one location to the next requires a certain combination of
cards. However, if someone is at that location, you can only move to the
following location, which requires a different combination of cards. This
means you have to try and judge which space you are likely to move to
next, but others may not do as you expect. On your turn you either move
and pick up a card or pass and pick up a card, and it is likely that
people will try to move regularly as, if you get left behind, it can be
difficult to catch up (although you can spend a gold chest in order to
move an extra space). Certain locations along the way reward the person to
land there first with a gold chest and once a person reaches Kantshou,
there is a scoring round where gold chests are awarded depending on how
close to Kantshou each player is. The same happens when someone reaches
Daidu, which also marks the end of the game. The person with the most gold
wins.
Our game involved a lot of jostling for position.
Unfortunately, John lost touch during the second half of the game and was
unable to catch up. I spent too many gold chests trying to keep in
contention, whereas Mark K started slowly but timed his moves onto the
valuable spaces very well, giving him the win. This struck me as quite an
easy game to get into, with plenty of second-guessing what other people
were planning to do, but it didn't quite hit the mark with most of us. It
worked ok but just seemed a bit processional, with no real chance of
catching up if you fell a little bit behind.
