Anachrony - Board Game Review | The Tabletop Crier

ANACHRONY

a review of the board game Designed by Dávid Turczi

Players: 1-4, Time Investment: 30-120 min

Rating:

I'm Weeping!

Game Aesthetic

Components

Meeple Realty's insert to carry these cool crystalline components!

I cannot get enough of the components in this game! For how complex the mechanics are, and if you've played enough eurogames you would almost fear that with its complexity that the components would look like crap... but they don't! Water is very important in this game -- I'll explain later -- and they did not skimp on that either since it looks crystallized and sparkly.  Even the tactile experience of holding the water droplets is fun as they are smooth. Though, it does require a little dexterity because of their smoothness but that's the only downside.

Different paths lead you to different strengths and weaknesses in the game.
Make sure to play to them!

There are different variable player powers assigned to specific colors, and each of those paths have a different set of mechs. They have lots of detail down to the buttons and wiring on the outside of the suits. If I were patient enough, it would be a great painting project. 

Points and Power Cores are also just simple cardboard.

A bit lackluster though, are the advancement tiles which -- while shaped differently with interesting hieroglyphs and symbols -- are just basic cardboard. Other basic cardboard pieces are points and power cores, which makes sense because you don’t really interact with these items as much as you do the other resources. 

The exception to the cardboard complaint is the heavy cardboard used for the buildings placed into the tableau, just for the aesthetics and not for actual functional purposes. Despite the nice translucence of the water droplets, the cube colors are terrible to see when placed in the mining area. I'm disappointed that this was overlooked because distinguishing these resources is important when building up the tableau. I've seen games where someone mistook one color for another and had to rethink their entire plan as a result. When playing with other people, I've noticed they’ll often opt out of the pretty cubes and instead use the cardboard because the colors will match the building print quality.

Boring Advancement Tiles.

I know this isn’t part of the standard game but I did bite the bullet and grab the Meeple Realty custom wood insert, and it really does cut down on the setup as well as just putting the massive game back into the box. Several eurogames do design their boxes such that you could just throw everything into the box but this box requires such pack mastering that this insert saves you the frustration as well.

Mechs Ready to Deploy and Werk

Artwork by Villő Farkas, László Fejes, Laslo Forgach, Márton Gyula Kiss, Péter Meszlényi

The background images in this game, like on the gameboard or on the personal player board are gorgeous but the employees that sit in the mechs are super ugly. Of course, nothing compared to some of those games out there that have faces that are the stuff of nightmares. I suppose we do need to give some free passes because of the small space allocation, since the leaders look great but get a whole card to themselves. For the buildings, the symbology is thankfully straight forward but nothing special in terms of execution. Though, if you're used to dry euros like I am it's not a big deal. Standardization for symbology and iconography makes learning games much easier!
Overall, I enjoy the futuristic color palette, use of ethereal outlining, fading and otherwise cloudy weather design for this game.

Behold, the Path of Harmony

The First Turn

Options

It's worker placement! So, place a thing, do a thing or get a thing. It's very easy to understand that minerals and resources are tight as well as important since the moment you build a building you'll notice in your resource pool that suddenly you're poor. Naturally, most everything requires water, especially when "waking up" employees to man the buildings or the mechs.

As far as guidance goes, the escape conditions in this game -- because who doesn't love a crisis -- are a good place to look for strategy. Other even more straightforward and arguably attainable guides are the public goals though those are never guaranteed points at the end of the game.

Timing is very important; superprojects that have significantly greater rewards for the resource investment in terms of abilities and points can only be invented and built within the time period they belong in. So you may need a time machine before you can get to build one of these bad boys.

Speaking of time travel, when requesting goods and employees from the future (i.e. think of them like short term loans) it's important to know what you're going to do with it. Considering you will need to eventually go back in time to pay those loans back, you need to ensure that your plans include a way to generate that good or hire that person so you can throw them back from whence they came.

These are your options to borrow from the past for your glorious future. Borrow wisely!

Note that this game is merciless in that there are no free actions really to take if you haven't planned well. If you did not allow yourself some amount of flexibility, then it's entirely likely that you've accidentally loaded too many mechs with nothing for them to do because they have nowhere to go do the work you need them to do.

Rewards and Objectives

At minimum, buildings themselves are worth points and other can even generate points when you use them. It's best to try and at least build something because hoarding resources is not the most efficient use of your workers when time is limited.
It's also very clear that responsible time travel (i.e. paying back those loans) is important because the more you owe the past (i.e. paradoxes) the higher risk for being hit with anomalies.

Go back in time, make stuff, get water, or do random things in your tableau!
But watch out for those anomalies...

From my experience playing this game, public goals seem to just be the edge you need to win rather than the guaranteed way to win. If you didn't have a strong majority of your time in the game directed towards one of these goals then you should call it early and move on to something else.

Ability to Pivot

Since a majority of this game is focused on your tableau, your pivot ability is limited and irreparable from bad choices. This is especially aggravated by the (mostly) set number of rounds. These buildings on your tableau require personnel but do not require mechs, so it's necessary to have a good hiring strategy early on.

Not building a way to create resources stifles your growth since buildings require a smattering of resources depending on what part of the tableau they live under, and you can never guarantee time or availability in the mines.

Some opponents I've seen during my plays of this game have stretched out their escape in hopes to net out on the -3 penalty chip and gain a few more points. This tends to give the edge, as the scores are typically close in this game and not disparate.

Get those points and GTFO!

Game End

Right before the end of the world, the spots for the workers will work just one more time with an incentive but the players need to ensure that they are sending out mechs during this stage with intention and not haphazardly forcing the end of the game. Though, I have seen those in the lead push the end just to snag the win, which is perfectly fine but difficult if you haven't done the math on the opponents' player boards already. 

Then planet blows up, so you finally evaluate how well you performed while on the planet since the escape points have already been accounted for. Public goals, tableau, sets of advancement tiles as well as points generated and acquired during the game will all factor into your victory or loss.

Coimbra - Board Game Review | The Tabletop Crier

COIMBRA

a review of the board game Designed by Flaminia Brasini and Virginio Gigli

Players: 2-4, Time Investment: 60-90 mins

Rating:

I'm silently crying!

Game Aesthetic

Components:

Not only is the insert fabulous but the components are absolutely pleasing. I'll go ahead and start with the Rampant Lions: while relatively useless other than for determining turn order, I still find it enjoyable to look at these turn order meeples. Downside is the damn thing always tilts off to the side and it becomes easily part of the game experience to know how to rearrange them without it becoming a dexterity game. You're evaluating turn order every round so it's not like this won't continue to be a part of your life during gameplay. 

You know what I do appreciate as a permanent part of my life journey through Coimbra? These linen-finish cards! Mind you there isn't a lot of card holding in this game because it's a tableau builder but when you pick them up, it's just... so nice for that brief moment. I'm always a fan of orange and purple in a game, and this game has both in the dice set, tracks, and cards! I've found that if the game doesn't have red and blue, orange and purple tend to be the substitutes. Pop-color fans unite!

Monasteries, which is where your person-shaped meeple wanders about on the board, can be visited by several folks. Instead of having an annoying time lifting the disks off the monasteries to see the benefits they provide, your little discs can be pushed off to the side. They're etched modular cardboard bits, and are always fun to me mainly because it keeps the game fresh and provides a certain level of frustration that is so delectable and yummy. Plus they function and for weirdos like me who like ensuring that everything is in its place, it quells that anxiety as well.
When drafting the die and placing them in the sections of town you want to visit, you need to nestle it into this fortress-looking plastic... thing. It's fun to put together, and provides a fresh take on Place A Thing* mechanics.
But... really? Monasteries? I'm unfamiliar with the geographical significance of these but the cardboard bits don't really look like monasteries to me?

*I don't really regard this as a worker placement but you are placing things but... they're dice so... Place a Thing!

Dice, Cards, and more Bits!

Artwork by Chris Quilliams:

I believe the one other complaint -- other than the rampant lion dexterity mini game -- is I'm not even paying attention to city locations or tracks. I mean, I had to look at the book to even know that something was more than just "this color track" but I guarantee you none of the players I have played with now or in the future will refer to them by their thematic names because this game is dry AF to begin with.

Despite its dryness, did I mention this game is SO colorful?! I wanna just stare at it forever, from the geometric, edgy faces reminding me of indie cartoon films to its entertaining and also deceptive depth.
I haven't actually bothered to see if there was any connection between the powers or benefit of the cards and whether the art matched thematically in some way. Honestly considering there being distinctly women and men in the game I'm worried that I won't be too happy about discovering the enforced stereotypes.
The peninsula where the monasteries live is also very pretty though I can't really understand how it decides to converge, diverge, lengthen, or stop paths.
I really like the laurels for some reason for points but I don't know enough about the culture to comment on whether the choice was accurate.
Disappointing that the market areas are not more visible, looks like it must have taken some amount of effort to design yet all we are doing in the game is covering it with it with action dice!

Cards in the Market

The First Turn

Options:

It's very clear that you put a die down to get a thing and what the resources are.
The starting cards give you some direction and the hardest thing here is balancing the increases on the tracks from the cards and the activation of those tracks with the die.
You'll need to use different parts of your brain to evaluate the cards, their effects, their symbologies, and their consequences as well as the resources you have available and the track you want to benefit from -- and its consequences. At minimum you can simply pick things that give you resources and figure out what to do with them later. And, of course, you won't be able to get what you want if you don't have resources to spend so that limitation in and of itself is a guide.

Monasteries or Tracks? It's your life!

Rewards and Objectives:

Voyage Cards are end game scores you can buy into but you can only fund one per round unless you get the special favor tiles. 
Game End Bonus cards marked with (!) provide some direction, cross-pollinate with other cards, and boost your track standing. 
Level III Monasteries and good timing provides instant points, and can even double-up on stuff you've been working on for a while. Another reward for visiting some monasteries early enough is the ability to perpetually provide points when you perform certain actions in the future. Crowns determine turn order and some monasteries care about crowns to translate into points but they aren’t terribly crucial unless you’re in a race with other folks.
Diplomas become a set collection mini game but I'm not familiar with whether the game balances on scarcity or not. 
Track Rankings become a race to the top but if you've been maximizing in those areas through your drafts and purchases, then this is more of a side effect rather than a goal. The return on points for being ahead is great so this can arguably influence your decisions for reasons of too much competition (there is one fewer place than there are actual players). The moment you start focusing on your own thing it’ll be too late for everyone else to catch up with you. 

The fun and funny thing about this game is the resource limit. I really appreciate when euros provide constraints because a truly talented gamer will know how to work with what little they have rather than hoard something for days. I’ve had some games where I felt very rewarded for acquiring goods.

Go on a Voyage!

Or, perhaps you'd rather explore the Peninsula?

Ability to Pivot:

There is a possibility to catch up slightly by using green track (i.e. buying green cards, drafting green die) if you need to buy some time to close in the gap because it is straight up points income. Sadly, some attack cards will make it hard to recover but can be mitigated (e.g. I've had games where I was attacked constantly and still won anyway). Not to worry: I was still able to win even with giving up points instead of resources to other players every single time! However if you finally have resources to buy a voyage but you missed out on the round prior, there is a clear lead from the opponents assuming they did find something.

Game End

The game ends after four rounds and it feels very fast, but it's one of those games I could easily just play over again after the first session ends. The only issue is because there is a sense of urgency, one can overthink their actions and slow down the rest of the group. 
But this game is meant to be played quickly, otherwise the cards would arguably be more complicated and intensive as far as options are concerned. I feel as though that is not the intention considering how streamlined the iconography is for this game. Easily can play this for several sessions!

Brass: Birmingham - Board Game Review | The Tabletop Crier

BRASS: BIRMINGHAM

a review of the board game Designed by Martin Wallace

Players: 2-4,  Time Investment: 60-120 mins
Rating:

I'm Sobbing!

Game Aesthetic

Components:

Money Money Money!

Other than the really nice clay money, the components are your standard cardboard, cards, and cubes. I normally have more to say here but this isn't one of those games that has a tactile experience to note. If anything, the only fun bit here is the beer barrel but mine aren't painted or stained in any meaningful way so it really just looks like a thimble to me.

Why must all my sales include beer?

Artwork by Lina Cossette, David Forest, and Damien Mammoliti:

This is where the game is definitely pleasing. First off, the main board and the player boards have a night side and a day side. It's functional and is pretty! I can read other side just fine so it mostly depends on whether I want the feeling to be dark or bright. I have gaming friends that find one side easier to read than the other so this helps folks with those preferences. 

The art for each of the player order tokens has that antique feeling, and pays attention to the clothing of that period. Mind you, I'm not an expert of the fashion from that era so I couldn't tell you about the historical accuracy of those choices (but the rulebook does note that they had someone to consult on historical aspects so yay?) but I like it nonetheless. I could easily imagine buying large printouts of the art for each player color to post in a boardgaming room, especially since their faces look like faces (I've seen too many games that have horrible excuses for human faces and they're the stuff of nightmares). 

The map on the main board has a nice aerial view, with attention to buildings, trees and other topographical details. Metals are shaded well in this game -- which makes sense considering the time period -- but the rest of the art falls flat, especially the crates. Of course there's only so much you can do to make wood look good but it wasn't anything special. 

My main gripe is the income and score tracker, as I had a difficult time distinguishing the tracks and planning accordingly (e.g. I kept asking what my income was the first time I played because I couldn't read it for shit). For a little while during my first play of the game, I was also mixing up interpreting income vs points on the industry tiles. So make sure you get in your brain what those are because they give you VERY different things in your life during the course of the game.

The First Turn

Options:

Building out a canal seems to be an okay start especially considering you can afford it but note that these will disappear at the beginning of the Rail Era because no one cares about boats anymore. You could piggyback depending on player order and get right into building resources like coal or iron for later and get the market advantage, though.

Money is tight in this game so you can always take an action to acquire a loan but keep in mind loans have interest so spend it now and spend it wisely. Don't do what I did and hoard all your money for no damn reason. Of course, also don't fret: the pains of paying interest are only applicable if you suck at building industry tiles that flip to provide income.

Pay close attention to your player mat and the main board, because Canal Era buildings die at the end of the canal period so better flip them and feed into your plans for the final Rail Era.

Do you choose Daytime or Nighttime?

All in all, the first turn is relatively simple and really is just the preparation for Rail Era. It's okay to feel like you're bumbling through this time period. At minimum, your hand will tell you what your options are; since everything in this game is related to playing a card just make something with the hand you've literally been dealt.

Rewards and Objectives:

So back to money: THOSE FUCKING INCOME SPOTS ARE SO GODDAMN FRUSTRATING. There are brackets between one level (yes, ONE MONEY) and the next level (yes, THE ADDITIONAL ONE MONEY) so even if you're like, "Yay, two income!", you could still be on the edge of one level but not quite making it to the other. This will likely make you flip the table (by the way, I did *not* but I really wanted to). 

Money funds networks that will fuel your industries and to even afford setting up industries to begin with. Taking loans is not a bad thing, but ensuring that you aren't eaten alive by interest is important. You can manage this by balancing opening industries with acquiring new loans. It's not necessary to have high income to win this game. I've had plenty of games where I've lost miserably with a ton of money because money doesn't buy you success in this world unless you're using it properly. Do not spend your money for the sake of spending money because this also determines turn order, and for some segments of this game once the map starts to become crowded it's important to ensure that your plans do not fail.

Building industry tiles that are compatible in the Canal Era and the Rail Era is a solid first objective to aim for, since at minimum the math roughly comes out to you scoring it twice.

When assessing industries, there are two kinds of timing that may benefit you or destroy your hopes and dreams: 

1) meeting market demand in exchange for money 

and 

2) exceeding market demand to prepare for the future. 

If the market looks like this, you're going to get money whether you like it or not.

For the first situation, if the economic state of the game favors you building a specific industry and you're in need of a cash boost for your next action, it's perfectly reasonable to build it, flip it, and get money right away.  But if the market doesn't want your lovely coal mine your coal will sit there until you or your opponents need it. You can end up unintentionally or intentionally play chicken against the market to flood it for money.

You'll notice that a majority of industry tiles require beer consumption so there is also a clear need for that. Same principles of industry assessment apply, and even worse so because beer markets only carry one or two barrels.

Then, here's the kicker: even if you understand market timing, being able to sell and buy goods depends solely on your access to the outer edges of the map because that is where the markets are. Whether you are the one providing access to all, or if you are piggybacking on someone else's access, in times of desperation you may need to close gaps with this.

It's very clear that the most straightforward points come from crowding around booming cities with your canals and rails. From experience, this can give you the edge on a win all other things being equal. This helps with promoting your future industries as well, so it's a good first part of the map to influence.

Everyone wants a piece of Birmingham.

DO NOT MAKE RESOURCE OR POINT DENIAL AN OBJECTIVE. If you can net ahead of someone, it's entirely okay to use their resources such that their industry tiles flip. Just like in any real life economy, there's a certain amount of push and pull on the market that you do together, and then when the timing is right the best industry mogul pulls ahead of the pack.

This, to me, is the real brain melting part of the game. Notice that in this blog post, the options are clear but the rewards and objectives are not? Yep. The struggle is real.

Ability to Pivot:

You can only place one of your buildings in each city during the first era, which pivots focus on building a network to prepare for the future. The reason? You are restricted in the Rail Era to building off what you already started in the Canal Era, so if you didn't make your plans early, it's possible to come back but it's a long railroad ahead.

Location cards trump any restrictions on building specific industries but they are hard to give up for lame actions. You sometimes have no choice since you must take an action in this game with what you have in your hand.

You can at least piggyback on others' networks when trying to accomplish some objectives that require resources, so there is consequently an element of area influence but not in a war way -- more of a cornering the market type of way.

Blank markets suck and can happen (i.e. they are put out randomly so some markets are just lost to us and the beer that comes with them is also lost to us) so be aware of a changing need for beer when this is not a possible fallback.

This is what dead dreams look like.

One of the main issues in this game is resource timing. If you do not plan to use your own resources, you can be sure that opponents will be using them, and you'll need to start your industry plans from scratch.

Paying careful attention to industries that can only be built in the canal era is important because you'll be spending precious iron to develop those tiles away otherwise.

Finally, be mindful of player count with this game as it doesn't seem to scale for Pottery when there are just two players on the map. Anticipating needs and market timing is the hardest thing and keeps me coming back for more plays. Never a boring day in this environment.

Game End

The end of the Canal (first) Era comes as soon as everyone has played their entire hand. Remember that everything you do, including passing, requires a card. This is how the timer in the game is held accountable, and so you can track how many actions remain. It's a blessing and a curse, depending on if you're doing well. On one hand, you can think "Oh good, I still have more to do" and on the other hand, you can think "WHAT I HAVE TO DO ANOTHER THING? I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT THE FIRST THING".

The end of the Rail (second, and final) Era comes in the same way. Then it's just most points wins.

Railroads themselves provide lots of points if connected to bustling towns.

Considering the deck is the game timer it should not be a surprise to you of when you should start feeling a sense of desperation to make power moves. This is also not one of those games that you can tell who is winning during your first play. After a few more plays, you'll start to see patterns of who is leading and how sad you should be about it.

A personal thought: I have often considered that maybe there should be more aggression on my part for overbuilding instead of developing away the "chump" tiles since this can mitigate against network losses in the Rail Era. I haven't tested this yet but it's something to consider toying with.

I've played both Brass: Lancashire and this one; by far this is my favorite so do not try and look for or ask for a Lancashire post because you will not get one. *arms crossed*

Lisboa - Board Game Review | The Tabletop Crier

LISBOA

a review of the board game Designed by Vital Lacerda

Players: 1-4, Time Investment: 60-120 mins

Rating: 

I'm Blubbering!

Game Aesthetic

Components

With the exception of the Officials meeples and the player mat, the physical components in this game are pretty standard. Though I do have to say, having a big chunk of cardboard coins to represent higher denominations is a fun touch.

Stores and Officials: Ready to Deploy!

Artwork by Ian O'Toole:

This is where I start gushing. The use of shadowing in the art of this game gives it the depth and ornamentation often seen in palaces or buildings of importance -- which is a good fit considering the activities undertaken in the game. Unsure if this was intentional, but the colors associated to each of the Nobles is appropriate: Pink, for the hoity toity king; Blue, for the serious minister; and Green, for the economically-oriented builder. Having the Cardinal pass through the cathedral round and round is fitting. The background of the main game board ties in with the aftermath of the earthquake as well. Overall, the art is classic and dives headfirst into the period.

Welcome to The Royal Court!

Trade with the King and Meet the Cardinal

The First Turn

Options:

Now for the part that earned this game a Blubbering rating. 

Although the rules summary says you just do one of four things... that's a LOADED statement right there. It says,

Choose One:
1. Play Any Card into your Portfolio, and Sell Goods or Trade with the Nobles then Take a new card.
2. Play a Noble Card to the Royal Court, Spend Influence, Visit a Noble, then Take a new card.
3. Play a Treasury Card to the Royal Court, Pay Treasury value, Sponsor an Event, then Take a new card.
4. Discard any card, Take a Gold, then Take a new card.

Simple right? WRONG, there are absolutely benefits to doing a little of everything.

Starting goods are given to all players to help aid the first turn but that benefit goes away quickly. So you could gain goods from stores, which are used -- among other things -- for trading with Nobles to do 1-2 actions. Note that circular dependencies occur left and right for goods and encouraging diversity. Even more so, Sold Goods are required to be exported on all existing ships with room, not just your own. So if you're producing without giving yourself a way to benefit off your own goods, you're handing points to your opponents!

Just when you thought you had it all, resource limits in your portfolio force you to teeter totter and monitor your own personal wealth since accumulating for the sake of accumulating is discouraged in this game. Consequently, you must spend wisely! Limits exist on cards to play to your personal mat as well, so order and timing is everything.

Then there's crowd control. It makes visiting the nobles hard to predict with regards to influence costs. Area influence tension occurs between stores in the streets.

Welcome to your Portfolio!

All in all, lots of give and take, balancing and sensitivity to synergy exists but hard to see on your first turn.

My favorite page in the player aid -- yes, PAGE as in THERE IS MORE THAN ONE PAGE -- is the "How To" to solve in game issues instead of constantly checking the rule book or the person teaching the game on "How do you get [insert resource here] again?"

The first turn, with your starting resources, you can say "I have money!" then "I built a store!" and then... "Oh. Now what."
Selling goods offers in game points but do you want to sell what you have? Fun fact: Production of goods crash the market. So good luck selling for cash at a premium over time.

Sell Goods based on the Market Track

Bogging down your Portfolio (the name for your personal mat area) with treasury cards can give some momentary relief but over time the return isn't that great as this takes up space for other things like ships. 

Noticing things as you go, like "Oh I should have seen that. Ooops" often happens, especially when reviewing the points from situating your stores on specific streets.

On which street will you set up your store?

There are very few ways to gain influence when it is required for payment at the Royal Court. If you're not influential enough, you'll pay with points. Ouch.

So you think, hey, I'll just build a ship. 

Trade with the Minister to Build or Upgrade a Ship

Do you have goods? Uh. No. Cool story, bro.
Okay fine, I'll go ahead and grab some benefits from the church. Have you visited the King? No, I can't right now. Cool story, bro.
Well dammit fine, I'll just tuck some things into my portfolio. What's your capacity? Not enough. COOL. STORY.
Okay okay, how do I get more space in my portfolio? Well, you need rubble. 

Rubble, Rubble, toil and trouble!

How do I get rubble? Public building or store. Oh! Really? Sure, do you have money and officials in court? Uh. No. COOL STORY BRO OMG

Trade with the Builder for a Plan or Visit the King to Open a Public Building

After the first period ends, you finally feel like things are happening for you. No worries, you only have one more period to wrap up your master plan. That's all the time in the world! #sarcasm

Your turn is over! But will you take a Noble card or a Treasury card next?

Rewards and Objectives:

Take a Decree is a prediction on how you will do at the end of the game for some varied amount of points. Some are harder than others and almost always require planning ahead. This being said, it is entirely likely that someone can deny you if they feel you are in the lead.

Visit the Minister and Take a Decree

After that, you are at the mercy of planning towards the standard Endgame Scoring, which entails:

how big the Ships in your portfolio are, 
        which were acquired with goods which were typically acquired from building a Store, 
                 which required réis...

completed sets of Rubble,
        which were acquired with building stores,
                 which required réis...

having more stores of a specific type than your opponents

cashing out your influence,
       which you may have been spending on Visiting a Noble or Following an opponent's Visit...

a 1:5 ratio of wigs to réis,
       which you may have been spending on building already

having more officials involved in Public Buildings than your opponents

then finally
a 2:1 ratio of wigs to Royal Favor tiles,
      which you may have been spending on following visits already

ARGH!!

Ability to Pivot:

There are not many ways to pivot in this game. Sure, if you see your opponents doing things you may want to not do those things because there is a degree of scarcity here. Other than that, pivoting of your own accord and free will isn't clear. Everything you do is interconnected, and everything your opponents do also add that element of lack of control when evaluating your options for setting up stores or visiting the court.

Game End

As if you didn't have enough to worry about, there are only two periods in this game, with periods marked as either 2 sets of rubble completed or 3 decks from the Noble and Treasury card display are empty. So the game can go as fast or as slow as the players collectively push or pull. There's a relatively good chance you'll know how many turns you have left but since the stress is more on the immediate future, you may feel taken aback and wish you had done things differently. This is the beauty of the game and will keep you coming back for more.