Age of Steam Expansion: African Diamond Mines & Taiwan Cube Factories

8 : score for Taiwan Cube factories : not a bad idea the goods growth in this game, but avery expensive building cost makes the game very hard.

Interesting map. At first it appears that production is too easy and there will be a never ending supply of cubes on the board, but those cubes are desperately needed to defray the high building costs. The high building costs also mean that it is important not to overbid in the auction. The goods production mechanism is also interesting, because it gives players motivation to deliver goods of a specific color--there are times when a 4-link delivery may preferred to a 5-link delivery because a certain goods cube color is needed to produce a valuable resource cube.

In our one play, all 3 players clustered at the top of the board. I ultimately was able to win because I slipped down the right hand side of the board and was shielded by the mountains. In a 3-player game it can be advantageous to be alone on one side of the mountain range. I'm not sure if this will always be the deciding factor on this board.

[African Diamond Mines] 1x with 3 players. [Taiwan Cube Factories] 3-6p?

Two of the best new maps. Taiwan is pretty tough, and Diamond mines is quite innovative. Like it!

10 - Rating is based on the African Diamond Mine Map. I really enjoyed the twist where extra links actually brings down your income. Makes for an entirely different game and presents the player with a different take on strategy.