Mombasa

2 player game, it was good but I definitely want to try this one again with 3 or 4 players. I feel that each player took their own companies rather than investing in all companies.

Solid fiddly bit euro.

GeekUp Bit Set (BGG Store)

A unique spin on stock holding, area control, programmed actions and worker placement mechanisms all mixed together with an ingenious card action selection mechanism that results in a greater than its sum of its parts.

The game lasts 7 rounds, and each player is trying to score the most points by: a) colonizing a map of Africa, using potentially 4 different trading companies, whose value (shares) increase with the more area they take up on the map (tied to this is a unique and variable stock track which you want to push your player colour up on to increase your interest in that company and which also opens up abilities and benefits as extra incentive), b) improving your diamond mining, which is essentially an indivual point track you move up on and which can unlock an extra card (action) slot, c) improving your bookkeeping, which is yet another individual track you can move along and which can also unlock an extra card/action slot, but unlike the diamond track this track can be individualized with the books you need to place on it and the benefits those books pay out, and d) each gold coin is worth a point, although money is generally very tight.

A players turn consists of programming their action cards into 3 slots (although this can be upgraded up to 5 slots) and then simultaneously revealing and choosing between a card or disk action on your turn. Card actions can be buying more cards, pushing your colour up a share track, bookkeeping, or diamond mining and disk actions can be start player, buying cards for money, tossing cards for money, hiring helpers for the next round for money, or having majority in a category to gain movement up a share track. Your disks are very limited while the disk choices are many and your card actions once used must be distributed amongst three columns meaning you will likely not see two of those cards for several turns (this mechanism is very original and tricky). After your actions are completed you will choose ONE column of cards to add to your existing hand and then repeat the three column card programming the next round.

The game scales very well for 2-4 players, it has a very interesting mash up of mechanisms and it feels quick, tense, and strategic and has several paths to victory. The theme is somewhat original and marginally immersive, although not very sensitive. Seems like a very expandable game. Own the [boardgame=213293]Cooked Books[/boardgame] mini expansion, which really beefs up bookkeeping strategies and is something I would always play with.

Pfister is climbing up my favorite designer charts. Mombassa is richly complex. I find it a thematic representation of colonial business, but others disagree.

This is my favourite Pfister game. The rules are relatively easy, but the decision space is so broad that I find myself completely absorbed in the decision making the whole time I am playing. The card play is brilliant, and requires you to plan ahead several rounds to do well. Worker placement is excruciatingly tight, every action space will be hotly contested and valuable cards will be snatched up straight away.

Mombasa has my favourite implementation of a stock market in a Euro. While you cannot sell shares, you can manipulate the share price of a company through area control. At higher player counts, companies will be forced to compete for space, and there can be large points swings if a company gets routed. It is a wonderfully player driven system and so interactive to a point that you might see temporary alliances pop up, or all-out takeovers wars.

The only semi-negative I have is the bookkeeping track. It is the most challenging aspect of the game, but the rewards don't seem worth it for the amount of planning required to do well. It is compelling enough for me to want keep trying to master it, but it can be discouraging to see other players completely ignore this part of the game and still do well.

It is rare to see a game that blends so many mechanics together, yet remain elegant and smooth to play. Mombasa achieves this, and additionally can claim to be one of the most unique and interactive Euros out there. A wonderful game that deserves more attention.

23-06-2018 (90)