China

Rating based on 1 play. We taught it to ourselves and it was pretty hard to grasp the scoring mechanisms - we figured them out about half-way through the game. It was a bit of brain-burner. With very clever inter-acting scoring mechanisms, that lead to multiple routes to victory (always a good thing). A bit too abstract for my liking.

Could not buy Web of Power and now I'm happy to have China. Very nicely made and great with 3 or 4 players

reviewed on my blog.

Impressive depth considering the ruleset, the size of the board, and the length of the game. China is categorized as an area-control game, but there are actually TWO area-control games going on (provinces and alliances), and they require different strategies. Placing a lone house in a province that you don't win will get you some easy points, but placing a lone emissary in an alliance that you don't win just gives the winner more points. China somehow feels like a light game and a heavy game at the same time.

130929 I haven't played this game a ton, but every time I do, I realize how excellent a game it is. Its in that superfiller range which kind of is a netherworld in terms of getting pulled off the shelves. But it really is a great game.

100404 Great game when I played it 3P. I expect this to rating to up after multiple plays. Quite sure I don't like the 2P variant nearly as much....but multiplayer has major upside.

I rate this marginally lower than web of power, due to the "streamlining" of the rules, but still a fine game. Plays very well under WOP rules - almost as good as the original. The map is certainly friendlier to new players.

Of the bittersweet variety for me. Happy to play, but I'm not frequently in the mood.