Praga Caput Regni

My most expected game from Essen 2020 and it have accomplished all my expectations, 6 plays in three days, nothing more to say :-)

One of the most unabashedly Euroey Eurogames I have played in a while. Tracks upon tracks, I count almost 10 tracks that do different but similar things. Mechanisms that tangle into each other forcing you to dabble a bit in every strategy. Abstract and barely coherent theme, with VP drip feeding into your veins with every action you take.

Don't get me wrong, I love these sort of games and Praga is an excellent one. The wheel action selection (which really should have been in the centre of the board) is great, and incentivises you to take actions you don't want for some nice bonuses. The whole game has the feel that you are being pulled in all directions towards equally juicy rewards. And man, some of the combos you can pull off are just sick.

I find it hard to recommend to anyone but the most diehard of heavyweight Euro fans, as there is nothing that makes it stand out in particular. A great design, just a little too mechanics heavy for my tastes these days.

Great production values, great art - the castle/cathedral steps, the crane, and all the rest of it look and feel very satisfying. A cut above most other Euros in terms of production, and at a very reasonable price point. The gameplay is where this one misses for me - I don't mind point salad euros, which this very much is. However, for a game with as many systems and subsystems as this game has, which ups the teaching requirement - I expect some more depth of strategy or player interaction. Everything fits together in some manner, but the end product is less than the sum of its parts. After a handful of plays, I don't think this is going to hit the table again anytime soon - if you want a MPS optimization problem, there are just better versions of this same genre out there. Maybe not as prettily produced - but more engaging to play.

Joyful puzzle to get max points :)

1 play / 3 players

LIKE: The central action selection board is very fun. Some future planning and defensive moves can be done by proper selecting from the wheel. The actions are opposite forces, and require some interesting thinking. For example, the stone and gold dichotomy needs a delicate balance of when to go for either and when to produce.

DISLIKE: Heavy analysis paralysis, downtime is bad, and the game state changes a bit between player actions. Heavy amount of bonuses that need to be remembered and weighted for every action. It can feel multi-player solitaire quickly.

OVERALL: Not bad, some clever things going on, but also some serious downtime. Not sure this is a good game for me, I enjoy slightly faster and slightly more interactive games. Most of my angst in the game was just waiting for my turn. Felt similar to Newton or maybe Gugong in terms of player interaction, but I liked this one slightly more. This game might be better for two players, but not as much for 3-4 players.

One of the Euroiest Euros I've ever played. I somewhat liked it and would play it again, but others in this crowded genre that I'd pick over this.

The game is a marvel in Euro construction - I applaud it for this. First, I think it is a good production but the 3D element are not - the are troublesome to assemble and they are block seeing parts of the game. Second, the action selection is clever, but not as interesting as you might think. The free spots are usually good enough and only occasionally will you divert. Third, the game is sprawling and fiddly. The dial actions are cool, but you have to rotate, replace, and track things with it. It just seemed like extra business to keep things aligned and in the right spot. Last, the game didn't give you paths to pursue and in a game of this complexity and variation, you need to know what scores where. This is something I think Feld does better - integration of mechanics. Things just feel opaque for longer term strategy (tactics are fine). Not as well done here even though I'd play it more, but don't feel I need to own it.

Fantastic game! But I have too many other games that are similar to it, so I'm going to have to let it go.