Carson City

A very good twist on the otherwise rather staid worker placement mechanism. OCaylus with guns

A tight, euro style worker placement/resource management game, with role selection and die-roll gunfights. The tricky part to me is keeping track of the various, ever-changing building incomes. A fun, interactive game to be sure.

Worker placement, character ability selection, and tile-laying and a Wild West theme come together to make a solid if not overly original gaming experience.

Yet another worker placement game. By this point, this would normally be a way overdone idea. What saves this game from mediocrity is it's great theme (I've been waiting for a Wild West theme gamers game for a long time) and the different take on the worker placement mechanic. The game lasts four rounds (and it seems both arbitrary and overly short, but I guess that helps keep it somewhat fresh) and the goal is to have the most points by game end. It has a somewhat engine feel to it, as points generally (but not always) scale rapidly upwards towards the end of the game.

Each round, you select a character that has a special ability, a turn order, and a money holding limit. The characters vary quite a bit in abilities and generally each have opportunites to be very good in certain situations and/or rounds. You go into each round with some money that you start with and then that you carry over to the next round (here is where your money holding capacity is very important), and then you take worker placement actions in turn order. There is path that is resolved in order, very similar to Caylus, and these options range from income generating spaces (which aggravatingly occur usually AFTER you really need the money), building purchasing spaces (a key use of money, and an important way to generate future income and points), point generating spaces (generally quite contested), and a few other situational spaces (such as road building, extra guns, etc.). You also have the option to place your worker out in the town or wilderness of Carson City to purchase plots of land or to rob people's buildings of income.

The twist on the worker placement genre is that you can contest another player's placement. This means that you are going to duel the other player, with the winner being the one with the greater firepower. There are two ways to play this: 1) semi-random dice rolling, and 2) deterministic gun tiles. I prefer option 2 but it's good to have the choice. Generally you want to win a space, however there is some consolation in losing in that you get your worker back and therefore will have an extra placement the next round (the one problem is that there is NO compensation for the very last round). There are several ways to acquire guns, there are several ways to aquire income, and there are several ways to score points (guns, plots of land, buildings, purchasing points with income, etc.).

At the end of a round, you can only carry over so much income (based on your character) and any excess money is burned at a poor income to points ratio. The theme (characters, gunfights, developing the town of Carson City, the buildings) really fit the theme well. The game is a bit confrontational, but it is fun. There SEEM to be several paths to victory, although guns generally are pretty overpowering. Overall, this a relatively refreshing take on the tired worker placement mechanic, and it's a very solid gamer's game, with classic euro mechanics. Looking forward to Xavier Georges next offering.

Own the [boardgame=129508]Gold & Guns[/boardgame], [boardgame=177353]Horses & Heroes[/boardgame],and [boardgame=83538]A New Beginning[/boardgame] expansions, as well as the [boardgame=61965]Indian[/boardgame], [boardgame=204252]Teacher[/boardgame], [boardgame=185790]Lawyer/Editor[/boardgame], and [boardgame=264146]Father Christmas[/boardgame] promo tiles.

Role selection, worker placement, and tile laying. See also Dungeon Lords.

Otro más de colocación de trabajadores, en este caso vaqueros. A diferencia de otros juegos similares, en este hay mucha interacción entre jugadores, ¡además de dados!, que aportan un toque de emoción a los duelos. El tema me gusta, la estética es bastante resultona y la sensación que transmite, pese a ser un eurogame de tomo y lomo, es bastante temática y sugestiva. Nada nuevo bajo el sol (de Arizona), pero un buen spaguetti western nunca está de más.

Fiddly scoring and upkeep, but a solid euro for those that like their euros in a rootin' and shootin' sort of way. If those propel actually exist.

I think this alongside a game of Homesteaders would make a fun theme day.