Age of Steam

Only played this twice and I am just pulling out of the 'hate curve' of this game. Maybe its just because I was the only newbie playing in games full of unhelpful sharks, but this seems to be a killer game to be a newbie in. Expect it to be painful. Update: played for the 3rd time and I just don't find this game fun. It doesn't click with my brain the way it does with some people and I find that a huge amount of mental effort is required to play well - and I just can't be bothered.

If I'm going to give any game a 10 it has to be this. Strategy, tactics, balance, depth, player interaction. It's got everything and all in 2 hrs. The base game has loads of replayability and is worth the rating on it's own ... and then they go and throw in all those extra maps thereby creating such diversity. Outstanding. Even after 22 years it remains my number one game

Love it :)

The game play is good, but the down time is just way, way, way too much. Just played a 5 player and it took over 3 hours. There was 15 minutes at a wack where I waited for the other 4 player to finish their turn when building track. Just makes this game a complete turn off.

I do not care for this highly rated game. The economics are too tight, the bidding mechanism is brutal for newer players, it is very easy to fall into a debt spiral from which there is no escape. And to top it off, I found the game to be exceedingly dull. I spent all that time auctioning, laying track, upgrading the train, and going deeper into debt just to pick up a cube and move it for a couple points? What are we playing next?

Auctions, role-selection, tile-laying, route-planning mechanics, and challenging economics (too challenging?) make for a very strategic game. The only real downside is the terrible rulebook.

2 games played. I'm not sure this game will be popular with our group because it is simply too long. We play it inside of four hours max but not below 3 hours, which limits the number of different games we get to play in our 6 hours of Friday night gaming.

The game itself is good though, a lot of options, not enough cash, a lot of thinking forward.

reviewed on my blog.