Bus

Clever and original game but not in the same class as Splotters heavyweights. Most games played pbw at www.spielbyweb.com

Might as well be nicknamed "F*&$ You: the board game" as it takes an early example of worker placement and revolves around the threat of behavior (time management) over the actual behavior itself. It's those crevices created by threats that allow people to prevent leaders from over committing and streaking ahead. Very defensive game that should be played at three players and only three players.

I'd buy a copy for certain instances, and it's an interesting and cute little game, but it's not worth anything close to the going OOP price to me.

edit: having played it for around 5 games now (including at 3-5p), I like it less each game. I think it runs too long for what it is and what it asks of players. Wouldn't buy a copy anymore.

The only worker placement game I enjoy

reviewed on my blog.

This might be the greatest game ever made. The design is squeaky clean while still providing a depth of strategy and level of control over every aspect of the game that I have yet to see in my short history with the hobby. With such a limited number of actions and action spaces, every single decision is remarkably impactful and crunchy without giving too much to the player to chew on. The game is an unbelievably easy game to teach; build your bus route, and deliver people to where they want to go, but that inevitable moment where the complexity in strategy sets in on everyone’s first play, and the game starts to “click,” “I have made major mistakes…” is one of the best feelings in gaming, and one that Bus never fails to deliver.

Great game, absolutely brutal. Be prepared to plan several moves ahead or risk scoring nothing when it is time for your deliveries. This is a game where it is essential to figure what moves your opponents are planning, as the board state is completely player driven and every little move they make affects you so much. There is so much tension as your plans can be completely ruined by an unexpected building placement or even the dreaded time freeze, but as it is all open information it feels like you only have yourself to blame.

Might be a little frustrating at times and always mean, it’s a game that I enjoy a lot but in small doses. Could probably be played and taught in just over an hour, but I would expect all players to be APing to some degree.

10 pt. - 05/ 11/24

6 plays / 4,5 players

LIKE: Wonderfully tense, cutthroat game, but not overly cutthroat that one cannot enjoy the competition. I love using the cubes for actions, love deciding how many to use in any given turn, and the reverse order for building out route lines. The "stopping the clock" action is brilliant. Plays fast. Great design.

DISLIKE: A tad fiddly, the rules are not intuitive, but not too bad. The original map art is not good, visually noisy. Very low scoring game, and can be cutthroat. The last round can have aspects of kingmaking.

OVERALL: Love it. The new Capstone version map is nice and clear. The re-drawn "Metro" map is also great, as a PnP.

Some unique and clever ideas in this one. I found it pretty difficult to parse the board state, so I was mainly winging it. Probably not a good sign that I won.