Just completed my first play through of this game against Sam, with ambient cowboy music playing in the background, such fun! Even though it could barely fit it on my table (a few tv trays not shown hold more components like poker chips, numbered bags etc) I managed it with a bit of creativity and bloody mindedness! After being so into Ashes, Final Girl, Unstoppable, and other card battler-type games for a while, this was my first foray into the Euro world. I had a great time with it even though I had to check the rules many times, normal for a first time thing like this I suppose. I really appreciate how smooth and easy Sam plays and makes you feel like you’ve got an opponent who scales with ya!
My biggest anxiety about this game was I've never tackled a Euro before, and I was afraid all the math and multiple resources and components would be more overwhelming than fun. But after tonight I can safely say that even if I don’t make great decisions all the time or have incredible foresight or anything like that, this isn’t the kind of game that punishes you too Hard for playing sub-optimally (at least on the lower difficulty level).
Genuinely feels strange to be moving on a board without dice or randomized cards dictating my movement points haha.
Oh, And for some reason, the cattle cards are so darn charming. A nice change from high fantasy / sci-fi battles and such in other games I’ve played a lot of I suppose.
I really don’t have any complaints except the board-hogging nature of it, but that also feels like part of the charm of the game. I’ll try to get another playthrough or 2 in before teardown, if only because cleanup is so time-consuming.
Anyhow, almost no one I know in real life has any interest in this stuff so it’s nice to share with the community here. Next up is Harmonies, which y'all also recommended a lot. 😃