Hacienda, Euphrat & Tigris Kartenspiel
Two good new offerings from Hans im
Glück
Back in the halcyon days of the late 90s, Hans im
Glück was the go-to brand for meatier games: Euphrat & Tigris, Samurai,
El Grande, Aladdin's Dragons, and Die Macher were just a few of the classic
games published under their label. alea stole their thunder for a while; but the
00s have seen a bit of down-market pressure, with alea losing some of their
early magic, and with Hans im Glück moving more in the direction of
Carcassonne than the next El Grande. Still, with alea having limited output and
no longer doing much in the way of big-box stuff, Hans im Glück is still
one of the more reliable names in gaming for the serious gamer; you just might
need to apply a little more discretion than you used
to.
So, what have they got for us this
time?
Hacienda is a new game from
Wolfgang Kramer, this time without a design partner. The theme is of farming and
cattle-herding in Argentina. At least, I think it's supposed to be in Argentina.
Anyway, players play cards to build farms (which are a strong source of VPs and
a modest source of income) and build up cattle herds to try to connect to
markets (which are a strong source of income but a weaker source of VPs). Money
is required to buy more land and animal cards, as well as to install Haciendas
and irrigation, both of which significantly improve VPs. All the cards are
acquired Alan R. Moon-style, drafted from 4 face-up cards or drawn blind from a
deck.
Hacienda was a modest surprise
for me. For a big-box game from a top designer and a strong label, I expected
good things, but this was moderated somewhat by recent weaker games from Hans im
Glück, like Attika or a lot of the recent Carcassonne milking, combined
with the fact that Wolfgang Kramer, even though he is undeniably one of the
three giants that dominate modern eurogame design (with Teuber and Knizia),
often does stuff that isn't exactly to my taste (like Expedition). But Hacienda
exceeded these expectations, and I like it a lot. It's odd in that it feels
vaguely reminiscent of a few games (Reibach definitely for the drafting, Through
the Desert maybe for the herds trying to reach markets/oasis before being cut
off) without actually feeling derivative. This is probably because it adds the
whole cash management element; you need to balance the need to acquire actual
VPs with earning enough money to fund future purchases of cards. This sounds
similar to the idea in Saint Petersburg, a game which had some problems for me;
but the trade-offs in Hacienda are much more subtle. Each play has certain
income and VP consequences, you have many choices and very few constraints, and
Hacienda lacks Saint Petersburg's multiplicative effects. Additionally, Hacienda
has a very sensible playing time (an hour-ish), and is very easy to explain. I
also like this new trend towards double-sided boards; Hacienda includes two very
different setups on the two sides of the board. The sheet of variants is a nice
touch too, as the game is clearly highly suited for
them.
Hacienda was not quite my top
pick for Essen, but it was a very entertaining game that left me thinking about
alternate approaches, and after a couple plays I am
enthused.
The Euphrat & Tigris
Kartenspiel is interesting in that it is a more or less direct port of the
boardgame. Most "card game" versions of popular boardgames (Settlers/Starfarers
card games, San Juan, El Cabellero, King of the Elves) have changed
significantly to adapt to the new format. Not E&T. Almost everything you
know about the boardgame applies here: leaders, conflicts, kingdoms, treasures,
monuments. The only fundamental change is that now we have an abstract,
1.5-dimensional board instead of the classic grid. The kingdoms line up in 9
consecutive "stacks", and can be joined by placing a card between them. That,
and the fact that scores are secret ... even your own. So you need to remember
what you've got.
I liked the E&T
cardgame, although it didn't have a huge "wow" factor. It's short and very easy
to teach to anyone who's familiar with E&T, so it was good for about 5 rapid
plays. That's pretty good. But each time I played, I couldn't help feeling a
nagging suspicion that something was out of whack. I can't quite identify what
it is, and that bugs me further. But something feels vaguely off with the rhythm
of the game, or maybe the density of the playing field. Part of it may be that
the cardgame is
so
similar to the boardgame that I have phantom pains for the tactical tile-laying
game that is missing.
Regardless of
these ephemeral doubts, though, I did enjoy the game and I do still think it's
good, especially given the lower price, low complexity, and short playing time.
I consider it $15 well-spent. But if you already own Tigris and Euphrates and
are a major fan, this version doesn't bring a lot new to the table. On the other
hand, if you find you would like something shorter, check it out; it does manage
to capture a chunk of the good stuff in a smaller package.
Posted: Monday - October 31, 2005 at 07:12 PM