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We Built My City With Polyominoes - Review
- Michael Barnes
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08 Oct 2020 11:43 #314916
by Michael Barnes
We Built My City With Polyominoes- Review was created by Michael Barnes
Playing a Reiner Knizia game published by Kosmos creates a...
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A fun game with a terrible tagline.
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08 Oct 2020 13:17 #314922
by WadeMonnig
Replied by WadeMonnig on topic We Built My City With Polyominoes - Review
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08 Oct 2020 13:25 - 08 Oct 2020 13:27 #314923
by ubarose
Replied by ubarose on topic We Built My City With Polyominoes - Review
Just seeing the phrase "Manifest Destiny" transports me back to high school, with by BFF Margie Taylor poking me with a pencil to keep me awake, and Mrs. Blair said, "Ladies, are you okay back there? Does someone need to go to the nurse?" (which was polite code for "behave or I will send you out of the room"), while Stephanie Waddle looked on in disapproval.
Last edit: 08 Oct 2020 13:27 by ubarose.
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08 Oct 2020 20:45 #314935
by mc
Replied by mc on topic We Built My City With Polyominoes - Review
Yeah it's an odd one.
I lean towards it being an naive translation.
If the game involved, say, only building up from one side of the square in an east -> west kind of way, there might be pause for thought.
I tend to find putting individual buildings into a little town on open space a bit less problematic than spreading over a wider area, but, yeah, the empty space has been done and done again hasn't it. For Knizia though, "don't build on these squares if you can help it", I mean, I don't think you'd expect much more mechanism -> theme interplay, right (and this is from someone who fully buys into your Master of Theme stuff Michael!)?
I guess there's a few ways in, but the big one would just be a complete retheming of the whole thing; placement of polyominoes, I wonder, what would be a better, less euro-fantasy type angle? Perhaps just the reverse; make it urban fringe brownspace that can be reclaimed as various kinds of nature reserves and sustainable energy/food production sites. Even keeping the trees works with that.
I lean towards it being an naive translation.
If the game involved, say, only building up from one side of the square in an east -> west kind of way, there might be pause for thought.
I tend to find putting individual buildings into a little town on open space a bit less problematic than spreading over a wider area, but, yeah, the empty space has been done and done again hasn't it. For Knizia though, "don't build on these squares if you can help it", I mean, I don't think you'd expect much more mechanism -> theme interplay, right (and this is from someone who fully buys into your Master of Theme stuff Michael!)?
I guess there's a few ways in, but the big one would just be a complete retheming of the whole thing; placement of polyominoes, I wonder, what would be a better, less euro-fantasy type angle? Perhaps just the reverse; make it urban fringe brownspace that can be reclaimed as various kinds of nature reserves and sustainable energy/food production sites. Even keeping the trees works with that.
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17 Oct 2020 13:10 #315291
by dragonstout
Replied by dragonstout on topic We Built My City With Polyominoes - Review
I've been playing one episode a day with my kids, and I've been really surprised and impressed. Reading the rulebook, it frankly sounded pretty uninteresting, and I took a flyer pretty much just because of the SDJ nomination, Knizia's name, and the legacy format. It's even completely missing what I think of as Knizia's signature, which is the intense interaction you see in just about all his games.
But boy, if his ouvre as a whole has a lot of "theme and variations" in it, this game is his theme and variations all by itself. I am only in the third chapter (each chapter has 3 games), and I am blown away by how each little change has dramatic implications on the game. Even beyond that, it's way more engaging than I expected. Really surprised by this!
I mentioned liking legacy games, I think in sharp difference from many on this site. For me, this might be wasteful, but I find the disposability...comforting? With other games, I fret about whether we have enough space, whether the game is a keeper, etc. With legacy games, I both KNOW that we'll get a whole bunch of plays out of it, AND I don't have to worry about finding space on the shelf for it. We'll play it, get our joy out of it, and then be done with it.
But boy, if his ouvre as a whole has a lot of "theme and variations" in it, this game is his theme and variations all by itself. I am only in the third chapter (each chapter has 3 games), and I am blown away by how each little change has dramatic implications on the game. Even beyond that, it's way more engaging than I expected. Really surprised by this!
I mentioned liking legacy games, I think in sharp difference from many on this site. For me, this might be wasteful, but I find the disposability...comforting? With other games, I fret about whether we have enough space, whether the game is a keeper, etc. With legacy games, I both KNOW that we'll get a whole bunch of plays out of it, AND I don't have to worry about finding space on the shelf for it. We'll play it, get our joy out of it, and then be done with it.
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