Magnate Lets You Game a Financial Apocalypse - Review

James Naylor’s Magnate: The First City is the kind of...

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imho this is up among your best reviews, thanks for this.

Great review, and Pet Shop Boys references are always appreciated.

I think one of the most interesting things that Magnate does thematically is that the economy is not closed amongst the players. You buy your properties from the bank and you sell them back to the bank. The other players at the table are fellow developers and are smart enough to not buy from you. That feeling of deflation Michael mentions is one borne of pure greed - it's not that they got the bad end of a zero sum deal, it's that you got a better deal from "the bank" and they're jealous. Furthermore, even if you play poorly it's almost certain that you'll still end the game a millionaire; with more than the $2 million you started with. The real bagholders are the poor suckers that you've been selling to on your way to the top and they've been abstracted away as "the bank" as they really don't matter to you as a developer.

The other interesting thing to note is that it's relatively easy to manipulate the risk deck through collective action. If as a group you decide to not sell too aggressively and nurture Humbleburg's economy like good stewards you can draw this game out for a very long time, accumulating a minimum of risk along the way. There is no player incentive to do so but it shows the hope of businesses self-regulating in the interests of society.

Oath is the first game I've seen do the tutorial deck walkthrough and I'd be glad to see it become an industry standard, particularly how both Oath and Magnate take the effort to explain the why and the how in equal measure.

Another great review of a great game!

Let me know if/when you get tired of this…

"...Tom Lehmann’s long lost Fast Food Franchise, let alone that there are echoes of his more recent Suburbia."

Tom Lehmann didn't design Suburbia, that was Ted Alspach; maybe you mean The City?

You’ve got the No-Prize…that was a flub on my part which I’ve corrected!