Machi Koro

11 Oct 2015

The What

A dice rolling tableau engine builder for 2 to 4 players. Shines at 3 to 4. Themed with city planning and industry building.

The Summary

Players take their turn taking this procedure in clockwise order:

1. Roll one or two dice
2. Resolve income based on die roll. (Red -> Blue & Green -> Purple)
3. Construct (purchase) a card.

The object of the game is to build all the landmark cards. Green and Purple cards resolve only on your turn. Red and Blue cards resolve on all player’s turns.

The Puzzle

The object of the game is to build an engine as swiftly as possible and proceed to purchase the landmark properties.

The limitation of buying a single property speeds up a given turn, however it necessarily also elongates the duration of the game as well adds risks to accumulating wealth as I will elaborate below.

A significant portion of the puzzle is in the fine balance between the purchase and use of restaurant (red) and major establishment (purple) properties. Both these types of cards are the primary way players interact with one another. Restaurants are essentially designed to attrition opponents of their accumulated wealth, they are responses to mitigate some powerful combinations and add risk to overcommitting to a die value. Major establishments are expensive but powerful effects with a high chance.

The risk of the puzzle is diminished by the lack of a notion of debt. Players pay restaurant or major establishment fees in counter-clockwise order. If a player does have enough (or any) coins during your opponents turns, it makes the value of the restaurant card or major establishment is moot. There is inherent risk in not accumulating coins as it is difficult to buy the more expensive landmarks.

Primary industry cards help gain consistent income, however later in the game secondary industry provides the most income by synergy.

Boons

The first player problem is not , in fact it is more advantageous to be the second or third player to take a turn.

Criticism

Primary industry cards give a considerable edge early in game allowing players to pull ahead quickly.

The restaurant and major establishment cards definitely add a twist to the engine building aspect of the game, but they seem to be more of a nuisance than a real threat because of the lack of debt, furthermore if a player has a strong enough engine to accumulate enough wealth with a single roll, then

The lack of consistency with the restaurant cards diminishes their value and there are valid strategies which ignore the restaurant cards wholly. This is somewhat mitigated in the expansion, but it is still a valid critique.

The major establishments are powerful but occurrence of the effect resolving is considerably less than the primary industry cards. The cost of the major establishments makes them only truly valuable when their effects fire off more than once. There are also situations where the major establishment really isn’t in your favor.

Tips

• It is not always in your best interest to roll two dice even if you have the ability to.
• The re-roll is best used defensively.
• Not keeping wealth from turn to turn mitigates the effect of restaurant and major establishment cards.

The Verdict

Faster and simpler to teach than Catan, it is a great introductory game. However it has some serious flaws.

Other Games

• Dice City
• Settlers of Catan
• Imperial Settlers