inconsequential ruminations

We played two new-to-us games over the weekend, with Rob and Sara.

• Formula De
  It was good to finally play this famous game. It played pretty much as I expected, but I was not expecting such nice components. The board captures Monaco brilliantly, especially the annoying jet ski poseurs.

BoardGameGeek Image

It is a nice simple game, with some skill and lots of luck. I liked how the rules scale from basic to advanced. As everyone says, the main problem with the game is its length. We played two laps with four players, at an average pace, and it took 1 hour and 50 minutes. This is fine if you are winning, but I was out of it at the end of the first lap. More players would have made this easier, as I could have jockeyed for the back-marker positions. I want to try this with 6+ players. Ave Caesar is shorter and sweeter. Formula De Mini might be a better option for me. 6/10.

• Euphrates & Tigris Card Game
  We learnt this at 10pm, which was probably a mistake. The only real problem with the original boardgame is that it is unintuitive. This is worse in the card game. Explaining this to people who had not played the boardgame was not trivial. This is not as successful a conversion as San Juan, because it is no simpler or shorter – 90% of the effort for 60% of the fun.
  An initial 4/10, but I would like to try it again to be sure.