Coimbra

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 5 out of 10

   abisashi

   As usual, only played with 2. Pros: - The way dice values are used for both priority and price is interesting - Die color affecting income added another interesting dimension to drafting - The factions have a discernable identity in their character cards, though it's not as strong as I'd like Cons: - Currencies don't feel thematic at all (they seem interchangeable) - Game actions didn't feel thematic enough; especially too much gaining victory points without a thematic feel

2. 8 out of 10

   adrian754

   Very good game even with its lack of strong theme, excellent dice mechanism, you draft them and used in multiple different ways, it's indeed very clever and fun.

3. 10 out of 10

   agentpatman

   This is the perfect kind of game you can just sit down and play and start getting things done. I didn't even have to read the rulebook to start picking up on the symbology. The gameplay itself is rather simple to learn and play and I think the bgg weight factors in the depth of what you can think about on your turn. Your turn itself is quite simple with selecting a dice and placing it and all the other actions spin off the cards that you purchase. There are two main currencies in the game so really not a lot to juggle. Everything else in the game aside from resource management and optimization is about points. I could see if your not into point driven games then this might not be for you, but if you are this offers huge choices. Every card you get either gives you an ability, end game points, or some of the resources. It is up you to juggle all of these factors to maximize the number of points. There is set collection, majorities in the tracks, end game scoring that you can pay for during the game, as well as personal scoring cards you can pick up as well. That is in addition to the large amount of points you can accumulate during the game. Where this game really shines is variability as you only play with a portion of the cards, tiles, end game scoring cards, and the mix of them is going to create a different game each time. Depending on what colors of cards you go for based on those end game scoring cards will pump you up higher on different tracks which will alter your strategy during the entire game. The two player blocking dice tokens add some nice depth to the actions as they will remove certain high value cards and you need to account for that. Rolling high is good for purchasing cards because you get to go first but it also costs more. There is a nice level of interaction because you are taking from the same common pool of dice and cards and selecting cards in a specific order. You also can't score second place unless you are within 3 spaces on a two player game so it creates another level of keeping up with their strategy as best you can to get those second place points. The town area was interesting because you can run around and collect a lot of the one time rewards, more powers, or more end game scoring opportunities but it does cost some time that you might be able to get something else in return. The turn order mechanism is interesting as well because you can get crowns via cards as well as favor tiles so it is not always clear who will go first next round until the end of this one. One of the favors gives you the ability to add 3 pips to your dice which can cost you a lot more resources but might guarantee you get to go first to collect that much needed card. If I had to find something to complain about with variability is I wish there was a bigger deck of the main cards because the row they come out in doesn't really matter as much as the cards you will see each game will be the same. I imagine that is needed for progression in the game but when all the other levers of variability are there it would have been nice if that was part of it too. However you do start with a different set of starter cards so that is worth something. The box insert is excellent with lots of room for future things and the card board quality of the boards and dice is great. The color and art is excellent and gives it a very unique feel. The rulebook is really easy to learn and everything is layed out nicely.