John Company: Second Edition KS

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. ajewo

   It's weird, it's wild, it's complex, it's fiddly. It shouldn't work, but it really, really does. It captures the theme, and the fortunes of your family and the company as it rises and falls. At its heart this game is an economic game where players are driven by self interest above anything else. Unlike most economic games its not about most money although money certainly helps you get some success but rather its about getting standing in your community + variety and replayability - Lack of Player Aids - Rulebook John Company is an experience game (one that tells a narrative story over a fairly long time) The game focuses on a single company (British East India Company) but it is definitely not cooperative … there’s a winner and many losers. The board depicts the positions in the EIC and players will move cubes (representing family members), ships, barrels (representing guns or goods) and the cards that depict the eight Indian regions around the board to indicate the situation in India and “The Company.” At it’s heart, John Company is the Principal Agent problem distilled into a few hours: Each player controls one extended family. The families run the company, but not necessarily for the company’s benefit. John Company is not particularly complex, certainly nowhere near the difficulty of other SMG titles, and its also shorter, but that doesn’t mean the game is easy. Part of the difficulty comes from the vague rulebook I suspect much John Company’s divisiveness revolves around the intersection of negotiation and dice. Perhaps control vs randomness. John Company is a negotiation game, and often players are trying to “do right” by the Company (because it improves their own position). But all of the negotiation in the world is for naught if you fail a few 4 die (or 5 die) rolls, and your position crumbles. Additionally, the attrition roles swing many VP because you got out at the right time You can also spend an hour with not much to do. Many office holders make few decisions, even the most powerful office will do nothing if the Chairman doesn’t include them in the budget. Or you don’t climb the greasy pole and get passed over for negotiations and don’t have much control of the company. Both of these complains (randomness, and long periods of time with little control) are true of most of SMG’s games. Sierra Madre Games is famous for complex, sandbox games with broken victory conditions and downtime. It’s still a sandbox, but its an actual game. It may not grant the level of control you’d find in a Euro (or even an Ameritrash game), it may give you little to work with even if you play well. Similar games: Nobody would look at Bios:Megafauna or 1830 and expect to understand it in a few minutes. John Company is easier than either

2. 1 out of 10

   BillNC

   Rarely have I gotten to the end of a rulebook and had absolutely no idea how to play the game: it happened with this game. (And with The Gathering Storm.)

3. 5 out of 10

   Big Bad Lex

   First play: Had the rules explained by someone who had played twice before but even then there was a need to constantly check the rules and discuss specifics with another player who wasn't a first timer. After a 2 hour game I have no idea what was going on. It is an incredibly opaque maze where even now I really don't understand how things join up. Dice rolling to retire company directors seems arbitrary yet crucial. If the dice don't let you retire it seems unlikely that you will win. I can't help but think that there might be a touch of the Emperors new clothes with this.