You may also like…
Sale!
Lead the Netherlands into the Industrial Age in the latest version of the cooperative classic! It is the dawn of the Industrial Age in the Netherlands. For centuries, the country has relied upon a series of dikes and wind-powered pumps to keep it safe from the constant threat of flooding from the North Sea. But this system is no longer enough.
-xXx-
Like it but the game has some design issues which keep me from loving it. Everything about this production is beautiful, except they filled a map with tiny regions that are not very user friendly. Gameplay is either a walk in the park or ridiculously hard. There's no middle way, and this my main complaint about this game: it doesn't have a steady build up of tension. Rather, there's no tension at all and then all of a sudden you lose. Just like that. The reason for this: - Basic goals are very easy. - Extra goals are extremely hard, especially if you draw more than one. - Water cubes run out very rapidly. I've had games where we lost on turn 1 because too many cubes had to be placed during setup! - You rarely run out of cards, hence, no tension. - The balance between cube management and card management is distorted. Still, I very much like all the 7 roles, all of the events, the water flow, the pumps etc. If you can finetune the difficulty, look past the map and don't mind losing on turn 1 once in while, this game is very solid. Otherwise it's either boredom (too easy) or frustration (too hard). Despite its shortcomings, I find it more interesting than Pandemic but less pleasant than Fall of Rome.
ALGO
The most different of the series so far (strange dice mechanic in Cthulhu notwithstanding). The map design is slightly obtuse and my unfamiliarity with the geography means that things take a bit more time. However, having to fight off the water is a good time.
bpierce72
I have really enjoyed this game. The game is a bit fiddly with the placement of dikes, as well as a bit hard to read with seeing the map connections and water flow. However, the payoff is certainly worth it. In my eyes the game brings 3 really unique and great additions to the Pandemic model. The “water flow” idea is so thematic and really escalates the game quickly. Also, the dikes in combination with this mechanic add a nice defensive and strategic element to the game. Lastly, the water pumps are an awesome passive approach to dealing with the issue. Couple all of that with the very thematic setting, beautiful color pallet and this is something I really have enjoyed. I can certainly recommend it, and my guess is that this version of Pandemic might appeal most to euro gamers that don’t mind a little bit of fiddlyness in their game.