Noblemen

EvEvanstar4,6

This game has a lot of game elements I usually don't like, such as take-that player interaction, uneven numbers of turns between players, and the rich get richer scoring and yet when the game puts these elements at the forefront of what it's doing I find myself somehow enjoying the experience. Essentially, players build out a personal tile display. Each tile produces 1 of the thing it's designed for, and when you get 4 in a square you also get a bonus +2. This bonus +2 can be pillaged forever by another player when they build a castle piece. They send one of their workers to go stand on your area, and for the rest of the game that +2 is theirs. You of course can do the same thing, so it gets a bit silly, but it matters because of the core game mechanism, where the game's timer clicks down at the end of the turn of a player holding the queen piece, and there are numerous ways to take the queen piece for yourself. You stress about having the time to get your actions in before the three evaluation phases each of the three rounds. This is going to take a few more plays to have a proper sense of, but on my initial play I feel strangely positive about it. :star: Art, Iconography and components functional :star: Clever or interesting mechanisms :star: Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players :star: Multiple plays stay interesting :star: Low or mitigatable luck elements :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: Raw enjoyment