Altiplano

Elfrikijugonstar8,0

Mercadillo de las LES 2023 (Ludo Ergo Sum).

EvEvanstar4,6

In this game, you are bag building. Players start with some tokens, they randomly pull them from a bag, do a planning phase where they lay the tokens into matching action spaces, then in turn order each player can resolve an action space that they completed with tokens, which gains them some benefit and then the tokens go into a little discard bin. Lather, rinse, repeat. The thing that makes the game interesting is that each action space can only be resolved while your meeple is in the matching location. You can also spend money to buy new action spaces that hopefully combo with what you are doing. Most of the actions get you more tokens, although there are some cards that give you one time benefits, places to put the tokens for points, or increase the value of one type of token. You also have a warehouse where you get bonus points for your tokens that you fill rows with. Much of the game seems to be about managing your token horde, keeping only what you need to keep your action spaces active each turn, and sending away what you don't to the warehouse or the cards for points. It's very cute, however it's extremely multiplayer solitaire, other than, sometimes someone grabs the card you wanted or someone takes the last token from the sack. The game also goes on a little too long, and you do spend a lot of time doing the same things on your tiles over and over again, which can feel a little sloggish. I'm a big fan of this designer's previous game Orléans and for me there's no contest between the two games, although I'm not unhappy with Alta. Most of the people I played with actually said they liked Alta better. I definitely need some more plays, but honestly I'm not sure why this game doesn't have solo rules. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ★ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ★ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★☆☆☆☆ Raw enjoyment

MeMestremutenstar7,0

Rating: 3/5 Production value: 3/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1