Vasco da Gama

EvEvanstar5.9

In this game, everyone is trying to get their boats into the best scoring positions on the boat chart. Each boat has a number printed on it, which determines the maximum number value in the spot it can occupy, and sending a boat to the scoring area generates you points matching the slot you took. At the end of the round, the boats in completed rows click up into empty slots if there's room. This usually results in boats not having anywhere to go and being removed from the game. Understanding and manipulating the flow of these boats is really the most crucial element of the game, but it can feel difficult to get a sense of this process on the first play. However, the magic of this game is definitely the highly interactive turn order mechanism. When you place a worker on an action spot you send along with it a number token from a central limited board of markers. The number indicates the order in which things will resolve. There's a white marker in the number grid that moves after everyone has selected their actions. Numbers earlier that the ultimate position of that marker get more expensive, and numbers after the marker wind up free. This makes for an excellent sense of tension and bluffing that can result in some actions being lost, to merely pass and collect a few dollars. ★ 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

ToTomstar2.5

Dice Tower Reviews: Vasco de Gama

Sir_Timstar7.5

Euro olvidado pero para nada olvidable del gran Paolo Mori, que es en sí mismo un verso libre y a la vez un archipiélago solitario y agreste dentro de la escuela de diseño italiana. Su mecánica de selección de acciones tiene más profundidad de la que a simple vista puede aparentar. Mientras que hay acciones en las que el ir primero no tiene una trascendencia esencial, el espacio de selección de personajes y tripulación puede dejarte fuera de juego si vas demasiado tarde, lo cual te obliga a arriesgar con los números de acción bajos y susceptibles de conllevar un alto peaje en monedas. Aunque debe funcionar muchísimo mejor a su máximo de jugadores, 4, la partida a 2 fue competida, emocionante y equilibrada hasta el final. Vasco da Gama es ejemplar en muchos sentidos, pero sobre todo en el de que se pueden hacer euros profundos y estratégicos con apenas cuatro reglas y casi nada de despliegue material en mesa. La austeridad vestida de elegancia.