A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)

EvEvanstar2,5

A Study In Emerald first edition is currently my favorite game. After reading about the changed they made to second edition, I had avoided it up until now, but this week I was given the opportunity to actually try it so I thought I should. In the game, players use a deck-building mechanism to place cubes into the various spots on the board. if at the start of your turn, you have the most components in that spot, you can take the top card of the pile and add it to your deck. I absolutely love this mechanism. Players also have a secret alignment, although they still win the game alone. If at the end of the game, you wind up on the same team as the player with the fewest points, there is a penalty. I do love being able to be out for myself but also being required to look at my opponent's moves to predict what team they might be on. All of this is true in both the first and second edition of the games. Speaking to the second edition specifically, I have some problems. In both games, there is a mechanism where players can hire agents. These are markers on the board that you can move from city to city, which are a requirement for certain actions, but more specifically they add claim to any space where you have cubes down to bid for a card. In first edition, you pay to walk these agents around the map, and the card icons you use to move them are the same that you use to buy new claim cubes, so there's a semi-predictable flow to when someone is getting ready to move. In addition, they also break ties when it comes to situations where two players have equal claim on a card. In second edition, the agents can teleport anywhere by spending a card icon that is used exclusively for teleporting agents. In addition, while they still count for claim they no longer break ties. The result of this in our game was that cards on top of piles got caught into unbreakable stale mates more easily, which hurt the players involved substantially as the game length was reduced. Another issue I ran into was that points are uncomfortably rare. In first edition, players vie for control of city cards, handing them back and forth, gaining or losing points while fighting for whatever points they can gather from permanent sources. These city cards are always available in addition to whatever is on the top of the card piles. In second edition, the cards worth points don't get handed back and forth, they are simply claimed by whomever gets it and that's it. Not only that, they are not always available, as they just get shuffled into the piles and come up when they come up. This makes for a boom-and-bust feeling as some rounds there are lots of points to fight for and other rounds it feels like there's nothing to fight for. The third big problem I have is that the endgame penalty is different. In the first edition, if you were on the same team as the player in last you automatically are disqualified from winning. In second edition, the players on the same team merely lose 5 points. This means that in second edition, you don't really have to care who your teammates are before initiating the end of the game. Again, the game time is so reduced that spending actions bluffing your faction seems senseless. All in all, I wouldn't go so far as to say second edition is a bad game in the spectrum of board games that exist, but much of what I love about first edition is absent or changed, and I can't imagine recommending someone get this as opposed to hunting down a first edition copy. ★ 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

Benjamín Amorínstar7,0

Really cool game with awesome theme that combines deck building, bidding and partnership. A bit short for me and needs 3-4 players to work.