So this is the third game of <PERSON>'s harvest trilogy and oddly it is still missing a review. As I played it this evening I might be able to give you an impression how it plays.
At least that's what you might think, especially after I tell you that I've also played the prototype over a year ago (I noticed nearly no changes since then). Unfortunately I still haven't made up my mind about it. I certainly like it but I don't really know how much.
But let's start with the rules and gameplay.
Aim of the game:
Who would've thought it: You win by gaining more points than your opponents. But gaining the points is done in an interesting way: Each of the 9 rounds you are allowed to buy points. The first point always costs 1 Käsch (no idea what's it called in English). Each additional point costs "its number". An example: As you start with one point you can buy your second point in the first round for one Käsch. If you want to also buy your third point in the first round you have to pay three Käsch (as it's the 3rd point). So early points are cheaper to buy than later ones. Unfortunately you often lack money especially at the beginning of your game before you get your engine running.
This mechanism often results in quite small differences between the players. For example our game this evening ended 18-18-17-16. This is the reason why there are also two tie-breakers. The first one is money left and the second one the number of goods. Goods? What goods, you ask. Well, these goods:
(photo by henk.rolleman)
Mechanisms:
Hey, these look nice. How do I get them? Well, as all these goods are plants it might be a good idea to plant them. Just place one good on one of your fields and all spaces of this field are filled with the same good and each round you receive one of them. If the last good of a field is harvested the field is discarded. 633
If it is your starting field it reminds you that this is the last round. Unfortunately all the big fields can only carry the cheap goods while the small ones are fertile enough to grow all kind of goods on them.
(photo by <PERSON>)
That's great, but how do I get the first good and a field? Well, the good you can buy from the shop which is placed before you. You can do this during the whole game as long as there are enough goods there. Unfortunately this shop is quite expensive so you should try to better plant them yourself. The field is even easier: You start with a really big one (9 spaces) and receive another one each round (3-6 spaces; each player will receive the same fields during the game only in random order). And then there is another possibility of getting extra fields...
(photo again by <PERSON>)
This is in my eyes the coolest mechanism in the game: The "auction". Each round every player receives 4 randomly drawn cards which he temporarily takes in his hand. When it's his turn he either places one of his cards in the middle where it is accessible for everyone or he chooses exactly one of his hand cards and exactly one of the cards in the middle which he then takes and adds to his shop. In this case he places all remaining cards from his hand in the middle. If there are no cards in the middle (only possible for the first player) you have to place one there, if you have only one card left in your hand you have to add this one and one from the middle to your shop.
What kind of cards are there? There are 5 different types:
- fields: These fields behave exactly like the ones mentioned above only that you have to pay 2 Käsch immediately when you add them to your shop.
- regular customers: Well, somehow you have to earn the money I talked about. Of course you could sell goods to your shop but not only is he very expensive when you buy goods he also pays you very little when you sell them. So customers are the better choice. Regular customers are customers who always want to buy the same. This makes them easy to handle. Unfortunately they become angry if you don't keep your side of the contract. But if you do they pay you more and more each round until - after selling four times to them - they somehow disappear. Regular customers always want two goods each round. Often two different goods but not all of them.
- casual customers: Casual customers are one time customers. Once you have given them what they want (always three goods - not necessarily different ones) they pay you and disappear. As they pop up with their special needs they are willing to wait without getting angry. 633