Cuzco ►►► I still don't like it, but I'd say this is a big improvement over Feld's Bora Bora!

[@elqord.1118]

I‘d give it a look at a 50-60 bucks price point. At 100-110? No way

[@rahdo]

eco-conscious green production in europe instead of wasteful production in china is always going to cost more.

[@gizmoboardgames]

2 things: A) there are ways to mitigate some of that with the god cards and B) if there's no difference to using a 4 or a 2,, as your example, you're better off holding onto the 2 for later, when the board is even tighter. So using the 2 just to lock someone else out, may backfire on your next play when you're stuck with the 4. So, to me, you seem more incentivized to use your higher dice on the actions you really want, and your lower dice on the less desired actions, where they fit. Just my 2 cents, as someone who also doesn't like direct confrontation.

[@rahdo]

i would agree with that at higher than 2p count, but at 2, every point you deny me is equal to a point you gain, and it's often the most efficient move to do what you need to do while denying me what i need to do if you can :)

[@graphycus]

Well, I don't really see how is this more cutthroat than - let's say - Castles of Burgundy, a top 10 game for you. In CoB, if there are equally valuable tiles for me on the display, I will always choose the one that my opponent needs the most. I could literaly deny him/her a ton of points by taking - let's say - a 3 pigs tile instead of a 4 cows tile. I even lose 1 point with this action, but I stole at least 10-12 points from my opponent. Or how about taking the only available building which he needs to complete the 7 or 8 hex sized town? And this could happen multiple times in each game and you can't do anything about it.

[@rahdo]

plenty of games have players blocking each other inadvertently in the furtherance of their own goals, and we're totally fine with that (including burgundy). but this game often gives you the extra choice to further your goals in a way that would block your opponent or would not block your opponent. this option to "denial attack" is totally optional, and in 2p it's generally wisest to do it if you can, especially for crucial moments. that makes this much more aggressive, because it's a conscious choice to screw your opponent not inadvertently in the course of your own pursuits, but actively to hurt them and their goals.

[@JFitzsimmons]

I’m with you. I hate a cutthroat dynamic in games. Gives me monopoly flashbacks.

[@kolomahler]

Thanks! Where can we find your current Feld list? I remember there being a KZbin comment from you once... But who's going to search for that really?!?!

[@rahdo]

fortunately i can search through all my comments, so i just did and found i posted this list 10 months ago: 10. vienna 9. kokopelli 8. bonfire 7. notre dame 6. amerigo 5. marrakesh 4. forum trajanum 3. macao 2. trajan 1. burgundy haven't gotten to play civolution, kathmandu or nassau yet, but hoping to within the next month or so. but i'd be surprised if any of those pushed into the top 10

[@rahdo]

oh, also worth noting that if ravensburger hadn't screwed with the design for the 2nd printing of carpe diem and left things as originally created by feld, it would have come in at #2

[@kolomahler]

@rahdo screenshoted as a guide for life. Thank You so much for your kindness and effort. Our group has just embarked on our field journey and are really struggling to get our bearings, with bonfire being the only hit so far while all Hamburg did was get us itching for Bruges. Strasbourg and Rialto next! Though looking at the list maybe we should review our approach...

[@paulw2813]

Im afraid i have to totally disagree with this assessment of Cuzco. This review makes the game out to be a ‘take that’, screw your opponent at every chance game which I dont believe it is. As a game that relies completely on dice rolls with zero mitigation, there are definitely times where you have no choice but to thwart an opponents plans but as for players who LOOK FOR those opportunities, that is a player issue. Not a game issue. Ive played this game at all player counts and have never played with someone who intentionally tried to destroy my game just because they could. Besides, with some planning, the awesome God cards can get you out of a tight spot almost EVERY time. Not sure who you are playing with but I suggest get some nicer opponents.

[@rahdo]

if you've got a 5 or a 2 and you could use either to accomplish what need to do, and you know i need to go there as well, then you'd use the 5 specifically to block me as that would be your best move in a 2p game, where every point denied me is a point gained by you. this of course is only an issue in 2p because once there's 3 or more players, making aggressive moves puts both you and the person you're purposely blocking behind the 3rd player who's not involved. zero sum 2p makes most games implicitly more aggressive if you're trying to play to peak efficiency, and we always do :)

[@Tokengesture]

Agreed…… saw this review and expected it to be brutal and cut throat ….. but it isn’t really- fantastic game.

[@rahdo]

@@Tokengesture i do agree that it is a fantastic game :)

[@bijanajamlou5152]

Dont understand your problem. You can easily deduce that if you take this die or that die then your opponent will have those die's left and then next turn you could be screwed and then it is best to do the most important thing now. Without it the game would have 0 interactions and tensions. The game as it is make you pick a suboptimal option to not risk getting a worse deal.

[@budsticky]

I just wish Queen Games would stop making these Feld games needlessly swallow up your entire table.

[@rahdo]

the "essential" editions tend to be a bit more managable, size-wise :)