Manhattan Project: Energy Empire: My Favorite Game Mechanism

[@DejunKing]

The combos are really great in this game, but the thing i am drawn most to are the thick chuncky cardboard bits! They have a great feel in your hand and really make the game just that much more appealing. Great components and great mechanics, you can't go wrong with this game! :)

[@jameystegmaier]

Totally! I think they're 3-4mm thick, which is awesome.

[@amandavallerand7409]

My favorite mechanism in MP:EE is the pollution management. Some actions require you to pollute one of three zones, and every now and then, you score the unpolluted squares in one of the three sections of your board. It makes me think of Corruption in Scoundrels of Skullport, where it allows you to take bigger actions at a cost, but instead of just getting penalties at the end of the game, the timing of your pollution (or cleaning) can have a big impact on your score.

[@jameystegmaier]

I agree, the pollution mechanism in MP:EE is really clever. I like that it barely feels punishing even though it can have a big impact on your score.

[@Avelice0]

Improving actions is one of my all-time favorite mechanisms in games. It adds interesting decisions, tension, and satisfaction, while adding virtually zero complexity to the rules. Interesting decisions, because improving actions generally gives a lot of options. Tension because you want to constantly take advantage of your improved actions, but find that you can't always do so. And satisfaction, because there's nothing better than improving what you can do throughout the game, and especially doing something better than other players. Peurto Rico and San Juan are some of my favorite games which use this mechanism. And it's elevated even more in the fact that you get your benefits even when other people choose those actions!

[@jameystegmaier]

I really like the way you wrote this, Nyles. I really love the satisfaction I feel when I improve an action, especially if it's early in the game.

[@Avelice0]

Thanks! I think this is why upgrading is so popular in all types of games, video and board games alike. It's satisfying because it feels like tangible progress.

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

In _Council of Four_, when you build in a city then you trigger the bonus in that city - plus in all neighboring cities connected by road where you have built. This is balanced in the sense that if you focus on that then you are neglecting some other bonus scorings for region or color scoring, since the cities of the same color are not neighbors, and the cities within a region mostly have to connect via cities in other regions.

[@jameystegmaier]

That's really cool! Thanks for sharing.

[@eltcommonplace]

Yeah, I really love the combos, because they give you ideas for your achievements and also, how to get new cards that work with the ones already obtained. I also love the dice, because they give that alternative: do I want to pollute and get a lot of energy or go for a safe round getting half the energy but also removing pollution tokens of the pile. Easily a great game that I will always enjoy to play.

[@jameystegmaier]

The dice are really cool. I didn't focus on them but somehow still gained a ton of pollution from the various cards I was acquiring and using. :)

[@antgerfitz]

You said combos a hell of a lot of times in this video. That is one of my most favorite mechanisms ever. I'm looking forward to buying the Stonemaier game that incorporates something similar to this. Fortunately that game is due this year (2018). I'm looking forward to seeing the art very soon for that game. Well, that is if my deduction skills are correct. stonemaiergames.com/e-newsletter/

[@charlesdionne5500]

Definitely one of the best games of 2016! I really enjoyed the colored dice representing the types of energies you can harvest and their thematic integration. Do you go for the cleaner, less rewarding blue or green dice to keep pollution low or go all out with the coal and nuclear dice at the expense of your environment board. I also liked that only your highest roll counts and therefore a player could mitigate the environmental damage with a high roll on a blue or green die, for example. Brilliant game! As far as combos go, Castles of Burgundy is probably at the top of my list. You can pull off some great, satisfying combos while keeping turns fairly short.

[@jameystegmaier]

I really like the dice too! I wanted to get dice that kept pollution low, but I really struggled to get the two resources needed to gain a green die. So I think I only acquired 1 die the entire game. I need to improve that portion of my game next time. The highest roll mechanism is brilliant!

[@NickNackLetsPlay]

Combos basically is the reason why Magic: The Gathering is so successful. It's a game about creating the best combos from thousands of cards. For me combos are the core of euro games in general: Thinking about how to optimize all options available to you to get the best result possible.

[@jameystegmaier]

Oh man, I love creating clever combos in Magic, whether it's during a draft in back in the day when I used to play constructed. it feels great when a combo you've built actually comes together.

[@jeromedemeyere1002]

The card combo thing made me think of Deus. I still have to play Energy empire though.

[@jameystegmaier]

That's a great example! Deus has that neat card-stacking mechanism.