NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/games/board/12825

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-30 | 1.8 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!noc.near.net!nic.umass.edu!m2c!crackers!frog!bill
From: [e-mail] (auspex1)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Sante Fe game review
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 30 Dec 92 15:10:38 GMT
Sender: mit-eddie!frog!bill (Bill Masek)
Organization: Charles River Data Systems
Lines: 32

I just player Sante Fe last night for the first time.  We liked it.
(Our group is a great fan of 1830.)  It is relatively short (we played
2 games and explained the rules in 3 hours) but it seems interesting.

Short Summary:

Sante Fe is set in the Western US.  There are 5 railroads that ALL players
expand.  Each city has a point value and there are cards for each city.
You get points for connecting new cities and connecting particular railroads
into particular cities.  You can also play city cards.  At the end of the
game you get points for each railroad that connects into one of your cities.
The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

The track and city cards are balanced so that all of the city cards can
be played.  However players can play "2X" cards to lay twice as much
track and double their connecting bonuses.  If you play a 2X card then
you cannot play a city card.  You also move the balance so fewer city
cards will be played.  Both of the games we played had about a third of
the city cards unplayed.

There is a constant pressure between short term gains and long term
gains.  (The high point cities are one the west coast.)  Do you connect
a city for points now or do you push a connection to your cities for
the end of the game.

(In the US it was expensive, $52, at Games People Play in Cambridge, MA.
The game is published in Germany so it should be cheaper in Europe.)
--

bill masek        charles river data systems, inc
[phone] (h)    [phone] (w)
mit-eddie!frog!bill    eddie.mit.edu!frog!bill