Did play it at Essen, didn’t really liked it – too much ways to get screwed by cards and dice and for me far too long for what it is. The constant adding up if power on hunts and weighting the chances to score is just slowing down the game too much without actual benefits. It feels like it should be fast, but enough to trolls out and it just isn’t. And there are too many ways to be left in the dust with no real chance to catch up except random chance.

Yep. Sure, it costs an arm and a leg, but that was the case with previous CTG games, too. For me it is the game play and enjoyment of their games: quick setup, easy play, great feel of components, clear representation of game state and oodles of fun. They have solid solo modes that don’t feel tacked on (well, Triplock was a bit an outlier, but I still like it as a solo game) but feel like a real game. I have most of Hoplomachus and quite a bit TMB and all of Triplock and they all count among my favourite games, so it looks like the CTG guys just seem to hit my gamer nerve quite well. That makes me go in on a new IP from them, too. I just trust them to make something cool.