Gentes (international)

Positives: orginial mechanisms on individual player tableaus. Interesting card play. good amount of choices. Quick turns. Great game length (60 min). lots of paths to victory. very strategic. well balanced.

Negatives: feels very abstract. lots of symbol reading. theme is mostly absent during gameplay.

If you dont mind this, its a very good euro-game.

Solid Euro with very interesting mechanics. Main focus is on the individual player board.

Positives: good decision space. Very strategic (long term). Zero luck. Original mechanics on the individual player boards. The integration of cards and how they work in the game (mechanically) is also very interesting (although here is where thematic ties could have been implemented most easily, which it is not). Fantastic play time 60-90 min. Lots of path to victory. Very simple actions. Nice build up over three ages and six rounds.

Negatives: feels quite abstract, the theme mostly disappears during play, reading symbols is everything. Almost no player interaction, except taking cards away (there is always enough options).

Plays well at two. Ideal player count: three (lots of good tension). With four players it might get a bit chaotic.

Overall: like it a lot. It’s a fantastic and original game. My only and greatest negative point – and surprise – is that the theme comes through so so little and that it feels so abstract during play. Still a keeper for me.