by StormKnight
Played again last night. The winning player bought 3 emerald mines early, and relied entirely on those mines, using the traders to turn them into the other gems she wanted. The high emerald production really dropped the value on emeralds, making them for easier for other players to afford.The winning player only bought 1 artifact; an artifact that gives 2 wilds on the last turn (it came up perfectly to let her buy that and a treasure).
Scores were very close: 17-16-15-12. And the 12 point player was set up for a huge turn next turn - just a little too late.
Several players spent a few turns early in the game just taking money. Not much else we could do. But that didn't last for long.
I'm discovering that I really like this game. It's nicely brainburnery.