by Uncle G
Terra MysticaThoughts on strategy and game balance
Terra Mystica only came out at Essen 2012 so it is still very early days in terms of understanding the strategies and tactics of play in what is a game with great depth to it. However one of the most common concerns I have heard expressed, both online and face to face, concerns the balance between the different races. I can’t claim to be an expert, but I thought I would jot down a few thoughts and ideas and open up for a strategy discussion.
Thoughts on strategy
The differences between the races are greater than they first appear. When I first played I assumed the difference was mainly to do with the special ability and stronghold ability. However about halfway through my first game I realised that there are differences on all the areas – some aren’t so good at getting workers; others start with better power; still others produce different amounts of money and power per trading house.
The combinations of these differences combine to make certain strategies viable for some races but not others. In other words, if you try to play as you did with Swarmlings when you are playing Giants, you will do badly.
So far shipping has been barely utilised, and I suspect will only be used once we get to grips with other strategies. At the moment I can see uses for connecting two or more towns together for end game scoring, and founding a new dwelling away from an existing town using the +1 shipping scroll, and then building a separate town which can later be joined back for end game scoring
Despite all the variety given by the different races, my biggest concern about strategy is that the best plan seems to be to complete two towns and then join them together. There are alternatives, such as focus on end of round bonuses, but so far the two towns strategy seems to be the best.
The +4 power favour is by far our favourite so far, so either it’s some way better than the others or we’re missing something.
Board position is of vital importance. With hindsight I have seen games lost on the initial placement of dwellings. This breaks down into two sub points:a Don’t be isolated. (There may be races which can cope, but in general missing out on power is too big a deal.b Don’t get blocked in. I’ve seen one player in particular suffer through having expansion from one dwelling constricted and only having one area to develop.
With initial placement sometimes you can just be unlucky. Someone has to place first, and if no-one places next to you, you will struggle for power.
I haven’t seen this done, but I suspect that delaying actions and building up a large reserve of resources could be a viable approach, and beneficial in some circumstances.Thoughts on game balance
Whenever asymmetry is introduced into a game – especially one as deep as this one – perfect game balance is probably not achievable. However the only times I have heard complaints about game balance – those complaints have come from players who have just lost and who have just spend the whole game struggling for a resource which the winning player had in plenty. I am guilty of this myself. In my (very) limited experience the actual cause of this deficiency has been poor play, and sometimes playing in a style inappropriate to the race being used. It is then all too easy to say that I never stood a chance because my race couldn’t get workers/money or whatever.The jury is still out, but on the whole the races look broadly balanced to me.
Let’s have a discussion!
I’m still only a novice on strategies for Terra Mystica. Please share your insights.