by jaysachs
pfctsqr wrote:
2) The rules were pretty easy to figure out. There were a couple of spots where I needed to dig for a thread to shed light on a question. But once I figured out the rules, the game is extremely easy to teach. Ive heard some say they have an easier time teaching this than Puerto Rico. I absolutely agree. Goa is much easier to teach than Puerto Rico.
The rule that I find the hardest for people to grok and remember is around the use of expedition cards during actions. For each action, you may use one expedition card, either before or after the action (for a non-A expedition card), or as the action (for an A expedition card).
5) I understand what others say about the theme being at odds with the actual mechanics. I can see that, too. What does drawing expedition cards have to do with managing a spice trade? But, I wish the rules called "progress" in one of the 5 areas on the tech tree differently. If the rules said that one of the actions available is shipping spices with the reward not being money, but instead being able to increase your prestige in one of the 5 areas provided you shipped the correct combination of spices, I think this interpretation makes more thematic sense. It IS what you are actually doing and that is how I taught it.
I can make sense of the "spice for tech up" not as increased prestige, but more as infrastructure investment. In that universe, expedition cards represent hiring risk-taking captains and crews. Yeah, it's still rather thin. But it's too much fun for me to notice.