Dutch Intercity

Compelling--I'm extremely hopeful after my first play. May turn out to be my favorite Winsome design, but we'll see if it can sustain the 50 plays that Chicago Express and others have enjoyed.

Dutch Intercity models the proliferation of rail lines in the Netherlands for historicity's sake, but it is an auction game at heart, and one where your attunement to turn order and the consequential impacts of its shifts and associated share acquisitions are both visceral and inevitable. The route building plays second fiddle to the stock rounds, but is no less significant. It is an astoundingly sharp exercise, brimming with headache-inducing decisions, and yet, almost inexplicably, devoid of excess. Sleek. Severe. Superlative.

It is quite interesting to see how those simple share and track games evolved (most of that history can be traced to Winsome Games of course). This title is from 1999 (i.e., eight years before Wabash Cannonball/Chicago Express) and already has a lot of its interesting elements, but in a simpler setting. Two curious aspects are the fact money in the treasury of companies are actually divided by shareholders in the endgame (remainder going to the president), and the quirky way auctions work: players keep offering shares for auction until one of the players has 0 money. Some bigger company should really pick up this design for a regular edition.

Most of us weren't too clear on what a winning strategy would be until the end of our first game when we saw what the stocks were worth. We immediately played again. It seems like this game might eventually be more or less solvable, but it should be good for at least ten or so plays.

brutal. this one is for cube rail freaks. such a simple ruleset but the few weird rules have so many ramifications. the auction going to a player having no money is an interesting wrinkle, the liquidation of railroads at the end, blind bids for railroads... goodness. i haven't felt so much emotion at a game in a long time. i'm not sure if i can say it's an amazing game, certainly there are parts of the design that won't rub people the right way. it's incredibly snowball-y and fragile, one mistake will cost you the game. but for me personally i don't really mind, i like bashing my head against the wall trying to claw my way out of a bad position.