Game Review: Container

By Greg Schloesser
August 29, 2008

Publisher: Valley Games
Designers: Thomas Ewert and Franz-Benno Delonge
Players: 3-5
Ages: 12
Playing Time: 90 minutes
Rules Language: English,
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Container is the first original design published by Valley Games. Prior to this release, the company’s games have all been reprints of previously released games, most of which had been out of print for quite some time. Many gamers were anxious to see whether this first original creation would be worth the wait.

Designed by Thomas Ewert and the late Franz-Benno Delonge, Container is a business game that challenges players to transport containers from their factories to warehouses, ultimately having them loaded onto barges and shipped to foreign lands for consumption. Enticement is a major part of the game, as players must entice an opponent to purchase from their factories or load containers from their warehouses onto the opponent’s ship. Once barges arrive at the foreign ports with containers, players then bid to acquire these goods, hoping to maximize their profits.

Rules of the Sea

In terms of production, Container is quite nice. There is an abundance of wood representing the containers, factories and warehouses, and the five player barges are made of a sturdy resin material. The artwork on the thick cardboard boards is gray and muted, but appropriate to the theme. The only complaint I’ve heard is about the ships, which were supposed to be plastic. Personally, I like them just fine.

Each player begins with twenty dollars, one machine and one warehouse on their player board, which provides space for factories, warehouses and docks. Each player also receives a secret “Value of Container” card, which lists the values of each of the five types of containers. These values range from 2 to 10, depending upon the type, and each player’s card is different. The objective is to ultimately secure containers that bring the highest price.

Each turn, after paying interest on any loans, a player will perform two of the following actions:

• Buy a warehouse OR a machine. A player may own four machines and five warehouses, with the cost of each rising for each additional one purchased.

• Produce merchandise. The number of containers produced is equal to the number of machines a player owns. The containers must match the colors of the player’s machines. These containers are placed in the player’s factory store, with the player determining the asking price for the containers ($1-4). A player may have at most two containers in his factory stores for each machine he owns.

  Players can sometimes try to grab a monopoly on certain types of containers in order to establish higher prices, but this monopoly will not last. Other players will undoubtedly quickly spot this power grab and purchase similar machines.

  Each time a player produces merchandise, he must pay $1 to the “Union Boss,” which is the player located on his right. One dollar may not seem like much, but in a game with tight finances, it can be a nice financial boost.

• Buy merchandise for his harbor store. Containers are purchased from opponents’ factory stores for the price marked. Purchased goods are placed in a player’s harbor store. A player may possess only one good for each warehouse he owns, and once purchased, he sets the price in an identical fashion as when he produces goods, but the range in price is $2–6 per good. Thus, if a player wishes to increase the number of containers he can have available in his harbor stores, he must purchase additional warehouses.

• Move the ship. A player may move his ship from one area to the next. The three areas are the harbors, open sea, and the island. When a player arrives at an opponent’s harbor, he may purchase up to five containers, which is the capacity of the ship. This ends a player’s turn. A player may never purchase containers from his own harbor, which is one of the critical rules and driving forces of the game.

  When a ship arrives at the island, the containers on that ship are auctioned. This is a “closed-fist” auction, and the owner of the ship has the option of accepting the highest offer, or paying that amount to the bank. The winner places the containers on his space on the island. If the owner of the ship accepts an offer from an opponent, he also gets a matching amount from the bank. This can often result in a substantial windfall, making the purchasing of containers from one’s own ship a costly proposition.

The game ends when the supply of two of the five types of containers is depleted. Players then reveal their Value of Container cards – but before tallying the value of their containers, each player must discard ALL of the containers of the color in which they have the most! That means a player must be careful not to collect only the containers that carry a high value. He must try to collect the most in the color that has a lesser value, as these will be discarded.

The scoring contains one further quirk: Each “value” card lists one container with a dual value of $5 or $10. If the player is to achieve the higher value, he must possess all five container colors. Otherwise, he will earn only $5 for each container of that color. (Obviously the value of this type of container is determined before the player tosses containers from his most common color; otherwise no one would ever net $10 per container.)

Players total the value of all of their remaining containers, and the player with the greatest value is victorious.

Spoiled in Transit?

Container should last between 1-1/2 and 2 hours, but I’ve been involved in some games that have gone on longer … much longer. The playing time will depend largely on the players and the strategies they follow. If they spend money freely early in the game, this will cause their finances to be limited as the game progresses, causing it to be prolonged. If, however, they manage their money more wisely and are more conservative in the early periods, more money will be available as the game progresses and the game will play to completion in a shorter time frame.

The above situation is one of the concerns I have with the game. If players aren’t careful, their actions can put them in a situation wherein they will feel extremely constrained and have little, if any, chance of catching the leader. This can also cause the game to be quite dull for most players involved. Now, this situation is true for many games; poor play can lead to an untenable position and a poor experience. It seems magnified here, though, as on the surface the actions that lead to this distasteful situation do not appear to be ill-advised. Rather, they seem to be smart and opportunistic moves. Only as the game progresses does it become clear that the game flounders if all players pursue the same course. This same situation is present in several other games, most notably Fifth Avenue by designer Wilko Manz.

Many argue that this is a problem with the players, not the game. I’m not sure I agree, as the game forces players to play – at least initially – in a certain fashion, thereby limiting their options. Mind you, I don’t think this is a game-breaking problem, but it is still a concern.

Container is a bit of an enigma for me. The game is, for the most part, well-designed, and players have significant decisions to make throughout its duration. It clearly challenges players to manage their business and finances well. Players must pay attention to various aspects of their business, including acquisitions, production, pricing and timing. Margins are the name of the game, and they tend to be tight. Profits are usually not made in huge chunks, but rather in small increments. Players do take some risks, but they usually aren’t of the type that will cause a player to soar if they are successful, or crash-and-burn if the plan goes awry. While this may not be an exact replica of the business world, it is still a very good simulation.

However, for me, the game just lacks spark, that extra “something” that elevates it to an exciting game that I long to play. Perhaps this is because the subject of running and operating a business is not something that generally excites me. On a small scale, I do this every day – it’s my occupation! – so doing something similar in a game generally doesn’t excite me. I recognize that the game is a good simulation, but it just may not be my preferred choice to play. From my experience, that seems to be the reaction of a sizeable number of folks with whom I’ve played. There are a few that thoroughly enjoy the game, but most have had an ambivalent reaction. That being said, I think this is a very good offering from Valley Games and a nice legacy for designer Franz-Benno Delonge.

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