Rick Thornquist: The New Die Macher / Mykerinos

As many of you probably know, a new game company, Valley Games, has taken it upon themselves to publish a new version of one of the all-time classic German games - Die Macher.  No doubt many a critical eye will be cast on this new version - Die Macher is just too good to be given the short shrift.  Valley Games recently posted the rules for the game on their website and I’m happy to say, at least from what I’ve gleaned from the rules, things are looking good.

I can’t really judge the production quality of the game until I have a final copy in my hands, but we can get a few clues from the rulebook.  It looks like Valley Games didn’t stray too far from the production and graphic design of the second edition (the more well-known version from Hans im Gluck edition).  They did make a few small additions - there are now spaces for the Party Membership Payout and Coalition Tiles on the boards, as well as slots for the State, Opinon Poll and Shadow Cabinet Cards.

The graphics in the new version are 3D computer graphics.  They aren’t ‘Vohwinkel beautiful’, though, and that might disappoint some.  The graphics look good enough for me, though I am a little disappointed in the box cover.  I’ve come to expect beautiful box art from games these days and the new Die Macher cover is just not that great (in my humble opinion).

Talking about the box cover, I know this is too late to change now, but I’m of the mind that they shouldn’t have called the game ‘Die Macher’, or at least not plastered that name on the front cover.  Gamers know the name, but those who are unfamiliar may be put off by a game with the word ‘Die’ in big block letters.  I believe this is a multilingual version so putting an English name on the game may have been presumptuous, but I think using another name would have been wise, perhaps relegating the name ‘Die Macher’ to a subtitle.

The rules of the game are actually quite good.  This was my main worry for the new game, but it looks like Valley Games did their homework here and put together a quite good set of rules.  They are somewhat wordy, but I’m okay with that in this instance because this is a fairly involved game, and the rules take the time to make sure everything is as clear as possibly with a fair number of examples.

The rules also clarify some of the more hazier aspects of the previous edition’s rules.  The way the exchange pool worked was never really clear - in these rules it seems to be spelled out pretty clearly.  Also spelled out is whether other players get to see poll cards that are not published (they don’t).  I’m very happy that we now have what could be the definitive rules for the game.

Of course, we won’t really be able to judge the game until it comes out, but at this point in time the new version of Die Macher is looking good.

Games Played
A good set of games played this week, including Thurn und Taxis, High Society, Beowulf, 6 Nimmt!, Showmanager, Kuhhandel, Um Krone und Kragen and Mykerinos.

Yes, I played Beowulf again.  No, I still don’t like it.  Hey, I just blind bid four cards and got junk!  What fun!  Another player just did two risks in a row, got four cards, and got first place in the auction.  What skill!  This is just one of those games, and there are many, where is mystifies me why some people like it.

I played Um Krone und Kragen twice, once with three players and once with four.  It’s funny, when we were starting up the four player game there were a bunch of people that came by who wanted in but I had to turn them down.  “But the box says it plays with five!”, they’d say.  “Yes, but -I- won’t play with five!”, I’d reply.  Even with four, there is a lot of downtime - with five it’s way too much for me.  I do enjoy the game with three when I’m looking for a nice dice rolling game. 

Mykerinos
It must be tough being Ystari - the second game they published is rated as the second best game of all time.  Try following that up!  Fortunately they didn’t try to compete with themselves by releasing a deep gamer game like Caylus - they released Mykerinos, which is more of a middle weight game.

The game is an area majority game.  Players embody archeologists that are excavating land in Egypt.  A set of landscape cards is laid out in a grid and each of the cards has a grid on it.  Player take turns placing cubes in the squares on the cards - this represents sending out men to excavate the land. 

When the round is over, groups of cards are resolved.  Whoever has the most men on a group of cards can take one of the cards or else place a marker in the Museum - an area which helps you score you points at the end of the game.  Second place then gets to do the same.  If there are any cards left, third and then fourth place may get them.

In subsequent rounds a new grid of cards is laid out and the process is repeated.

By the second round players will likely have accumulated some cards and these cards can then be used for their special powers.  They can do things like enable you to get additional men, play additional men, play on blocked squares, etc.

The game goes for four rounds.  At the end of the game you score for the cards you’ve accumulated during the game.  Each card is worth a certain number of points depending on where you played your markers in the Museum.  The player with the most points wins.

There more than that to it, but that’s the gist of it.  It’s a fairly straightforward area majority game, on the abstract side, but it does have enough nice little strategies to make it interesting.  This was my third time playing it and I’m intrigued - enough to make me want to play it a few more times to explore more of the strategy.  I hope to get in a few more games soon after which I’ll write a review.

And that’s it for this week!

© 2006 Rick Thornquist

---

Comments:

You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free, but if you appreciate the news, previews, reviews and other material posted on Boardgame News, please consider becoming a member to keep the info flowing to your screen!

"This is just one of those games, and there are many, where is mystifies me why some people like it”. One probable reason: some very known gamers are fans of Knizia in a way that they lose any objectivity Posted by Mario Aguila on Jun 20, 2006 at 07:04 PM | #

... or perhaps the game is just one of the games that more people than usual don’t get, which is also a form of non-objectivity and all that.  No game has universal like, and very few have wide approval. Beowulf is a Taj Mahal design, and Taj Mahal is an odd game to like in the first place.  Of course, some will say Beowulf is more in line of Lord of the Rings, but it’s much more Taj Mahal to me.  Beowulf adds in risk management, but some of the rules seem to be misplayed more often than not, which tends to break the game (as missing a rule sometimes does in general). Beowulf is an oddball game, but still a good one.  Rules played right helps, and even makes this game generally accessible. Some of the “very known gamers” who are Knizia fans will often have several Knizia designs they are lukewarm on, and several that they hate.  Serious gamers are a very fickle lot, and most of us are very detail-orientated.  Knizia fans are no exception.  I don’t see China Wall or even Penguins being a hit among Knizia fans, who want more meaty fare.  (Indeed, during the Gathering, China Wall was a sort of anti-hit with Knizia fans, as to them it’s “just another Knizia card game...” And they should know, eh?). As for other things.... Mykerinos is a nice game.  I think, out of the Ystaris so far, I would get to play this the most.  It doesn’t look like much, but there are some nice intersections of considerations to puzzle through, and they are dynamic and player-interactive in nature.  A definite Ystari through and through. Posted by Ava Jarvis on Jun 21, 2006 at 12:56 AM | #

< Back Home