Pilgrim Palaver

Bubslug: That's exactly why the split was so surprising, Richard. Usually, you would see the Americans complaining that the theme was too weak. However, there are some mitigating issues. First of all, most of the gamers who seemed to take issue with the theme are from Britain and Brits tend to be closer to Yanks in the way they view theme importance. (All massive generalities, of course, but true in the aggregate.) Second, the American fans are Euro-gamers, so we're used to pasted-on themes. Nevertheless, the dichotomy continues to surprise me, as New England is definitely a German-style design, rather than an American-style one, but is more popular on this side of the Atlantic. I'd be curious to hear if any of you have a theory of why this should be so (and no, I don't think too many Yanks find Pilgrim-themed games to be irresistable!).

Shannon: My assumption, like yours, has always been that you really want to be able to buy two items a turn. However, my last two games featured players who were more free-spending than I would have thought prudent, but who nonetheless did very well. I'm afraid I haven't played New England enough to be able to determine whether their more aggressive bidding was responsible for their success, but the idea is intriguing and would definitely raise my opinion of the game if it were true. Maybe the idea is that it can be better to bid $4 (or even higher) and get the one good item you need than it is to grab two mediocre items for total of $2 or $4. I have no tangible proof of this, but just have a suspicion that the bidding and purchasing in this game is a little less straightforward than it first appears.