On 2/8/20 10:42 am, xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:
> The Euros tend, as Alex said, to be folk building an 'engine' and to
> optimize that engine to be successful in scoring. The
> reference/interaction with others tends to be limited to maybe buying
> from a similar market or a bit of modest competition for key board
> spaces. Most of the time, there is not directly antagonistic play
> (indirectly sometimes, but that's not a major focus).
>
> In many American style games, there are direct engagements of other
> players (by cards, actions, clashes, and other measures) and there is
> a definite expectation that direct conflict will be a significant part
> of the game (in order to win, you have to manage the clashes - or
> dominate them - while doing some other things as well, but the
> antagonistic mechanics are kind of core to the game (such as rents in
> Monopoly... but it is far more evident in Risk-style games).
>
> One of my favourite American games is Cults Across America (different
> Cults sparring over who will be the most important at the end
> times...). Another is Monsters Menace America. A third that fits that
> model to me is Nexus Ops. Others that immediately come to mind are
> Ebola Monkey Hunt ("An infected monkey is running towards you while
> another scientist chases him... whom do you shoot with your dart
> gun?"), Sucking Vacuum (ISS going south, only one or maybe two life
> pods... more players than that....), and there's one about a steampunk
> gnomish sub is going south called Red November.
>
> Euros are good for people who don't enjoy antagonistic aspects of games.
>
> Now, those are only broad types. There are some that are more, or
> less, close to those sorts of mechanics.
>
> Myself, I'm a big fan of 'players vs. the game' co-operative games
> like Pandemic and Gloomhaven (although it's a long legacy campaign
> game rather than just a one off).
>
> Also for our resident submariner:
> http://worldescapegames.com/submarine-escape/
> https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/171131/captain-sonar
>
> Captain Sonar is vicious - two teams run subs in a fight and they can
> hear each others communications and try to plot out where the other
> guy is and where they are and so on. It's quite tense. Submarine
> Escape is just kind of dorky fun. I do love the dark nature of Sucking
> Vacuum though.

My apologies.  I clean spaced on co-op games - and figured Pandemic
would be a bit on the nose in these times of SARS II: Electric Boogaloo.

I feel I must disagree with the Learned & Honourable member on his
characterisation of space competition in Eurogames as "modest", as well
as indirect silly buggers "not (being) a major focus".

This may be due to my boardgaming groups being adults, good mates, and
thus absolute _bastards_ to each other in-game.

Mechanisms that I've seen, have used myself, or have been on the
receiving end of, to screw with other players in Power Grid include but
are certainly not limited to:

1 - Manipulating player ranking.

2 - Manipulating fuel market - especially to leave the poor sod out
front with ONE less fuel than they need to power at some critical
juncture.  "Well played, you rat bastard" commonly accompanies this.

3 - Manipulating other players to screw with a targeted player.  I often
cop this one a lot from my sister, as I am (rightly or wrongly)
perceived as one of the strongest PG players in the group.

4 - Bluff participation in auctions.  This can backfire horrendously, or
(especially in the 10th anniversary edition) pay off handsomely (such as
me getting a decent mid-game powerplant for 1 elektro because I bluffed
everyone else into buying other, expensive, plants at somewhere above
list price, which cost them at least one city build at the same time I
could afford an extra one, relative to no-one buying a plant at all).  I
cannot repeat the language my sister used when she realised what I had
pulled off.

5 - Non-bluff participation in auctions.  I've found paying what you
need to, earlier in the game, for a decent mid or late-game plant gives
you _time_ to upgrade your powerplants later on when you _want_ to (say
to grab a good plant opportunistically, like I did in 4), not when
circumstances _force_ you to.

6 - Build connected cities towards a minimum spanning tree to get into
each region in play.

7 - Induce a morale collapse in one or more player(s).

At least one of the metaheuristics underlying the above should be
obvious - pointing out which one(s) I leave to the Learned & Honourable
members as an exercise.

Alex