Components: Good quality components. Art work is *amazing* if you like the classics. And there is a great amount of non-repeating art.
Game Setup: Our first game took 10 minutes to setup but it was very straight forward.
Mechanics: A unique worker-placement, resource-management, area-control, bidding.
Game Play: Calling this a typical worker-placement/resource management game is an injustice. The power vs initiate worker placement mechanic is as slick as they come. There are so many *options* for scoring points but only a few ways to score points so scoring is tight. The subtle ways to attempt to outwit your opponents in this game provides many paths to victory but you have to be that much more wary of letting your guard down in those same areas. This is not a “victory point salad game’.
Last Word: In Rurik you are rewarded for having a strategic vision and executing it correctly like no other game we can easily think of. This game will see our table many, many times and has the potential to be one of the best games of the year for us. PieceKeeper Games has a fantastic game here!
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