This week, three of us were able to try out Steve's newly acquired copy of Steam. He was one of the recipients of some pre-ordered copies that were inadvertantly sent out before the distributor was advised that the official release date wasn't until 22nd June.

Steam is the new version of Martin Wallace's Age of Steam with a few changes. The most noticeable in the basic version, which we played, was the absence of the turn order auction. Instead, the action you pick on your current turn is also used to determine player order for the next turn. I had an unfortunate start picking the wrong tile for the action I wanted (first to lay track rather than an extra track lay), leaving me short of my destination and no income in the first turn. Guy and I seemed to be competing / collaborating in the same areas whereas Steve was off doing his own thing in the East. We all thought this would mean Steve would be well ahead in shipping as Guy and I were going for the same targets. However, we were both also adding new goods to cities that favoured both of us and often we were shipping over shared routes. As it turned out, the scores were much closer than I imagined them to be, although Steve did still win (no surprise really as he'd already played it the evening before).

Steam is a very good game, as was Age of Steam, and it is my game of the month for May. There is a lot going on and certainly, in the three player game, there is no real downtime. It's not the kind of game I'd play regularly but it's certainly one I'd be happy to play if asked.