This week there were seven of us so we started by splitting into two groups. Pete taught Guy and me Carpe Astra, which has been on my unplayed list for way too long. It's a game about manipulating the tile layout and your chain of pieces to achieve objectives on your hand of cards, for which you receive influence tokens in different categories. However, you can either acquire the tokens by taking them from the limited draw pool or by stealing them from your opponents. After ten rounds, first and second in each category receive VPs and the person with the highest total wins.
There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing incollecting the tokens as those with a lead tend to find themselves a target. There is also a fairly tight money management aspect as you need coins to do more things and the opportunity to acquire coins is pretty limited. I do think going last has a big advantage but Guy, who did win the game from last position, did manage his money and protect his token holdings the best. Nige probably would not have liked the spatial element of this one, had he been playing. |