New Game, Ahoy!

And what might that new game be, which I so cleverly teased about in the blog title? That game is Hacienda. New to me, at least. I played it for the first time at June's Game Day event, and after 3 more plays this week, I think it's time to mention it here. I loved this game after the first time, and it only has become more endearing every play since.

For those who haven't played this gem, in short, it's a resource management and territory claim game played on a hex-board marked by varied terrain and interspersed markets. Players are competing for access to these markets as a source of income and victory points, as well as purchasing water tiles and grouping their lands to acquire other bonuses over the course of the game.

What makes this game unique, is that the victory points are totaled twice. Once at the midpoint of the game, and again at the end. So, a strong start can make-or-break you in Hacienda.

After these first few plays, my initial reaction as far as strategy is concerned, is that market access is king in this game. The score multiplier that goes along with market access is huge for points, especially if it's doubled by getting early access before the first scoring is done. Purchasing water and haciendas seem to be best served as late-game actions, as the early game should be focused on using your precious three actions either claiming territory and/or making money to purchase resources.

We have yet to try any of the variants that came with the game, but with a double-sided board and two pages of variants to try, I look forward to playing Hacienda with our group for a long while.

Toodles for now,

-Andrew