Post originally by Henry at 2003-11-12 10:26:41
Converted from Phorums BB System

I'm quite familiar with both games and feel their only primary area of intersection is that they are both tile laying games. Oh, and they both have cloth bags to put the tiles in!

In E&T, you are scoring on every turn. Further more, you must keep your scoring fairly balanced between the four colors. Direct conflict is not uncommon and can be extremely important to you final score.

In New England, direct conflict primarily comes during bidding. It is possible to develop your areas of the board in ways to restrict another player's options, but that is hardly direct conflict. As with E&T, there are several strategies to pursue that can lead to victory. However, victory is determined based solely on the victory point totals.

The two games have very different flavors to me. If I had to choose just one game between the two, I'd take E&T without a second thought. Since I don't have to do that, I'm very happy I own both games.

If you want to get more info on New England (or any of several thousand other games), check out the Boardgame Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com).

Henry