[cfarrell]

I basically agree with your appraisal, except that I think I was a little more deterred by the screwage factor in deciding who gets to take an action and who doesn't. Losing a couple extra turns can be a big deal, and in the mid-game where the players can be quite cash poor, the upside of being the auctioneer becomes insufficiently balancing. Since peoples' choices are fairly random, due to the large amount of state which has to be remembered to choose intelligently, it can be problematic. Our game also had a major kingmaking problem, in that on the last turn of the game the third-last player got to choose who to give the final action to. Whoever he gave it to, that player would win, and the other would come in second. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, but it still shows I think that the fundamental mechanic is unstable.

I think I would feel a lot better about the game if it had been at a $25-$30 price point instead of $50. Personally, I think $50 retail is much too high for this game, considering the weight of both the cardboard and the design.