Post originally by The Black Paladin at 2003-11-12 06:49:14
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Sharon,
You mentioned in your review conclusion that the game was somewhat similar to Tigris and Euphrates, which is a conclusion I also came to while reading your review. For those of us who are familiar with (and fans of) T&E, could I prevail upon you to do a compare-and-contrast of the two games? (Basically, what I'm shooting for is the idea that if I already own T&E, is it worth my money to go out and buy New England?) Thanks.
Post originally by Henry at 2003-11-12 10:26:41
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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).
Post originally by Shannon Appelcline at 2003-11-12 12:14:06
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I actually think that the two games have more similarity than just their tiles and bags. It's not just that they're both tile laying games, but that they're both somewhat abstract, very cognitive games centering aroudn tile placement. I think that they require your brain to work in similar ways to play.
On the issue of gameplay New England is lighter on the importance of the play of tiles, but adds in its entirely new auction element. Conversely in T&E the correct play of the tiles is critical, and as Henry noted there is more conflict (though there can be some in NE, mainly based on cutting people off with your own tile placements).
Overall I'd say that New England is slightly more random, more tactical versus strategic, and provides more human interaction. Conversely T&E gives you more control, is more strategic versus tactical (e.g., you can plan ahead better), but reduces human interaction to only be conflict.
Like Henry, I'd choose T&E of the two games, but I'd prefer to have both because they offer variety yet appeal to similar types of gameplay.
Post originally by Frank Branham at 2003-11-12 13:35:11
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The auction mechanism is not entirely unique. But it is a combination of various auction mechanics that I'm pretty sure is unique.
1. You are bidding on turn order. In the case of New England what you do on a turn is not nearly as important as what you get to choose from.
Tikal when played by the advanced rules has a similar turn auction, and you get to choose from 4 faceup tiles.
2. Once around bidding. Easy enough. In New England's case, as you are bidding on turn order, the game forces you to make a unique bid. Other games that use bidding for turn order use a multi-round drop out system, or a tiebreaker rule. New England's version of this is actually quite simple and rather elegant.
Linear Mode
