[Board/Tactical Game]: Maharaja, reviewed by ShannonA (5/4)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10732.phtml

Shannon Appelcline's Summary:

An interesting & colorful majority control game by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, set in 16th century India. It's no El Grande, but it's in the same ballpark.

Go to the full review for more information.

Post originally by Ogma at 2004-10-06 08:00:18
Converted from Phorums BB System

I'm a big fan of both of these designers, but I was very underwhelmed by this game. There are some nice ideas here, but when your strategy can be thwarted simply by someone taking your selected tile away from you (and there's NOTHING you can do to prevent it), I lose interest very quickly.

After playing Maharaja, I longed for Tikal or Torres (two other games by the same design duo).

Post originally by Chris Farrell at 2004-10-06 10:05:42
Converted from Phorums BB System

I've heard people complain about this, but I'm not quite sure it's true.

You trade off good roles for less control. If you've got the fairly weak special-power-wise Mogul or Trader characters, you can plan your turn with great precision. If you decide to pick up one of the characters with very nice special powers (Artisan or even Yogi, if you're playing with it), then yes, you will be at the whim of previous players, and have little idea what the board will look like on your turn. That's the game.

To be honest, I really didn't find the game unduly chaotic, and I'm fairly sensitive to these things.

Post originally by Shannon Appelcline at 2004-10-06 11:40:47
Converted from Phorums BB System

My wife had much of the same response to the game. She didn't like it, because it made her too anxious, because the other player could mess up her plans. The style of gameplay may not suit some people.

However, as Chris said, you can pretty much make sure that isn't an issue by sticking with the lowest-number characters, and reclaiming them when need be.

In addition, I think you really need to approach it as a pure tactical game. As with most games in the genre, you can't make specific decisions until your turn comes around, because the board is constantly changing around. The only gotcha in this game, and definitely one of the cornerstones of play, is that you have to figure out the general outline of your gameplay BEFORE your turn.

Looking at it from a tactical point of view, don't consider it "someone messing up your plans", but rather that you have to figure out the best tactical move within fairly specific constraints once your actual turn comes around.

Shannon