It's just amazing. It plays really fast in about 45-minutes to an hour. It fits 3-6 very well, 3-4 being the sweet spot and 5-6 being more chaotic (5-6 is better with Erie). 2-player... I haven't tried, but you do take away a the team element which IMO is the point of the game. The rules are extremely simple and easy to understand. The gameplay is deep, yet so simple. It's amazing just how many implications the auction action has whether it's creating a partnership, breaking a partnership, capitalizing a company, increasing or decreasing game length, etc. It's amazing just how much thought there goes into this one action and how the game changes whether it's done right or wrong or not done at all. It's crazy how simply null-auctioning is such a powerful and effective move even though you are basically doing nothing on that move. I can't think of any other game where doing essentially nothing is a good move. The game is very tense and good moves are very effective and bad moves are very bad. The game is very dynamic where it's hard to say specific good or bad moves in general because it's all relative to what the players do. It's really a gamer's game where metas can evolve and it's about playing the player. I like it because it's very, very interactive, yet it's not a wargame and moreso about people dynamics. I like how alliances shift all the time. It's also crazy that each game plays so differently, but there's no luck.
It's got all the best parts of 18XX games, yet it does not deal with the heavier, bookkeeping parts, which makes it lean, concise and play swiftly. It's really one of the best games ever made and probably my favorite game. It's a game that I look forward to playing each time because I don't know how it will end up as it's so variable and yet it has zero luck. I feel like with Euros, you sort of eventually get to the point where you can figure out and optimize the best moves. But because Chicago Express is so player-driven, you can't really figure the game out and get bored with it as again, moves you should do are dictated by the actions of the other players. It just keeps it dynamic and fresh and fluid. It's amazing just how much variability and depth lies within a quick game that has very little rules. I think of it in some ways as a multiplayer abstract game with partnership elements. I'm a pretty competitive person and this is right up my alley. So again, it's a quick game that fits a large player range, offers a lot of depth and is very dynamic, yet it has no luck. It then has a ton of reasons why it is a great game.
My other favorite games are:
- Gaia Project
- Tichu
- Magic the Gathering
- Rex: Final Days of an Empire
- Battlestar Galactica
Also made the game description wiki as well as a page on the strategy. Please check it out and comment!
https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Tips_chicagoexpress
It's got all the best parts of 18XX games, yet it does not deal with the heavier, bookkeeping parts, which makes it lean, concise and play swiftly. It's really one of the best games ever made and probably my favorite game. It's a game that I look forward to playing each time because I don't know how it will end up as it's so variable and yet it has zero luck. I feel like with Euros, you sort of eventually get to the point where you can figure out and optimize the best moves. But because Chicago Express is so player-driven, you can't really figure the game out and get bored with it as again, moves you should do are dictated by the actions of the other players. It just keeps it dynamic and fresh and fluid. It's amazing just how much variability and depth lies within a quick game that has very little rules. I think of it in some ways as a multiplayer abstract game with partnership elements. I'm a pretty competitive person and this is right up my alley. So again, it's a quick game that fits a large player range, offers a lot of depth and is very dynamic, yet it has no luck. It then has a ton of reasons why it is a great game.
My other favorite games are:
- Gaia Project
- Tichu
- Magic the Gathering
- Rex: Final Days of an Empire
- Battlestar Galactica
Also made the game description wiki as well as a page on the strategy. Please check it out and comment!
https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Tips_chicagoexpress
