The Norwich Car show

An automobile contest. No we weren’t drag racing instead we had two tables playing the relatively new Martin Wallace game. I played with Chris, Rachel and Captain John. Jimmy led a table with Matt, Rich, Ben and Peter following a ubiquitous rules session led by Jimmy, the twist being the size of the crowd.

The game got a mixed reception, I loved it as did some others, a few hated it and others where indifferent. So not much to gleam from that. It’s typical Wallace fair, some engine building, some resource management. There is interesting interactions as whilst you play much of the game solo in the decisions that you make and the costs involved, there is a limited ‘market’ for selling cars and you only know partially what that may be. There is a negative element to the game which adds consequences rather than interaction, other players opening or closing factories effects your liabilities in relation to others which amongst shroud players is interaction and as players choose their ‘roles’ for a turn this avoided the feeling of playing in a bubble, at least for me.

In our game I really thought Chris was on a winner, He read the first two rounds perfectly and came unstuck in the third when his cash flow dried up. In hindsight had he invested a bit more here I think he would have romped home in front. I played very much the reverse angle, I invested loads of money, spending ridiculous amounts and getting big returns but the difference/profit was not convincing me. I acquired lots of negativity and spent out my supply of helpful white cubes by halfway and I had to bend my strategy accordingly. In the end I won the game on our table amassing a fortune, but i’m not convinced this was down to tactics or mere opportunism.

Our Four player game finished around the time the other table got to the halfway point so we played Pickomino and sat and waited........and waited...........and waited.......and waited.....and waited..............................