Game link
One of the best economic board games (to my taste) has finally been ported to mobile. Haven't yet looked at the implementation, but the screenshots look nice and there is network multiplayer, so what more could you want. The game itself is excellent, albeit there are a couple of finicky rules. The rules are easily available online in PDF.
In lieu of a short review: the game is themed around the industrialization of the Lancashire, the English North-West, which won some serious first-to bonuses in establishing coal-fuelled, mechanized mass production, primarily in textiles. The players are all-purpose industrialists, able to invest in the development of light industry ("Cotton Mills"), heavy industry ("Ironworks"), coal mining and transport (canal and rail links). The game takes place over about 18 turns, in each of which you take 2 actions, so the decision space is quite tight. Beyond simply building the stuff listed above, you must conduct R&D to gain access to more advanced industries and solicit the debt markets for loans, a Martin Wallace favourite, and an absolute gem in terms of a game mechanic. Players are limited not just by the number of actions, but by the space and transport infrastructure — Manchester is well-connected, but there is only so much space in it, but if a player decides to develop some industry in a more remote location, he might well have to build the transport links required to ship coal to it. The crux of the game, however, is economic — investing in the sector that is most scarce, even while everyone else is trying to do the same.
The game is slightly soured by its win condition being linked to very abstract "VP", with the more advanced buildings yielding more VP even as they yield less income, but one can understand the game-design need to separate the stuff players use to grow (money) from the stuff players use to win (VP).
One of the best economic board games (to my taste) has finally been ported to mobile. Haven't yet looked at the implementation, but the screenshots look nice and there is network multiplayer, so what more could you want. The game itself is excellent, albeit there are a couple of finicky rules. The rules are easily available online in PDF.
In lieu of a short review: the game is themed around the industrialization of the Lancashire, the English North-West, which won some serious first-to bonuses in establishing coal-fuelled, mechanized mass production, primarily in textiles. The players are all-purpose industrialists, able to invest in the development of light industry ("Cotton Mills"), heavy industry ("Ironworks"), coal mining and transport (canal and rail links). The game takes place over about 18 turns, in each of which you take 2 actions, so the decision space is quite tight. Beyond simply building the stuff listed above, you must conduct R&D to gain access to more advanced industries and solicit the debt markets for loans, a Martin Wallace favourite, and an absolute gem in terms of a game mechanic. Players are limited not just by the number of actions, but by the space and transport infrastructure — Manchester is well-connected, but there is only so much space in it, but if a player decides to develop some industry in a more remote location, he might well have to build the transport links required to ship coal to it. The crux of the game, however, is economic — investing in the sector that is most scarce, even while everyone else is trying to do the same.
The game is slightly soured by its win condition being linked to very abstract "VP", with the more advanced buildings yielding more VP even as they yield less income, but one can understand the game-design need to separate the stuff players use to grow (money) from the stuff players use to win (VP).
