brroney

The Harbor expansion turned Machi Koro from a pleasant but slightly too simple game into a dynamic game with high replay value. Millionaire Row changes the dynamic again, though this time I’m not sure how pleased I am with the result.

To be clear, the new cards are fun to play play with and greatly increase the variability and level of interaction in the game. The result of all that interaction, however, is that the game becomes quite a bit more “mean”. I’ve played with several people who love Machi Koro but found that the intensity of coin stealing that comes with this expansion to be frustrating.

The other effect of this expansion I’ve noticed is to really extend the game length. Whereas it was rare for a game of Machi Koro (even using the Harbor) to go longer than 30 or 40 minutes, most of my games using Millionaire Row have reached or passed the hour mark.

I summary, I have enjoyed playing with the new cards in this expansion but overall it has decreased my enjoyment of the game. Certainly not essential but for certain people this “mean” expansion could be just what you are looking for.

Sleeping Queens is a great add to your collection of card games for young children. Along with Rat-a-tat-cat, and Egyptian War, this is the most requested kids card game at my house.

Game play is very simple – basically you play a card, then draw a card – but there is something about the quirky drawings and cards that capture kids attention and interest.

It has also been nice to see my kids get better at the gentle (and quite optional) math element of the game – you can discard numbers that form an equation to get more cards and increase your chance of winning.