Card Game | players: 1-4 | ages: 8+ | playtime: 60min
Publisher: Portal Games
A card game with worker placement at its core, Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy (Legacy henceforth) is an engine-builder that eschews the usual city or civilization development in favor of building your family. Should you spend your precious time (and actions) betrothing your children to powerful families? Or is that effort better spent kissing the right… ahem… hands to try to secure a title? Maybe you should just blow off all that high society stuff and buy yourself a mansion. We have a lot to do, and only 3 generations to accomplish it in!
@BitBot I’m truly considering putting this game on the Intriguey List of Intrigue just so I can do that joke 😛
@Account I don’t hate hate Euphoria – I think it is very solid game and well realized. Stonemaier doesn’t do it halfway. I like Theme Dystopia and some of the Variable Power whistles – but it dances on the rim of too heavy and a bit dry for me. I don’t mind playing it because it is a good gaming experience, but I don’t do a little dance when it appears on our Gaming Group Roster. The one thing that got me into embracing Placing Workers from Waterdeep was the way things start popping halfway through. The first half is a careful meticulous build to the few final rounds being a fast paced Victory Point explosion – Euphoria never loses that sense of careful build to victory point by victory point endgame. I have only gotten a game or two of Alien Frontiers in since the Big Box of Everything finally arrived but it does the trick. I like all the Faction powers and tech bends – it kept me thinking and re-thinking throughout the game.
I just saw Duke‘s table space for a player area and the family tree and said Crecy Heavy! Trickerion looks like a heavy duty Euro cube avalanche but there’s something about the theme and the idea of building magic tricks that is sliding it right by my Euro Awareness Safeguard. I know the magic theme is a bit of smoke and mirrors, but I wouldn’t have charged headlong into the Euro Breach about it if it was about making cheese or running Ye Olde Fishmonger’s.
All – I’m really glad you’re enjoying these. It’s a lot of work, but I love doing it as long as it enhances the site. Keeping publishers happy is great too!
I know my reviews have been “Euro” heavy so far, but that should even out over the next month or two. The games we review are pretty much determined by the publishers, and I’m working with a few to bring in some new “Ameritrash”-y titles. As long as we keep this pace up – or something close to it – these reviews should start having more of something for everyone.
@Hai – whoa… thanks for the Trickerion scoop. That looks awesome. Look forward to the campaign launching tomorrow.
Also, I definitely don’t consider Legacy to be uber-complex worker placement. It’s a step up from Waterdeep or Kingsburg, but it’s probably on-par with Alien Frontiers or Euphoria (I know the latter left you cold, but that’s about the level of complexity).
Interesting looking game and fantastic, in depth review. I likely would have never looked at this thing twice without it.
@Hai
Ouch. I think I took 4 points of pun damage!
A very nice, very thorough review of this game, Account Deletion. While the theme doesn’t exactly beg me to buy this game, the overall mechanics, art, and intuitive symbol use has this one in my sights to make the ol’ wish list. My game library is very light on the euro game side of the scale, an issue I plan to rectify soon.
Thanks @Hai, I will close follow it then!
At my gaming gruop we really like euros games, and Worker Placement is also an interesting mechanic.. but for me personally when the time to pay comes, if i do not like the theme and the art of the game even with the most perfect mechanics i… can… not… (i swear i tried, but my whole body gets blocked and the money stays where it is…) I will enjoy playing it again and again, but i have this requisites for earning a place in my shelf.
Being Fantasy, Scify, Horror or a mix of them my favorite themes Lords of Waterdeep had the oposite effect (also being a former AD&D player had its reasons…): it was purchased almost inmediately, and if fulfilled and empty space on my shelf about game mechanics. The expansion added also more interest to the game, and i am still impressed on how a simple mechanic can make so different game sesions.
But for me, my humble opinion, king of worker placement is Tzolkin (which theme i sadly do not like…)
@Taxtu You are correct, but it should be launching very very soon. (Might be waiting for Conan to be slain). I’m sure it will make the BGdot hot sheet.
I saw it when I was researching Worker Placements after swimming in Waterdeep over the holiday. I just wow’d
@Hai
Just checked Trickerion on the website, amazing! If i understood correctly it will be a kickstarter, but not started already?
I thouroughly enjoy the speed and content reviews are comming up at present 🙂
I’m not so sure my wallet and girlfriend agrees…
That Duke! He sure is Crecy!
Nice Review – I think my next foray into ueber-complex worker placement will be Trickerion but I might circle back around.
Great review!