Let me start from the end, literally. On the last page of the rulebook for the board game I’m going to write about, there is information that only one of the playtesters (so, while the design was still under development in 2013, 2014) played over 1000 times. In our case, Samantha is very likely little “crazy” (or madly in love with one of the designers, and today maybe in both 😉 but we all got an eternal and beautiful game, and thanks to S, a board game without mistake. I don’t have to go any further, but come on if you’re still not sure…
This is my shopping recommendation for all of you who have just received salaries and are itching to buy something new, here is something old but so goooood…Who doesn’t already have it – buy “The Voyages of Marco Polo”. A game that doesn’t alienate and after which you’ll sell many from your collection. After play or two, Concordia” was pale to me, and “Brass Birmingham” was dry.
For small amount of money you’ll get a high-quality, large shared game board, painted by one of the best – Dennis Lohausen (“Ark Nova, “A Feast for Odin”, “Gaia Project”), indestructible wooden components, top-quality cards, completely asymmetrical characters (Marko, his uncle, Arabs, German, Chinese starting from Beijing…), a handful of dice, unparalleled variability and scalability for 2,3 or 4 players. Theme is all over the place, you can use camels if you decide for a “Silk Road” that takes you from Venice (or Beijing) via Moscow or Kandahar, and you can also sail, Venice-Alexandria-Adana-Kochi-Sumatra.. All of that in one hour.
In front of you is a classic you’ll never sell, game that’ll always stay in top 100 on BGG, an assassin of many games in my personal collection and definitely an all time board game – “The Voyages of Marco Polo” by Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini. True diamond.
