by Auriea
ThemeTo be perfectly honest, the mayan culture is not my focus in history, so there are a lot of blank spots. The only real question I like to as myself when confronted with the mayans is: "How did they get wiped off the face of the earth by a european army that was magnitudes smaller than theirs". Of course there are answers for that question, but this is a boardgame review, not a history book.
As for me, the theme could be pretty much anything with this kind of worker placement game, but it's 2012, the connection with the mayans is kind of obvious, it's no coincidence, everyone is riding the end of the world prophecy theme one way or the other.
13/20
Gameplay / Mechanics
A worker placement game, there is not much that could surprise me - at least that's what I thought... The fact that managing time is a resource makes this game really innovative. Then there are gears. We all love gears. Gears were made to be turned, and this game is no exception. Pre-loading your workers on the gears to pick them off at the right moment is so simple that it's brilliant in a way. Also the wealth cards dealt at the start of the game are a great addition. For me this was a true wake up call from the usual worker placement games like Stone Age, Agricola, this one really has something unique to it.
19/20
Rules
Rules are well-written in my opinion, easily understandable, with nice examples to make sure everything is clear. The only part that I had to read more than once was the special action place for the first player token, more precisely the double-turning of the gear, but once I read through that with a bit more attention it was clear also. I really do like games with icons, where you can check the rulebook anytime if you are unsure about what an icon means, this game is no exception, every single action / icon is detailed in the rulebook.
18/20
Graphics / Design / Quality
Well. This is tough one. The box looks gorgeous. The board looks gorgeous. The gears are good quality plastic, not cardboard, and the big center gear is really cool with the...ehm whatever those symbols are. The pawns are the usual wooden bits, nothing of note there. All other components are thick cardboard (except for the crystal skulls borrowed from Indiana Jones, that are some nicely sculpted plastics), they look like they could stand the test of time. The board, for some reason is not the usual matte, instead it's glossy, which is not necessarily bad, but there could be some issues with reflections from lighting (did not notice any yet). The board does not fold like the usual boards, this is of course because the gears should not be disassembled every time we box the game. This is a good idea to save time, but I have slight doubts if the gears will damage the board bits they touch in the box while being transported or stored.
18/20
Playability
The game is made for 4 players. For any less, there are spaces automatically taken by non-players, which is the best way to make a 4-player game enjoyable with 2 or 3. The game IS really good with less, than 4 players, this is a big plus for me. Replayability seems to be assured by the monuments, buildings dealt, but mostly by the starting wealth cards, which could define your whole strategy for the game, so you could try every different way to gather points. As for that, there are multiple strategies to victory which improves the experience.
17/20
FINAL RATING: 85/100