Caylus - Initial Impressions

I recently played the new board game Caylus twice and was quite impressed. Published by Ystari Games and Rio Grande Games, Caylus was the top-rated game at the 2005 Essen game fair in Germany, as ranked by players who visited a German game magazine's booth at the fair. It's also, as of this posting, the #2 ranked game at BoardGameGeek.com. It's easy to see why. The gameplay is deep and challenging, and there are multiple paths players can follow. Each turn includes important decisions.

Players must manage their money, allocate workers, construct buildings, collect resources, build the castle, and collect victory points. Money's always too tight, and there are never enough resources to do everything you want to. And the other players tend to place their workers where you wanted to place yours.

Many players compare Caylus to Puerto Rico, a 2002 game which is similar in terms of depth. Puerto Rico was my pick for the #1 best board game published in 2002, is my #3 pick for the top 10 must-have games, was the #1 game in The One Hundred, and as of this posting is the #1 rated game at BoardGameGeek.com.

Right now, I'd rather play Caylus than Puerto Rico because it feels like there are a greater number of acceptable paths to victory. With Puerto Rico, I'm somewhat intimidated when playing experienced opponents -- it feels like they know when I've made a bad choice (even when I don't know it). Maybe that will happen with Caylus in a few months or a year, but I'm not sure it will.

I played Caylus at a Black Friday event hosted by the Berks Boardgamers. Other games I played that day include:

Mall of Horror -- This is a very light game, with lots of zombies killing your characters. I'd like to play it again. The central "vote for who the zombies eat" mechanism will either make the game great or miserable, depending who you play with.

Das Zepter von Vavandor -- I've never played Outpost, so I can't comment on the connection between the two, but this seemed like a solid strategy game. The player who took the lead about halfway through, however, held on to win by a comfortable margin and some have discussed a "runaway leader" problem. I can't say for sure, but it is a possibility.

Power Grid (U.S. map) -- Published in 2004, this is a tremendous strategy game. (It's ranked #4 at BGG and #6 in The One Hundred.)

I'm the Boss -- One of my favorites, a wild negotiation game.

Ticket to Ride: Europe -- I'll play this and the original (Ticket to Ride) anytime. Excellent games from Alan R. Moon.

Medici -- This was only the second time I've played this auction game. And I need to play it more. Deciding when to send around the cards is excruciating fun.

Ra -- Also known as the Best Auction Game Ever.

For Sale -- Another auction game, For Sale is much shorter and simpler than the other two mentioned above. But it's still full of interesting choices.