Monday, June 11, 2012

#42: Entdecker (Mark's 100 - 2012)

Entdecker

Mark's Ranking
  • 2012: 42nd
  • 2010: 29th
  • 2005: 11th
  • appeared on all three lists
  • rank: 1042
  • rating: 6.52
Print Status
  • extremely OOP
Why It's On The List
  • First, I need to note that I'm talking about the original Goldsieber edition of Entdecker, not the mess that Klaus Teuber created when he attempted to create a more gamer-friendly version for Kosmos/Mayfair. My beloved original game is a family-friendly exploration game with beautiful components and a board that develops in different ways each time you play.
Tips & Tricks:
    • In most games, cash is pretty tight - it can be useful to "lay off" for a turn (place one tile, place one scout) in order to save some money to make a big play in a future turn..
    • The event tiles are roughly 50% good/50% bad... you don't need to count tiles, but it's good to know if a bunch of the good stuff comes out early so you can avoid taking them (and vice versa).
    Extras
    • My specific problems with Entdecker: Exploring New Horizons: the hut system, the preset mountains on the board, the increased building costs from the various edges.
    • There are a number of home-grown variants out there for Entdecker: the Manu variant was my favorite for a long time... though that's been eclipsed by Mark Johnson's mash-up of the best of the two games. Both are available in a very nice pdf file compiled by Shawn Low.
    • Klaus Teuber also created a small box spin-off game (Oceania) which I enjoyed but not enough to keep from trading it away. As well, there are 2 other "Entdecker" games (and a promised but never published 3rd game) that I really like - but you'll hear more about those farther down in my list.
    • Here's what I wrote about Entdecker for The One Hundred.

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