Teaching Myself Hermagor

Right after opening the box, I was pleased with the production quality of Hermagor‘s components. The wooden bits are nicely painted, glossy, and well formed. The color scheme is very pleasing and the artwork is superb providing a rich experience and without getting in the way of discerning your position on the board.

At a high level, the game reminds me somewhat of hybrid of Elfenland and Thurn & Taxis with a economic market thrown in for spice.

Your goal is to earn the most money and to do that you must first obtain goods to sell on your travels around the map on the board. To obtain goods, you “bid” for them by placing tokens in the market in the rows and columns and on top of the tiles/goods that interest you paying for your placement. At the end of bidding, a mini-area control game determines the winners and losers. After awarding tiles and money for the placement of your bidding tokens, numerous actions are performed by players in an attempt to move a traveler around the map selling the goods you’ve purchased in cities willing to buy them.

The catch however is that you must be clever in choosing what order to sell your goods because only certain cities purchase certain goods and you can only stop and sell in each city once. Purchasing the right tiles in the right order and organizing your travel plans based on what tiles you managed to obtain (and keeping your travel costs to a minimum) will make your brain swell in a good way.

For added goodness, the tiles you purchase can also allow you to increase the value of the goods when sold as well as determining the value of having sold that kind of good at the end of the game. As if that’s not enough, there are bonuses for selling in all of the cities in distinct regions on the board and along a “the main” road.

After reading the rules and playing a few sample rounds the mechanics of play seem relatively straightforward. Like most games, knowing what move to make and when only comes with practice and numerous plays. Game night is coming up and I’d like to get this to the table. La Citta or Hermagor…or both. Hmmm. So many games, so little time.

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