Palazzo at Critical Hit, Monday May 15

After the game Monday, I decided to stop by CHG on my way home, to order a copy of Battle Line as this month's game purchase. I stuck around for a while to chat with Jerod, Gigi, Jake, and Jeff, and while I was there some people (Eric, Lisa, and, I think, Kate) started a Palazzo game, and wanted a fourth. I figured, it's a quick game, and jumped in.

I was surprised about how little I remembered about how to play. I spent the first few rounds basically taking money and browsing the rulebook. Unforunately, my money draws weren't very good, and I missed a huge turn where the people in front of me let a bit too much build up in the middle. Eric turned over tiles and was able to buy a 3-4-5 of the same color from the middle, for something he already had 1-2 of, for like 12. This was a huge turn for him, and I didn't think we could come back. I managed to build a couple five story buildings and tie for second with Lisa. Our game went pretty fast, so we decided to try again. I felt a lot more into it this time, but, after initially buying three 1st floors, I just couldn't seem to get more tiles to go on top. I managed a couple of four story buildings, of consistent colors, but never built on my other 1. The game ended on my turn, and if I could have bought that turn I would have had a nice little three story for a net gain of about 10. As it was, I drew the last finishing tile (with 4 tiles left), and finished in third.

I like Palazzo. I like the auction elements, the different currencies, and the quick play. However, there's a lot of randomness in this game, which can frustrate people. This partiular group pushed the auctioning a lot harder than people I've played with in the past, who tried to build up sets of currency before getting too many tiles on the table. I think that pushing the auctioning can leave you without money and open up later players to being able to win auctions for better lots for very little money, as you've exhausted your chance to bid against them. I think this game is a little underappreciated, and I should probably pick it up sometime, if only for it's very quick play time, as a filler perhaps. It's certainly much faster than the game I see it compared to most often, Alhambra, although I should certainly play that a few more times, too.

GG, GL