Gutenberg

What hidden gem of a game. Great component quality. Game played over 6 rounds consisting of 5 phases. Start with rotating gears for bonuses. Hidden bidding to do actions. Do the actions according to bidding outcome. Complete orders. Quick teach, easy to get into. Loads of fun and replay value. Just to mention my copy has silver ink tokens and not green which I believe is the newer print run.

Gutenberg and the Printing Press are one of the most important game changing moments in history. The Printing Press spread the ideas of the Reformation and Martin Luther ending the religious unity that had been in Western Europe. There were many important results of this. Using Gutenberg and the Printing Press is a welcome refreshing theme in board gaming. Too many games about zombies and vikings! The components here are great. The instruction book is very well written. The game offers a lot of interesting decisions. Once you get past the set up the game itself is fairly easy to learn. This is a great game that is a step about Caatan or Ticket to Ride but is not too heavy where it is not fun or only for that person in your gaming group who likes to win at games. This game is in that underappreciated lane of medium weight. Only issue is set up is a bit much. Too many new games are taking too long to set up. Very enjoyable experience overall.

Gutenberg has an interesting theme about running your own printing workshop. Each round starts with a bidding phase using cubes. Whoever bid the most for an action goes first, but that means they bid less cubes on other actions. That's a fun system. Obviously you can't get first dibs on everything and its hard to know how to bid. You are bidding to pick orders, letter tiles, upgrades, and inks. Throughout the game you are trying to upgrade your technology in order to fulfill orders to get points. Repeat that for a few rounds and that's the game. Once you play a round or two, it all makes sense.Components are pretty good. I like the letter tiles!

Great game with a cool gear mechanic. Good quality components to boot.