More than anything else in a game, I value fun. If a game is just pure fun to play, then I don't care if it has great mechanics, a solid theme, etc. Fun is worth the price of a game alone. Boomtown (Face 2 Face Games, 2004 - Bruno Faidutti and Bruno Cathala) is one of those games that provides a lot of fun. Of all the games that I brought back from Origins, it's the one that I see people playing repeatedly. A few people enjoyed it so much that they took over my job of teaching games and started to teach it to others.
That, of course, is an excellent thing; as I love when games "grab" those I teach them to. Boomtown has a lot of luck, and the auctions each round are extremely important; but I haven't seen it bother people too much. It's so much fun to win an auction, or get the property you need, or have someone pay dearly to you because of one of your saloons. The artwork, theme, and mechanics are all secondary to the enjoyable time we have playing the game.
A deck of sixty cards is shuffled and placed in a face-down deck in the middle of the table. Each player receives $10, in poker chips, with the remainder of the chips placed in a "bank" in the middle of the table. A pile of mayor pawns (one each of five different colors: purple, green, blue, yellow, and red), town tokens (two each of the same colors), and two dice are also placed in the middle of the table. One player is chosen to be the first player, and the first round is ready to begin.
In each turn, cards equal to the number of players are turned face up in the middle of the table. Starting with the first player and proceeding in a clockwise manner, each player must bid (higher than the previous bidder), or pass. Once all players but one have passed, that player wins the auction and pays the amount they bid to the player on their RIGHT (counter-clockwise). The player gives half of the money they receive to the player on their right, until either there is nothing left to give or the bidding player is reached (they don't get any of their own money.)
Once the bid has been paid, the highest bidder takes any of the cards from the middle, with each player following in a clockwise order, until they have taken all the cards. The cards that can be taken are of the following:
- Mines: Mines have a production number in their top left-hand corner (from two to twelve), a number of gold pieces on them (from two to seven), and a town they are associated with printed on them (which matches one of the five colors). If a player is the first person to get two mines of the same color (town), they take the corresponding mayor token. If another player gets MORE mines of that color, they can take the mayor token for themselves. Either way, if a player takes a mine card that another player has the mayor of, they must pay that player one gold piece for each mine that the mayor's owner has of that color.
- Dynamite: The player who takes this immediately destroys one opponent's mine or saloon.
- Saloon: The player who takes this card puts a town token of their choice on it. From now on, whenever a mine of that color produces gold, the owner must pay the saloon's owner two gold.
- Holdup: The player who takes this card immediately chooses another player and a number from two to twelve. They roll the dice; and if they roll the number that they chose or greater, they steal that much money from the target player.
- Governor: The player who takes this card changes one of their mayors to "Governor" and now receives double payments whenever another player takes a mine of their color
- Expropriation, Card Shark, Mustang, New Vein, Saloon Girls, Stagecoach Robbery, and Telegraph all also have a variety of effects.
Once all players have taken a card, the first player rolls the dice. Each player checks their mines, and receives gold for the mines that have the same production number as the number rolled. The players receive gold equal to the number of gold pieces on the producing mine(s). A couple of mines automatically collapse if a two or twelve are rolled. Once production occurs, the next turn occurs, with the first player being the winner of the previous auction.
When the last card from the deck has been drawn and auctioned, the game ends. Each player totals their points, adding their money, the production value of all the mines they control, and five points for each mayor token they control. The player with the most points is the winner!
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: Boomtown packs quite a few components in the small, colorful square box it comes in. The cards feel like thin plastic, which is unique for a card game, but I like them (they're washable and more durable). The artwork on the cards is very evocative and thematic, although some people may not like a few of the provocative pictures. The wooden mayor pieces are big and chunky wooden pawns, and the town tokens are thick wooden discs. I’m not sure how easy to tell the colors (on the wooden pieces) apart would be for a color-blind person, but we had no trouble at all. The gold coins come in three denominations (white, red, and blue mini-poker chips), and the dice are - well, normal six-sided dice. Everything fits in a custom made plastic insert in the box. Great components - changing a simple card game into something more, just by how it looks!
2.) Rules: The rules come in several translations (including Korean!), with the English rules in a seven-page booklet. The rules are formatted very well and are easy to understand, although I think an example or two wouldn't have hurt. Still, the game is extremely simple to teach. I just explain about the mines and mayors at the beginning of the game, and then just explain each special card as it comes up. We had no real rule ambiguities when playing the game; everything was very easy to work out.
3.) Bidding: The whole game revolves around the bidding. Players have to realize that the other players are getting the money that they bid, in a system similar to the one used in Traumfabrik but a little more clever. If I let the player to my right win, for example, I may get the second pick, but I won't get much of the money he's bid. The player who picks last gets the majority of the money, so players are constantly (at least in my games) kibitzing as to who should win each auction.
4.) Taking: While bidding is an important aspect of the game, choosing the correct card to take is also rather important. It is occasionally obvious what card to take, but players are often presented with a few tantalizing choices. They might want the best producing mine up for grabs, or they might want another mine in a specific color so that they might get the mayor of that color (or prevent another player from getting it.) Sometimes players take the strategy of not picking a color that they have a majority in, just so that someone else has to take it. They are taking a slight risk, because that player might eventually steal the mayor from them, but they get some quick cash on the way. Each mine is worth a different amount to each player, depending on what mines they already have; so it's tremendously important to take the right card.
5.) Strategy and luck: Bidding and taking are the strategic parts of the game, while the production rolls and effects of some of the special cards add the luck. Some players will be irritated that their mines never produce because certain numbers are never rolled (like in Settlers of Catan). However, the production, while it certainly affects the game, isn't always necessary for a victory; I've seen players whose mines never produced the entire game win! Besides, it's not too difficult to get an entire range of numbers, so it's fairly probable that one of your mines will produce each turn.
6.) Fun Factor, Time, and Players: The game plays equally as well with three to five players, although I much prefer the five player game. Either way, Boomtown only lasts about forty-five minutes, which is an excellent time for a game of this magnitude. No one is every really "out" of the game, because everyone gets at least one card a turn; and if you don't bid on much, you'll still get money from the other players. Everyone is involved at all points in the game, and I can't really put my finger on it; but something just makes the game a lot of fun for all. There's a bit of "Take that!" with some of the cards and tactical moves (forcing someone to pay you), but not too much to make the game mean. Everyone I played it with, which has been fairly man, has enjoyed the game; and it's requested often.
Bruno Faidutti is known for his chaos in games, and I enjoy them for that reason; it just gives them the "fun factor" that Vasel enjoys so much. Boomtown is certainly one of his typical games, yet plays quickly and tightly, and is frankly a good auction game. There's more strategy in the game that initially appears; and while luck may determine the winner, superior play will usually supersede it. Boomtown is one of those games that is quick enough, fun enough, and clever enough that I don't care if I win anyway; it was fun just to play!
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games."
www.tomvasel.com
