I thought that Feudo, from Zugames, was a tremendous release of 2004 - combining a nice war game with "designer" tendencies, producing an excellent hybrid. As time went by, the game clearly wasn't as popular as I had thought, but produced enough buzz that Zugames 2005 release, Siena (Zugames and Z-man games, 2005 - Mario Papini) was one of the more talked about games of Essen. One of the highlights of Siena is the absolute beautiful board, which is a famous painting from the town of Siena, with no text - simply the painting surrounded by several scoring tracks.
Siena is an intriguing game, with quite possibly some of the more unique mechanics I've seen in games in recent years. But Siena is, without doubt, one of the most non-intuitive games that I've ever played. Players have to play almost through over half the game to even understand what is going on. The rulebook is difficult to understand, and even with Zev Shlasinger's rewrite, the rules were still confusing. The game itself is interesting, although it does take a few turns before players feel like they have many choices. Siena is a fascinating game, although I fear few players are going to really push their way through the rules to find that out.
Even though I understand the rules, it's a difficult thing to explain them, so I'll jump into my thoughts on the game…
1.) Components: As I stated, the board, which is a very long, thin board, has a fresco painting in the middle, much of which is used for different features in the game. On one hand, this is a very interesting way to utilize artwork in a game, but on the other, it makes it hard to remember what each picture stands for. I found myself referencing the rulebook and reference sheets too many times during every game. The wooden components included in the game are nice, so are the cards, and everything fits well in the box. As I said, my biggest problem was that one could not quickly glance at a card and remember what it did, so it tended to really drag the first several games.
2.) Rules: I don't want to keep ragging on the rules, but the twelve page booklet, even though it was filled with illustrations and color examples, was just a difficult thing to understand. I read the rulebook three times through, played a solo game through by myself, and still had to constantly refer to the rules to play in my first game. The game itself isn't really that difficult; I would clarify it as a heavier medium weight game. But you would never know it from the rules.
3.) Roles: During the game, the player starts out as a Peasant. Later on, once the player has earned enough money, they can become a Merchant. Later on, the player can once again advance to becoming a Banker. It's never mandatory to advance, and one can never go back after they increase a level. There are distinct advantages to being all three roles, and disadvantages. Eventually, all players have to become a Banker, but sometimes staying a Peasant while other players advance can be useful. One of the biggest strategies to the game is knowing when to advance to the next level, and when to hold back.
4.) Peasant: My only problem with the different roles is the fact that a Peasant has many fewer options than the Merchant, and even fewer than the Banker. In fact, the game begins with an auction for several cards - only two of which can be used by the Peasant. Players are bidding on cards that they may not use until an hour later in the game! This requires a know how of how the entire game works, and it's an unsettling thing to have to sit on cards for a lengthy period of time without using them. Many of the first turns, a player simply will sit there and pass, waiting to get the cards he needs. Sometimes the Peasants will play a game of chicken, each waiting for the other to make a move. Staying a Peasant isn't pleasant, unless several other players become Merchants. Several of the Merchant's moves directly benefit the Peasants, so then a "poor" Peasant can become affluent indeed.
5.) Merchant: Once a player becomes a Merchant, they suddenly have a greater variety of options. They can harvest some crops - sometimes for lucrative payoffs, but they can also travel and make more money. When a player becomes a Merchant, they can start earning victory points for the end of the game, and that changes the shear run for money that the Peasant was making.
6.) Banker: The Banker has an entirely different set of options than his two previous incarnations. Bankers can move throughout the town of Siena, stopping in different buildings, getting suckered by Courtesans, gambling in the Inn, and more importantly hiring artists and building the "Torre del Mangia". While the Banker suddenly has a lot more money and options, he also has a lot more options for losing money and points - such as the Beggar, who steals money every time he encounters a Banker, and the fact that a Peasant can participate in an auction for paintings, beating out a Banker!
7.) Via Francigena: This is the name of a card that Peasants can play when selling their goods. It allows them to draw from a seven card deck that contains one "Devil" card. They can draw as many cards as they like but must state the number ahead of time. If they draw that many cards, and no devil appears, they keep all the money on the cards. If the devil appears, they get nothing. I rather like this little mechanic, and sadly it's only used twice in the entire game by the Peasants and a few times by the Bankers.
8.) Town: Some strategy is possible when the Banker is in the town, as they try to go a specific distance (using cards) and landing on different buildings. Bankers must know when to start an auction (NOT when rich Peasants are around), when to avoid the beggar, and when to build another level in the tower. Being a Banker is a good bit of fun. Sadly, one must wait for quite a while before they can do this.
9.) Cards: There is a deck of cards auctioned off during the game in an interesting manner. Each player can take a card in turn order, but the players who go first must pay an extra cost to take the cards. This is a very interesting mechanic, but I never found it to be too innovative, because turn order changed so quickly that it seemed everyone was always paying the extra money - thus panning out evenly amongst all the players.
There's not a lot more I can say about the game without getting into complicated descriptions of not-too-complicated mechanics. Siena is the type of game that must be played to be understood and seen to be comprehended. You can find the rules online; but I doubt that they would help anyone, as Siena is a game that almost has to be taught. I read dozens of rules sets each month, and Siena was the hardest one I've read in the past two years. Even when I got past the rules set, the game just didn't really grab me. I hesitate to call the game bad because of this, as I'm sure that there is a contingent of gamers out there who will appreciate the unique ideas brought by Siena. The idea of a player being in three different roles sounds like a good one, and occasionally works quite well. Here are my closing thoughts:
Pros:
- Beautiful components/ board
- Some very interesting mechanics, such as turn order, and the different roles a player has during the game.
- The Fate card deck, with the devil card
Cons:
- Game isn't intuitive at all, cards have no text on them.
- Players may play for twenty minutes without making any meaningful decisions.
- Players have to play through a good part of one game to even understand what is going on.
- The game's fun ratio doesn't pan out to the amount of rules needed.
As you can see, the Cons outweigh the Pros, so I'm going to give this game a slight thumbs down. I will give the caveat that there are some experienced gamers who might think this one is worth a try. If you don't mind the unwieldy rule set, then by all means have at it. Early ratings by hardcore gamers are quite high, and I can see (vaguely, as through a dark glass) the cool features of the game. But light gamers, and people who want to quickly grasp a game should probably turn away. Siena is a beautiful game, but for me, it's one I'll admire at a distance.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com
