Autobahn: Kickstarter Edition

Autobahn: Kickstarter Edition has had a slightly cursed life as an object. Fulfilment troubles left our KS Deluxe copy feeling cheaper than a European production should, which is not quite the grand entrance one hopes for. Still, once the little cars, lorries and those oddly shaped pieces were spread across the table, the question of where to put the petrol station became more important than the cardboard's pedigree.

At heart, this is a dense network-building euro with pickup and deliver at its centre. You develop and use a network, and the deliveries are what give those choices their purpose. It is not a game that hands you an obvious route; the interesting part is deciding where your space and attention will matter, then making the network earn its keep.

The interaction comes through that shared map and its contested possibilities. A petrol station or connection matters because everyone else is also trying to make use of the same room, and that turns a private-looking puzzle into something more watchful. There is plenty to chew on here: the sort of game that keeps your eyes on the table for one more minute before committing, even on a Tuesday after work.

I liked it a great deal, and it sits alongside Carnegie for my tastes. It does run longer than I would ideally want — our game reached two and a half hours, and it can become tiring — but the journey is good enough that I would gladly have it back on the table soon.