Carnegie

On my fifth and sixth games of Carnegie, familiarity has not yet turned into routine. New strategic lines still emerge from the department combinations, while the variable setup has begun to look like the natural next addition. The base game is plainly not finished with me.

The game’s decisions, at least as I have encountered them so far, sit in the links between departments. It is not enough to acquire something useful; it must belong in a sequence that advances the wider plan. Each play adjusts my view of which combinations have genuine follow-through and which merely look elegant while they are being assembled.

One opening does merit scrutiny. The department that lets you send someone on a mission for 7 research appears, in our games, to leave its starting player with a stronger final position; every winner so far happened to begin with it. That is not yet a balance conclusion — Food Chain Magnate has taught us that any alarming opening may have counterplay — but the interesting decision is to locate the answer, rather than assume the advantage is settled.

Carnegie remains rich enough to warrant further plays and, more importantly, suspicious enough that I want notes on that opening. For this sort of game, that is an excellent sign.