Corrosion

Corrosion was a small mystery to me: I was certain that I had ordered and paid for it twice in recent purchases, yet it never turned up—not even in the final order. Apparently, I sleepwalk and delete things. With the help of a local shop, though, it finally made it into my hoard, initially looking destined to stay on the shelf: acquaintances who had played it had not said the nicest things. But I was itching to try it, because action programming is a mechanism I love, and here it is genuinely at the heart of the game.

Each player takes charge of their own factory and tries to build the most efficient production operation, meaning the one that earns the most victory points. This is done by acquiring raw materials, machines, and staff, then incorporating them into the production line. The turn structure is clear: you either play a card to take something from the board—and possibly place it in your factory—or turn the central gear so that the next shift is activated.

That is exactly where its appeal lies: the sequence of actions demands planning and good timing without drowning you in waiting. Downtime is minimal, while in several moments the game becomes delightfully brain-burning and demanding. There is a small issue with certain advanced machines, which are particularly powerful. Still, there are far more of them than there are players, so I did not feel that this created unfairness or exhausting randomness over who manages to grab the “right” piece.

Personally, I enjoyed it immensely, and I honestly do not understand why it did not make more of a splash. The positive impression was not mine alone; the rest of the group shared it. For me, Corrosion is a very successful, tight take on the production game, with action programming giving every decision exactly the weight it should have.