East Indiaman

East Indiaman sat in my collection for over a year without reaching the table, and the main culprit was the manual: it is not especially user-friendly and does not exactly invite you to learn it eagerly. In the end, we pushed through with a little extra patience and managed to play it.

I would not call it pure worker placement, even though it occupies a related space. Each player has a set of ships and tokens, and they do not serve just one purpose: sometimes you spend them, while other times you transform them into goods, outposts, and other uses. That flexibility is the game's strange, interesting part.

At the table, the feeling is quite tight. Decisions about when to hold on to or use your ships and tokens matter, while with five players the space and opportunities felt particularly cramped. It did not become unpleasant, but it was clear that everyone’s presence puts pressure on the game.

It remains enjoyable and quick; I just do not feel that I have the full picture yet. Since the fifth player comes from a mini-expansion, I definitely want to try it again with four before reaching a final conclusion. Still, after the initial battle with the manual, it was not an unpleasant experience at all.