Ecos: First Continent

I haven’t played Augustus, which several people say Ecos: First Continent has copied almost word for word, so I can’t make that comparison firsthand. Still, I understand why it comes up: this is an engine builder built on the ancient, “proven” bingo formula. How original. How unexpected.

There is card drafting at the start, and that is where the game’s most interesting part is hiding. If you get into its logic and choose well, you can set a direction for your engine instead of merely waiting for the next lucky card flip.

After that, though, the core pattern is flipping cards, triggering what you have in front of you, and trying to link eco chains together. Interaction is not what you will remember here: the question is who has understood best how to turn those chains into points, while everyone else watches that engine take off.

I do give it credit for its nearly nonexistent downtime and for being easy enough to play with non-gamers. But I’m afraid that, sooner or later, even they will get fed up with flipping cards while a more experienced player builds eco chains and throws a forty-point gap at them. It has depth if you engage with it; it is simply not my cup of tea at all. Pass — 6/10.