Review
Excavation Earth
Excavation Earth pairs action programming with market manipulation in an honest, burny game that seems to have slipped under more tables than it deserved to. It never quite finds a blazing finish, but it gives you good reasons to come back.
- Published
- 2021
- Designer
- Gordon Calleja, Dávid Turczi, Wai Yee
- Publisher
- Mighty Boards, 2Tomatoes Games, Board Game Rookie
- Players
- 1–4
- Playing time
- 120 min
Excavation Earth is one of those games you notice once, play once, and then wonder why people do not mention it more often. The idea has teeth, there is room to replay it, and its market refuses to sit still.
At its core is action programming: you set up your actions, then try to get more from them than your original plan promised. A tidy plan is not enough. You need to read where the market is going and avoid handing the other players precisely what they need.
The idea has teeth, there is room to replay it, and its market refuses to sit still.
TheCuttlefish
That is where the market manipulation comes in. Your choices alter the ground under everyone, so interaction is not a grand punch across the table; it is the quieter, nastier sort of “well, that is less useful to you now, isn't it?” You nudge prices, chase openings, and try not to be beaten to them. Civilised spite. Lovely.
Its trouble is tempo: it lacks that proper fiery crescendo, and the final round can leave some players with little to care about. Even so, it remains a satisfying and fair-minded brain-burner, and the expansion opens further routes to victory. It is not game of the year material, but it is well worth two or three plays if you find it at a good price.
It is not game of the year material, but it is well worth two or three plays if you find it at a good price.
TheCuttlefish
Source: BoardGameGeek
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