Franchise

After the warm-up, we brought out Franchise, a purchase that is 100% Kosmas's fault. You see, there is an informal embargo on Queen Games titles, because the likelihood of a dud remains dangerously high. Thankfully, there was no such drama here: it is a game with very simple rules that gets the group into a competitive mood immediately.

In Franchise, everyone is trying to spread their company's network across America and gain influence in the regions of the map. At its core, it is an area-influence game: you place and expand your company's presence, aiming to be the player who matters most in the right places.

Interaction comes directly from that fight over space and influence. There is no downtime in which to stare at the ceiling until your turn returns, while at five players things develop plenty of resentment and confrontation: other players' moves are never just background, because they affect where you can expand and who holds control.

My first impression was very positive, with replayability being my only reservation. Still, Franchise has that rare virtue of being light on the brain without feeling empty on the table: a very good mid-range choice when you want competition without opening a full-blown rules seminar.

Updated session

The game returned to the table instead of Core Worlds, because there was not enough time to finish before we all turned into pumpkins. The proposal passed unanimously through the one-person narcotics selection committee, and the second game confirmed the good initial impression: Franchise has perfectly respectable staying power and works very well as a mid-range option. The only genuinely negative thing was that the summer champion judged us fairly and with trousers firmly on — which, objectively, is always a bad sign for any game.