Ground Floor (Second Edition)

I passed on Ground Floor the first time around. It looked expensive, the reception was mixed, and adulthood offers plenty of ways to spend money without acquiring another large box. The second edition finally reached a five-player table, though, and it landed far better than those doubts suggested; everyone there rated it above an 8. It is still a costly thing to bring home, but it does not feel like money spent on empty cardboard.

At heart this is an honest heavy euro. It asks the table to settle in and pay attention, rather than treating it as a light last game before everyone leaves. This is not really a little friend of a game; it is Mr Short's small monster, and it expects you to give it the evening.

Its clearest virtue is that the weight does not come apart at five players. Quite the opposite: five suits it remarkably well, which is no small achievement for a euro of this size, and the shared game remains full without becoming a queue for your next turn.

The complaints attached to the first edition have not appeared in my sessions with the second. Yes, it is expensive, and I would not call it an effortless purchase; but for a group wanting a proper heavy euro that genuinely works with five people, it is quietly excellent.

Updated session

The later plays confirmed rather than revised that first impression. Across two sessions with the second edition, none of the issues associated with the first showed themselves, while its excellent fit at five remained the strongest reason to own it.