Review
Hamburgum
A chance English-language find in Rome turned out to be a carefully built rondel euro about raising cathedrals. It shows its age in places, but its pace is still remarkably good.
- Published
- 2007
- Designer
- Mac Gerdts
- Publisher
- PD-Verlag, eggertspiele, Rio Grande Games
- Players
- 2–5
- Playing time
- 75 min
My copy of Hamburgum came home as a travel souvenir: the only English-language box I could find among stacks of translated games in Rome. I bought it without checking the designer or much else; fortunately, Gerdts’s name kept it out of the cupboard and got it to the table.
At its heart, Hamburgum is a rondel euro: the wheel sets the route through your choices, and you plan your moves around it while building cathedrals. The rondel does not make a fuss; it simply holds the game together with the quiet precision one especially appreciates on a Tuesday after work.
The rondel does not make a fuss; it simply holds the game together with the quiet precision one especially appreciates on a Tuesday after work.
WhiteColarGamer
There is almost no downtime, so the other players do not vanish into their phones until their turn comes round again. Its interaction is mostly one of shared pace and constant attention at the table rather than an excuse for theatrical betrayals, and that lets the system move cleanly without becoming tiring.
Its age shows in a few places, and I would have liked it to be a little heavier, but the construction remains very tight and considered. It does not show off; it is simply a quietly excellent euro worth returning to.
It does not show off; it is simply a quietly excellent euro worth returning to.
WhiteColarGamer
Source: BoardGameGeek
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