Inventions: Evolution of Ideas

After two games, Inventions: Evolution of Ideas feels like a Lacerda that knows where it is going. It is promising for the right reason: not because it drops a pile of systems in your lap, but because it gets you into its way of thinking and leaves you wanting one more round. The rulebook, sadly, needs to resit the exam.

At heart, this is a medium-heavy euro, yet its flow does not feel like wading through mud. The decisions and the developing shape of the game suggest something streamlined: complexity is there to support the play, rather than to demonstrate that complexity has been installed.

As rounds unfold, the challenge is keeping hold of that flow while the rules presentation does its best to let you down. There is no detailed evidence here of direct conflict or aggressive play, so I will not invent any; what matters is that the game remains approachable even when it asks the table to think properly.

If medium-heavy euros are your thing, I recommend it without reservation. So far, this may be the strongest entry of its kind, comfortably alongside Lisboa and Gallerist, and a bad rulebook is not enough to spoil what happens once the game is under way.