Review
The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade
The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade is a tight, knotty economic Euro with no spare room for anyone. Its slide on BGG has done nothing to reduce my willingness to put it back on the table.
The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade
- Published
- 2017
- Designer
- Thomas Spitzer
- Publisher
- Capstone Games
- Players
- 2–4
- Playing time
- 120 min
The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade has that old coal-and-industry character: it does not ask you nicely to enjoy yourself; it makes you earn it. It is exactly the sort of Euro I want when the working week is over and I need a game to look me in the eye.
Its core is economic, but there is nothing loose about it. Your options are tight, the routes through them are awkward, and each round makes you choose what to pursue without pretending that everything will fit into the plan.
The other players are not decorative colleagues down the mine; they take away room, chances, and your lovely bit of planning until you are holding a perfectly respectable funeral for a scheme that looked secure a moment ago.
TheCuttlefish
Then the cuts arrive. The other players are not decorative colleagues down the mine; they take away room, chances, and your lovely bit of planning until you are holding a perfectly respectable funeral for a scheme that looked secure a moment ago. That is the good part.
I can see why its BGG rating has slipped in an age when people want to do everything with a whisky and a cola at hand. The Ruhr has no interest in that. I will play it gladly at any time: hard, clear, and quietly excellent.
I will play it gladly at any time: hard, clear, and quietly excellent.
TheCuttlefish
Source: BoardGameGeek
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