Wealth of Nations: War Clouds

It had been about a year since we last brought out Wealth of Nations: War Clouds, so we were more than ready for fresh stories of pain and tears. This time we had four people who knew the game, plus Donnin “The Machine,” who immediately grasped the concept without any trouble. I, on the other hand, began with a disastrous mistake because I remembered the super-industry tile incorrectly, and found myself chasing Pef’s hard labor monopoly from the start, while Fotis followed with the black capital cubes — hard love, since capital ultimately became the hottest resource in the game.

The game is a merciless economic contest, where your growth and investments do not develop in a vacuum. Resource monopolies, choices around industry and automation, food costs, and the need to find capital determine who can open up their position and who is forced onto the defensive. I sank into debt and needed some serious QQ-jitsu just to remain in contention, until a banking triangle from nowhere put me back in the race for first place.

Interaction here is not polite. The army can slow a leader down, fights over monopolies become direct, and aggressive buying and selling turn the final rounds into pure hatred, tears, and complaints. Pef’s impatience in opening up into automation, out of fear of rising food costs, was the mistake that rebalanced the first game; but that did not mean peace, especially when hida seemed determined to oppose every move I made. In the end, the little Communist won again, this time more discreetly than in our previous crushing at the hands of the riot police.

For me, WoN remains a top-tier game precisely because it is such a hard, no-luck economic game with relentless confrontation. At the same time, it is one of those games I do not want to play again too soon: other players’ moves can mess you up badly, and the tension leaves little room for a carebear mood. Wonderful, but exhausting.

Updated session

The following game was equally harsh, not gentler. All five of us already had plenty of plays under our belts, knew the openings and the problems that emerge as development advances, so the beating started quickly. This time, strong QQ-jitsu held back the armies and delivered a first victory to the player who invested in farms, rather than the usual labor and capital favourites. There was only one necessary break for a second round of nuclear souvlaki, conversation, and relaxation.