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Tag: Greenland

** Greenland (Third Edition) (2018) – Phil Eklund

Greenland is an interesting game to discuss.  Did I say game?  I meant simulation.  As a game, it’s much less interesting.  I know, I know, that’s just about the most common criticism you can toss at an Eklund design, but it’s a common criticism for a reason.  In Greenland‘s particular case, it’s because the game was obviously created first and foremost as an abstract mechanical approximation of the historical events it depicts.  But, as a tabletop gaming experience, it struggles to even function.  Everything from the overarching game structure, to the flow of a round, to each individual player action is maximally obtuse and filled with all manners of exceptions, edge-cases, and randomizations.  Thing is, contrary to most other games plagued by issues such as these, it is perfectly apparent that in Greenland this is intentional.  A cursory glance at the ridiculous rulebook for the game betrays this immediately.  The deliberateness behind each rule is obvious, but damn there are so many.  Eklund, visionary that he is, has tried to include as many aspects and nuances of his chosen theme in the design as possible.  In doing so, he has created a chaotic, claustrophobic mess of systems without a shred of attention paid to the game’s rhythm, decision space, or social interactions between players.  Okay, maybe that’s not 100% true, but it’s certainly what it feels like. From a low resolution perspective, I can absolutely see the validity in implementing mechanics that are as representative of your theme as possible and making that your chief design…