More thoughts about evacuation

❓️Have you played Evacuation? Playing it with the action cards of the “advanced variant” almost feels like a different game.😊 Decisions become more layered and interesting; I'd say the added complexity is worth it to avoid getting bad first impressions - so perhaps the basic variant shouldn't even exist?🫢

In the basic variant you just pick actions off of a list each turn, which are pretty straightforward, so it gets stale pretty quickly.🫥 You can still use these actions if you play with the action cards, but cards also all show actions in new different fun combinations to switch things up.☝️ Many of them are stronger than a basic action but have a lower power level, which is worse for matching end of year bonuses and moving your satellites on their tracks. So this is another trade-off to think about during your turns.👌

💭 Even though the action cards elevate the gameplay, I still feel an issue with Evacuation, which is replayability. Most games will play out very similarly: You need to get a ship or two to start moving things, and you best start by leaving the orange energy producing things alone first, as you need lots of energy to pay for actions and for fueling ships. On the new planet some steel production will be essential to place down population discs. And so on, rounds tend to have a kind of set arc and flow. Evacuation is not a point salad, it's more about going for one singular goal, but heavily trying to optimize. Replayability is aided by the asymmetrical tech trees, objectives and bonus cards, but these will only ever be slight changes in my opinion.

💭 It's all a pity, as this is to me by far the best looking Delicious game and the best theme with an awesome implementation, as things gradually move from one planet to the other throughout the game. It's not a bad game at all, it's just that Suchy’s biggest enemy is himself - he has set the bar so high, it's not easy to reach. 😄So while I'd gladly play this game anytime someone requests it, it just won't be my favorite Delicious game. And I'm sure many will love it for how tight resources are, and how forward planning is essential.