2011 is definitely going to be an interesting year for Finnish geeks since there’s quite a few interesting releases coming for the year and increasingly these games come out from well known international publishers. Principato is the first one to hit the market and also the first with published rules which means it’s also the first one I can take a loot at.
Principato is designed by Touko Tahkokallio whom I know personally and who’s games I typically play as prototypes before they actually come out of the tube. Surprisingly though I have not played prototype of Principato which actually is very cool – one can feel the thrill of a new hot game. Touko is a solid designer with Politix, Arvuutin and Aether already on the market and loads of prototypes on the table to be released some time in the future.
Principato is based in Renaissance Italy; a theme we have seen in so many other games before. I’m typically fond of more thematic games and Renaissance Italy is not one of my favorites but in this case the mechanics of the game could actually fit rather well in the framework of it.
Principato looks like a simple game with only three possible actions on player’s turn. You can execute an actions card, you can change an actions card or you can take one joker resource. Scoring is also pretty straight forward but versatile enough to sustain the interest (and undoubtedly scoring is well balanced). The hard part of the game is to plan your game so that you have the right actions at the right time and that you’ll be able to maximize your score with the limitations yo face.
I think I’m going to like Principato which is not a huge surprise. There’s not too much going on in the game but enough for you to like it. Luck plays a role in the game but probably not too big of a role and skill and experience are needed to score high points (and win the games).
Thumbs up for Principato and thumbs down for the wait to get it played!