Notre Dame: After two more plays, this is definitely at least as good as I thought it was. 3+++.  It’s easy to pick up and surprisingly subtle. Once you have the basic hang of it, the myriad ways timing is important become apparent. The comparisons to Puerto Rico are very apt. People speak glowingly about the prettiness of the pieces, which are indeed pleasant, but I’m more impressed by the scoring chits. Scoring might otherwise be fiddly, but the chits come in ultra-convenient denominations of 1, 3, 5, and 10, with plenty of each to go around. The presence of the 3-valued chits is particularly welcome and saves a lot of changemaking.

Yspahan: I had been pretty enthusiastic about trying this game out. But I downloaded the rules and the computer version and I’m not so sure. In particular, I can’t tell what you’re supposed to do well during the game in order to get a good score. I’ll reserve judgment until I play an over-the-board game at some point, but I don’t think I’m going to run out and buy a copy any more.

Caylus: Got it in the mail today; hope to play at some point this week. I have high hopes; it looks like it features the same timing challenges and balancing of resources that make Puerto Rico, Notre Dame, and Caylus Magna Carta so much fun. The original rules for Caylus are a notoriously tortuous pamphlet–one can be forgiven for thinking it’s a hard game to learn. But also included in the box is a single-sheet description of the rules–front and back, in a large font–with apparently no omissions, everything right there.