#77: Panamax, Spyrium Lookback, Miniature Range Reviews

Hey now, cabalists! In this one the founders table the economic game of shipping goods through the Panama Canal, Panamax! They they take a look back at a game from Gen Con 2013, Spyrium. Tony T goes wild with the gaming industry news as usual. Then the gang has a lengthy review segment in which they discuss various miniature ranges including Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40k, Malifaux, Warmachine and Hordes, Flames of War and Battletech.

Games Played

  • Panamax Walkthrough 00:56

  • Panamax Review 01:07

  • Spyrium Look Back: 01:38

  • The News with Tony T: 01:46

  • Miniature Range Reviews: 02:19

Banter

  • Machi Koro and the dumbest reason to buy a game.

  • Galaxy Trucker iPad

  • Sentinels of the Multiverse iOS

  • The followup to the Space Station

  • Shadow Hunters

  • Riff Raff

  • Sentinel Tactics

  • Tempus

  • Viticulture, 5 players and the Tuscany Expansion

  • Bruges and wanting the new Expansion Coming “The City on the Zwin“

  • One Night Ultimate Werewolf

Panamax Review

In Panamax each player manages a shipping company established in the Colón Free Trade Zone. Companies accept contracts from both US coasts, China and Europe and deliver cargo in order to make money, attract investment and pay dividends. At the same time the players accumulate their own stock investments and try to make as much money as possible in an effort to have the largest personal fortune and win the game. Panamax features several original mechanisms that blend together; an original dice (action) selection table, pickup-and-deliver along a single bi-directional route, a chain reaction movement system – “pushing” ships to make room throughout the Canal and a level of player interaction that is part self-interest, part mutual advantage and the freedom to choose how you play. On their turn, players remove a die from the Action table to select Contracts and Load Cargo or Move ships until the pool of dice is emptied ending the Round. Over the course of three rounds these actions are blended during the turn to create a logistics network which each player uses to ship their cargo, minimize transportation fees and increase the net worth of their Company. Each Company has a limited amount of Stock that the players can purchase in exchange for investing – receiving a dividend each round. The questions for the players will be which companies are likely to yield higher dividends?

Spyrium

Spyrium is set in an alternate world, an England set in a steampunk-based universe. Players build factories, needing workers to manage the production of a commodity previously unknown to us called "Spyrium". Producing Spyrium in one factory, then processing it in the next results in victory points (VPs) for that particular player. Alternatively, Spyrium can be purchased, but the material is rare and expensive, and players are constantly scraping for money. Only those who from the beginning of the game manage to increase their regular income or their base of permanently employed workers (who can be used again and again to raise money) will be flexible enough to get their hands on the important end-of-game buildings to generate many VPs. The circular nature of the game is flexible as each player can decide for himself when to move out of the placement phase and into the activation phase. With the two tracks in the game, those involved with delivery during the worker phase can then be used to raise money, to purchase an adjacent card, or to work on their own in an idle factory. All of these things are important, but in the end only the player who has dealt best with the lack of money, workers and Spyrium will win.

Miniature Range Reviews

  • Warhammer Fantasy

  • Warhammer 40k

  • Warmachine/Hordes

  • Malifaux

  • Flames of War

  • BattleTech

Previous
Previous

#78: Xia Legends of a Drift System, The Founders Feud and Our Christmas Wishlists

Next
Next

#76: Legendary Encounters Alien, Essen 2014 What Excited Us Most, The Founders Guide to Haunted Houses