A nice session today! I started with a quick(ish) Nile with Petri — it’s still a pretty good two-player quickie, I actually like it quite a bit. I won, of course.

First bigger game was Bamboleo, which has recently come out in Finnish. It’s a good-looking game and entertaining to watch. It’s also fun to play. The scoring is a bit ho-hum, but probably gets better once you take out the scale and start weighing the pieces. The game works with six players, but I’d probably prefer it with slightly less, say four players. Still, not bad with six, that’s always something.

I was doing pretty well in this one, but then I tipped the platter and ended up second to last. Our game took six rounds, two of which were played to the empty platter.

Arvuutin works well with six players, too. I don’t work well with Arvuutin. I only managed to win one card. That was good for tied fourth place, thanks to valuable secret cards. A fun, quick game, with very little down time.

Toscana was the main course, with full five players. First: 45 minutes on the box? Not with five. Make it 90 minutes. A bit long, but with experienced players it should be faster.

Five players means more chaos, but also more vibrant markets. I think — in the end — I prefer the game with more players. Sure, there’s more chaos and less control, but the market is so much more interesting, when people buy and sell, and the prices change, and more people push them up. With fewer players, it’s just too easy to dump the prices down and too hard to make them rise. I wouldn’t played Toscana with three, but with five, why not.

Truth be told, I’ll probably sell or otherwise get rid of the game, because it just doesn’t compare with the better stuff. Also, I prefer my games with more control and less chaos. I’ll probably find more players for the Winsome fare than this game… Still, I think Toscana isn’t a bad game and for someone who can enjoy the chaos of the markets and the opportunities it gives, Toscana will be an interesting experience.