I thought I would go ahead and do some reviews, and it seems like it would be more useful to do reviews of more recent games. I don't have any fresh off the boat from Essen, but Roll Through the Ages is a relatively recent release, and one I have played a lot recently with my wife. Keep in mind I have only played this with 2 players, but as a dice game, I don't see the gameplay changing much with different numbers of players. Here is a quick description of my criteria -
Components - Does the game look nice? Are the bits worth the money? Do they add to the game?
Accessibility - How easy is the game to teach, or to feel like you know what you are doing?
Depth - Does the gameplay allow for deeper strategies, or does the game play itself?
Theme - Does the game give a sense of immersion? Can you imagine the setting described in the game?
Fun - Is the game actually enjoyable? Do you find yourself smiling, laughing, or having some sense of satisfaction when it's over?
I'll rate each of these out of 5, then give the average as well as an overall biased rating.
Components: This game comes in a very nice box, the same that comes for all of the Gryphon Bookshelf Series, and it's the same size as a few Mayfair games such as Modern Art. Inside you have 4 wooden boards, 24 plastic pegs, a pad of scoresheets, and 7 wooden dice. At first I was not impressed with the components, but now I find I really enjoy how large the dice are, and the wooden boards are sturdy and useful. It would have been nice to include some pencils, or anything to make my main complaint justifiable: the price. A dice game, no matter how customized, should not have a list price of $35. Fortunately, you can get the game for under $25 at retailers like CoolStuffInc. Overall, I give a 3/5 for components, primarily because of the high price.
Accessibility: Anyone who's ever played Yahtzee is not going to have too much trouble learning this game. However, the game does have a few barriers to play. When I first read the rules and began to play with my wife, it was very confusing understanding the difference on the wooden board between the number of goods you have, and their value (listed below the peg holes). At first it seemed like the value was the actual number of goods, which is not correct. The other thing is that a few of the explanations on the scoresheet aren't as clear as they could be with a bit more text, and I've had to reference the manual just a few times to make sure I could really do a certain move. These are very minor complaints, though, and the game mostly feels natural, especially to anyone who's ever played Yahtzee, or any kind of civilization game. 5/5.
Depth: This again is kept in context with the fact that this is a dice game. And out of any dice game I've played, this is the one that feels like it has real decisions. Throughout your turn, a direction becomes clear for what you want your dice rolls to be, and though a lot of that is luck, the developments you make do much to mitigate that, and though there are rolls you didn't really want, there are rarely truly atrocious rolls (although they can happen). The primarily complaint is what I mentioned in my last post - the game ends just as it's getting good, and the end feels very arbitrary, especially for the original rules. Fortunately, you can find a print-and-play expansion on rollthroughtheages.com, which has expanded scoresheets with extra developments and some altered rules. This makes the game the proper length and expands the decision tree and the strategy of the game and immense amount. I wouldn't be opposed to a house rule that the game goes for one more round after the end-condition is met. Without the expansion, I would give this category a 3/5, but since it is free and readily available (and it's really the only way to play), I am comfortable handing out a 4/5 here.
Theme: You can only expect so much here for a pure dice game, but I feel about as much as possible is given. The wooden dice and boards give the feel of ancient history, as if this were a game of bones played by people long ago. I also feel that the names of the developments and shapes/names of the monuments add to the game as much as they possibly can, considering that it's just a scoresheet. There's probably something else that could have been added, maybe some kind of artwork on a board instead of plain scoresheets, but what is here is good. 4/5.
Fun: This largely depends on what you want out of a game. If you enjoy knocking each other out of the game or any kind of direct interaction, that won't happen much here, though you are allowed to trade resources. That said, this game excels in giving you the kind of enjoyment you get from "min/max" type decisions you might make in a cooperative RPG or a typical Euro game. Last time we played, my wife discovered the Commerce/Caravans combo, and I was quite impressed with that move. If you enjoy the feeling of building and expanding and "leveling up," that's exactly the kind of experience this game will offer. I enjoy the game, but I'm not bursting with joy when it's done. I'm just a 4-out-of-5-kind of happy.
Average: 4/5
Bias: 4/5
Roll Through the Ages won't be life-changing, but it's quick, easy to learn, and fun - a lot more fun than Yahtzee, or any other dice game I've ever played. If you like dice and you like to feel like you're accomplishing something while you play a game, then you should pick this game up - after you find it somewhere for cheap.
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