This week we played Smallworld. Smallworld is a game Ryan brought in that focuses on turn-based strategy and resource management. The hardest part about the game for me was probably determining what the correct strategy was given how there was no clear better race to start as at least at the start. As we played and I got a better grasp of the game, it seemed a bit unbalanced as some races were doing far better than others. There is a mechanic where the races are different every game due to them having a random bonus characteristic. These can range from redundant (gaining a bonus attribute that the race already has) to downright overpowered. This ends up being an interesting design choice, as the creators must have made a tactical choice between greater game balance and greater replay-ability due to RNG elements. This game was fairly solo focused, but the leadership may have come in when commanding your forces. A good leader needs to know when to play his cards right and strategy games often do a good job of simulating such a leadership situation. This game is especially focused on resource (units) management, but the principle is the same. I think my roommate Chris might enjoy this game because he is a big resource management strategy game kind of guy. Not sure if that has anything to do with being an economics major but there’s a good chance it does.