After a morning of yard work in the heat, I gave over some of Sunday afternoon for a run thru of Expeditions (Stonemaier Games, 2023) using the solo mode Automa. Playing the Automa proved to be a great way to learn the game; there is nobody waiting impatiently as you look up a rule or interaction resolution. The Automa Decision Card is very easy to use and perhaps the easiest “card AI” I have encountered in recent years of gaming. Yet, I didn’t feel the Decision Cards made it easy for me as the Automa marched across the Progress Card faster than I expected.
I belatedly realized I misread the Boast action and played wrong which means I had to throw the scoring for this game out. Like I already said, however, the real reason for playing was to learn the game system so I am not upset. I think after another few plays of the Automa I will be ready to teach Expeditions to the RockyMountainNavy Boys and see just how much they enjoy this spiritual successor to Scythe.
[Speaking of Scythe, it seems that any hope I might have hoping for new Scythe content is foolish. In the Expeditions rule book under “Scythe Variants” on page 14, designer Jamie Stegmaier clearly states, “While we are no longer creating new content for the original Scythe game, we anticipate that some creative Scythians will find a way to incorporte these big mechs into Scythe.” Hmm…]
I happily will proclaim that I enjoyed this first Automa play of Expeditions. Watching the Automa mechs move about as I tried to figure my way thru turns was more thinky than I expected. This is where the Automa really shines as it is so easy to implement that the Automa turn is wham-bam-done-with and the solo player can quickly get back to strategizing their path to victory (or defeat). The solo Automa play of Expeditions goes very quickly…less than 60 minutes even for my initial Automa orientation. This very likely means Automa Expeditions will be a weekend (even weeknight?) solo diversion game this winter.
Feature image by RMN
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