SteveArcs Blight Reach, solo 3 handed<br>
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So anyone who followed me elsewhere knows that I have some big problems with Arcs as a game, but there's still something that is really interesting buried at the core of it that I can't get over. This is like x5 true of the campaign game, which does this intriguing endogenous table versioning via its different fates, varied starting points from last game, and dynamics between them. It's quite an interesting design space and it makes Arcs the "can't quit you" game that I keep poking at despite being repulsed by a lot of other elements about the game that don't fit with my gaming sensibilities or that I genuinely think are bad design and development aspects. I ran a solo 3 hander because I enjoy playing with the texture of the different developing different board situations. While Arcs isn't like great this way, weirdly it doesn't play that badly since the game is so insanely chaotic and tactical that you can't really make long term planning decisions very well even if you knew the other player's cards.<br>
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In this game, Partisan, Caretaker, and Founder created a tableau that was quite different than other campaign games I've either played in earnest or soloed---there was no incumbent empire fate that was looking to supercharge the empire, so while the partisan took a little of that role, it led to a board state with few incentives to keep the empire besides some convenience... and Founder immediately wants to bail and gut the empire as best as they can. The game definitely exposed the part of the fates system that a friend has detailed several times; a lot of the tenor, though not the specifics, of the game is set before and between games by the fate choice. This sets it in complete contrast with Wehrle's other design, Oath, which I consider a true masterpiece in this space that does a lot of what this game is doing but a lot better.<br>
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