Occupations month continued with one new to us game in Woodcraft and Glasgow which we've played before.
We've enjoy several of the Suchy games we played so Woodcraft (aside from the very creepy character art) certainly seemed to have potential. Every Suchy game has something interesting to it and, for Woodcraft, that's the action selection. There are seven action tiles that start the game in the first quadrant of the selection wheel. When you select an action, you move the tile to the next quadrant. Eventually, actions will offers bonuses based on their position on the wheel and these bonuses can be enough to entice a different selection than you might otherwise make. Ultimately, as with most Euros, this is a game about points and there are several ways to get them. The primary way is completing woodcrafting contracts (the art for which is often adorable and/or awesome). But you can also upgrade your workshop which will often move you up the point income track, hire helpers which will also move you up the point income track and sometimes give you points, and even buy points once a turn. Moving up the reputation track will earn you points for completed contracts in end-game. Getting and placing different tools in your attic can also move you up the points income track and give you points. So there are a lot of ways to earn points but, with only 14 rounds and one action a round, you've got to choose wisely. We certainly didn't play optimally and it was clear we could have made better choices as we got further into the game and started to see how actions could support each other. It's a very clever game that will improve with more plays and it will be staying in our collection.
Glasgow is a competitive two player only game so it's a little odd for us. You create a circle with the action tiles which can get you resources, let you spend those resources to build buildings, or let you interact with other actions in new ways. Turn order is based on positioning so if you're further back on the circle, you go until you get ahead which can create interesting timing decisions. The game ends when a 5x4 or 4x5 grid of buildings is completed and scoring comes from the buildings you own. Buildings may score points on their own, based on positioning and/or adjacency, based resources, or based on other buildings. It's quick playing and can be as friendly or ruthless as you like. There's nothing unique about it but it's a solid puzzle that doesn't need a large table or a lot of time and we continue to enjoy our plays of it.
