· Designer: Friedemann Friese
· Publisher: 2F-Spiele (Stronghold Games will release an English version in January)
· Players: 1-4
· Ages: 12+
· Time: 90 minutes
Friedemann Friese possesses one of the most imaginative and creative minds of any game designer in the world. And the remarkable thing is that that statement has probably been true for over 20 years. He doesn’t just think outside of the box—sometimes it seems like his thoughts roam outside of the entire known universe. His games are like no others. Unfortunately, that means (to me, at least) that sometimes his designs are more interesting than fun, the gameplay playing second fiddle to the fascinating concepts at the core of the titles. This has been particularly noticeable recently, as most of Friese’s most prominent (and audacious) games, like 504 and Fabled Fruit, just haven’t worked for me, even though I admire the ideas behind them. His latest effort, though, is Futuropia, a no-luck economic game of perfect information, which is right in my wheelhouse. Could this be, after a prolonged dry spell, a Friedemann game that I actually want to play? My hopes were high and I was lucky enough to play a couple of games of it recently. Here are my early impressions of the design.
First, let’s describe the setting. At some unspecified time in the future, the players are tasked with creating their own personal utopia. Not an entire social order, just a very small part of one. Specifically, the idea is to build and populate a self-sustaining condominium, complete with generators for food and energy, living quarters, robots, and people. The goal is to house as many humans as possible who don’t have to work and who can devote all of their time to leisure activities. As the rules so F-fortlessly put it, this is time to spend “fishing, farming, fencing, and flying”, as well as playing games, of course. Now that’s my idea of a utopia! Continue reading →
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