F&*( Notre Dame Redux

I know Darren already reviewed this game in depth, but I feel I have to bring it back for a little more attention. We've played this game a handful of times now, and I'm still very much enjoying it.

Pros:

The mechanics are, while typically german/euro, refreshing and new to me.

1) Sure you're going for victory points again (oops, Prestige points), but this time instead of just cash, you have a number of resources you're trying to manage to get you there: your number influence markers, your coinage, and your rat/plague situation. And you can, to an extent, ignore any ONE of them if you so choose.

2) The deck of actions is beautiful. You can count on the fact that your going to get a chance at every action. And you influence what actions the player on your left will take.

Cons:

Deck of actions is the dominating mechanic. With so much impact, the mistress of chance may end up screwing the game as we play it more.

1) There are two cards that seem a cut below the others. It's great that some cards are popular early game, and some cards are popular in the later rounds. But the Park and the Hotel are never popular. Now it's possible there are strategies around those cards that I just haven't seen or don't get, and the fact that they are routinely passed means you can rely on getting multiples, but I don't know what those strategies could possibly be.

2) If your strategy ends up relying on getting and playing two of your actions during the course of a round (partiularly the last round), well, you just have to hope that you don't get those cards on the same turn. Hoping sucks.

Tips:

*You need to make some decisions within the first couple of turns of the first round about how you're going to earn a competitive sum of victory points. After all, it's a game about victory points.

*At some point you need to watch your neighbors, particularly your right hand neighbor because he's passing you three cards, of which you will keep two.

*You must pay attention to what you've drawn and what is yet to come.

*You should probably pay attention to what your right hand neighbor has drawn and what is yet to come (but this is deep strategery, I don't believe anyone in our group has evolved to this point).

*You probably shouldn't let what your left hand neighbor is doing influence what your passing him all that much. It's significantly more important that you take care of yourself rather than deny your neighbor.

*During the last round, keep tabs on which player's Notre Dame cards have been played.

8/10, for now. Time will tell, but it's a game that I will enjoy continuing to evaluate. If the draws tend to dictate the winner, and it devolves into a card counting exercise, that rating will go significantly down.