Century: Spice Road

One of my favorite games. Easy set up, easy to learn. Very stragic strategy to win the game. Have taught several families to play this game. They have another one called "Golems" girls seem to like it more because it was Jewels instead of cubes. But it's the same game. I have literally bought 8 of these and given as gifts. Great replay value. And for $40 or under is a steal. Fun for up to 5 players. Art and quality of the pieces are great. Highly recommend this for all ages.

This game is easier to play than it looks. We were a bit weary of playing this game at first because we thought it would be complicated to learn. It is not. In fact the directions are excellent and you can start playing this AWESOME game immediately. There are some who say this game is like Splendor. I have never played Splendor so I can't speak to that. What I can tell you is that the Silk Road type theme is awesome. The artwork and the cards are stunning. This is a beautiful game to look at while you play. I can also tell you that while we are playing this game at our local FLGS we noticed two other tables also playing this game. This game is good and people know it. A game takes about 30 minutes. My only issue is with the colors used for the spices. I am red green color blind and I have a tough time with the colors on the cards and in the spice dishes, I wish they had used different colors, but that is my only gripe on a stunning game to look at and a fun game to play. This game is will be played a lot.

This game is so much fun! It takes thinking and it’s also not too complicated.

Great game! Easy to learn with lots of replayability. Beginners and advanced players will enjoy it, at least in my gaming groups they do. I've played with 2, 3, 4 and 5 players and each time the game was still excellent! Pros: the game mechanic of getting cards to upgrade your spices is fun. Lots of strategy. The components are superb! Metal coins! Plastic cups! Good size cards, but I am a little concerned about durability since I play it all the time. I may pick up sleeves. Cons: the durability of the cards. The names of the spices. I can only remember cinnamon. Some players can suffer from analysis paralysis. There are many ways to score. Do you go for the upgrade card that'll allow you to he the point card you want in two rounds (hopefully before another player snags it!)? Should you get that point card now or wait until it hopefully moves down to the gold coin slot? Get this game! Note: the trade cards allow you to do th trade any number of times, as long as you have enough cubes. For example: if you have a card that allows you to trade in 1 brown spice (cube) for 2 green and 1 yellow cubes then if you have 2 brown cubes you can get 4 green and 2 yellow cubes, as long a you have spots available. This rule is always missed.

If you like Splendor then you will like this game

I bought this over the holidays and my family loved it. This game is a bit complicated the first several rounds. But after playing it a few times people caught on quite well. It is a game you can play several times without getting tired of it easily. Each round is different which keeps it from getting monotonous. Some of the games my family likes is Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and Risk. I would say it ranks similar to those. Not super complicated, but takes some learning. I would recommend this to any game lover.

Love this game! Essentially, you have to accumulate spices (small game cubes) by playing cards. You can buy these cards using spices, so you basically build your spice empire throughout the game (a deck-building game, as some would say). You win by purchasing point cards with your spices and counting your points at the end of the game. The concept is really easy to learn, and the spice-to-cards relation is fun to manage as well - great for people who are competitive and/or love thinking games!

A nice introduction to people who only wants to play chess. Better yet, introduce them to Century: Eastern Wonders (which would be more chess-like). Pros - East and fast to learn. - Easy and fast to teach. - Fast to setup and play. Easy to tweak for even a shorter game. For 2 players, can be less than 30 minutes. - Fun and exciting to play! Executing your trading plans, getting those point cards, competing with other players for the cards, etc. really makes this game fun. - Flows smoothly. Doesn't feel too heavy. But if you just want to relax after a long day at work, I'm not sure if this is the game you want, you're probably better with Coloretto. - Interactive, mainly because of the competition and race on the cards. - Very high replayability, mainly because of the race and competition against your opponents. There are different ways to execute your plan based on the cards that appear in a game. - Very strategic. No luck in this game. The player who thinks ahead and builds his cards correctly will win the game. - Very simple design, but with tons of replayability and strategy. The designer also designed Reef, which is another simple game. Neutral - To me, while this game is fantastic and better than Splendor, I prefer Century: Eastern Wonders (C:EW) because it feels more strategic and thus more rewarding. You have to be more calculated in C:EW, I really felt like I was traveling by boat, harvesting, and trading, all as part of a planned sequence, which if executed is very satisfactory and feels like you achieved something, it also feels very thematic. Here in C:SR however, due to the lack of spatial element in the game, it feels like a very dry game, like an improved version of Splendor. You can execute the harvest and trade anytime you want, no need of careful planning. You will never be locked out in this game, as you can always just take back all your cards. Cons - Components. The inserts doesn't fit sleeved cards, they also overflow. I don't understand the gigantic cards used here, why not just stick with the usual 63.5x88mm or even the smaller 57.5x89mm cards. This one has unnecessary 70x120mm cards with pictures that you don't even look at while playing. The gold and silver coins look the same. On the other hand, the box itself has a nice quality. - Not much theme. If you want more theme, buy Century: Eastern Wonders instead. - Since there is not much luck in this game, if you lose more times across multiple games than your opponent, you can't blame someone for being lucky, you just have to admit that the winner is smarter than you :)