Gamemaster: A day in the life: Lords of Waterdeep

Classified as a "European" style game by my friends, this game has been extraordinarily fun and quite enjoyable, if a bit complicated in learning how to play it. The various aspects of this game have me wanting more games like it. The game is very much a hybrid, providing the feel of a good combination of computer based MMO (quest completion and competing for limited resources) and tabletop RPG (making the decision on what, when and how to achieve goals).

The game starts with a combination of intrigue cards and quest cards, gives you a Lord of Waterdeep, a couple of agents and a money supply. In the group pool of resources are gold, clerics, wizards, thieves and warriors. On the board are more intrigue cards, quest cards, building cards, potential agent recruits and game control pieces. Default locations on the board provide starting players with access to the various classes needed to complete quests and gain more gold. Because only 1 building can be purchased each round, the selection of buildings (3 to choose from at any given time) can significantly affect your ability to complete quests. As an aside, knowing which quest type your particular Lord wants can make a huge difference at the end of the game, so pay attention.

So far, there have been some obviously better quests/buildings/intrigue cards and some that seem to be after thought crap. The difficulty in executing the quests varies and depending on how you approach it, can make a slow start erupt into a run-away winner.

An important note, the execution order of each turn does seem to have a significant impact on play and determination of play by other players, so paying attention to the game is a must. This is not a beer and pretzels game if you are trying to be competitive. And while it can be complicated at first, getting to know and understand the little things about this game, make me like it even more. But, because it has a fair bit of randomness, it does not benefit the regular player so much so that a new player cannot compete in their first game.