A treat for fans of wharf-gaming
EMBARCADERO
Designer: Adam Buckingham & Ed Marriot | Publisher: Renegade Games
Embarcadero is set in 1850s San Fransisco, at the height of the Gold Rush. So many people have come to the city in search of their fortunes that dozens of ships lie abandoned in the bay. You play canny entrepreneurs claiming these ships, towing them into the harbour and using them as prime real estate, building banks, hotels, saloons and offices. Whoever builds the biggest, choicest chunks of wharfside real estate while increasing their political influence in the city council wins.
Right from the off, Embarcadero is one of those games that pops themewise. Not every game need have a strong theme that integrates well with the mechanics, but here, the empty wharfs that soon grow busy with ships and houses as the game progresses really immerse you in a place and era that, until you started playing, you probably didn’t know much about.