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- Verified Buyer
Stefan Dorra has the enviable reputation of having designed one of the greatest and arguably most popular fillers of the modern era, For Sale. In his 2011 release Pergamon, he teams up with the designer of Finca, Ralf zur Linde, to bring us into the world of archaeologists and ancient artifacts. In this 2-4 player game, you take on the role of a nineteenth century archaeologist excavating the site of the Greek city of Pergamon.The game board consists of several main areas, which correspond to the different elements of game-play. First you'll place your archaeologist figure on the research funds track to determine how much funding you might receive and also indicate which galleries in which you can conduct your excavations. The goal of the game is to first amass the research funds necessary to excavate artifacts from the excavation site in Pergamon, then collect and piece them together as part of a collection, and finally to exhibit these finds at the Museum in order to attract the most visitors (which serve as victory points in this game). The more impressive the exhibits you put on, the more people will come to see them, and the more points you will earn. To accomplish this, you'll try to maximize the research funds you earn, so that you can dig up fragments of vases, jugs, masks, and bracelets from deeper layers, and thus piece together older and more precious artifacts that compromise a more valuable collection.There's a lot to like about Pergamon, including the well produced components, the engaging theme, and the straight forward gameplay. The complexity is probably on par with the family friendly Finca, and the result is a very pleasing and accessible game that's rich in theme despite being a real euro. The theme especially meshes well with the mechanics, and the notions of digging for artifacts, piecing them together and displaying them in a museum to draw crowds all works very intuitively and smoothly. All in all, this is a well designed light-medium euro with terrific components. I dig it! - EndersGame @ BGGPergamon is an addictive game where the fun comes from digging up artifacts and showing them off in a museum, earning money for the newer and hotter exhibits. The strategy comes from whether you want to go first and snatch the better artifact or go for quantity and get more artifacts for a collection and funding.There's also a neat 2 player option where the "computer" takes up a spot, forcing players to choose elsewhere.If only it weren't out of print.Pergamon is a great family game. It has some depth for more serious gamers as well. Players are archaeologists who are collecting pieces of history to combine and form finds which they display in the museum. As the find remains in the museum, it is seen multiple times and scores you points, but beware as the finds coming in behind it will push it down in value. The placement for bidding is a big attraction for me, rather than outbidding someone, you get to place a worker and that determines how much money you will get for your next dig, but also where you can dig. Great game!
