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Astoria, the ideal place for you, as a budding business tycoon, to make your fortune. The land is bustling with productivity and growth. As a business tycoon you are producers of six commodities (Wheat, Wood, Iron, Coal, Goods and Luxury items). Wheat is used to feed the growing town, wood and iron to build towns, factories and railroads, coal to fuel the factories and trains, goods and luxury items to satiate the deman by the animals of Astoria.
Raccoon Tycoon is a 2 -5 player game from publishers Forbidden Games. The game has auction/bidding, commodity buying/selling and set collection mechanisms and was successfully funded on Kickstarter in July 2018.
Gameplay
Raccoon tycoon is a commodity trading game with an ever-changing market. Buy low and sell high, that is the mantra in Raccoon Tycoon. The profits of trading are used to purchase railroads, buildings and towns. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner.
Gameplay looks very streamlined and straightforward. On a player’s turn they can take one of the following actions:
- Produce commodities.
- Sell commodities.
- Initiate a Railroad auction.
- Purchase a building.
- Purchase a town.
Commodities in Raccoon Tycoon are produced by discarding cards from your hand. When a commodity is produced the value of that commodity in the market increases and the player receives the commodities displayed on the card. A single type of commodity can be sold at the market based on the current market value. The price of the sold commodity then decreases, the players discard any number of a single commodity and receives the respective monetary value.
A player can begin an auction for a railroad card. The railroad cards form part of the set collection aspect of the game and count towards end game scoring. The player with the highest bid wins, receives the railroad card and pays the required money. The more railroad cards of the same type, the more victory points they are worth at the end of the game.
Building tiles can be purchased based on the displayed costs. The building tiles give players various bonuses and production benefits throughout the game. Towns are purchased in a similar way to buildings and count towards end game scoring when combined with the railroad cards.
The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is declared the winner of Raccoon Tycoon!
Initial Thoughts on Raccoon Tycoon
The artwork looks fantastic and the component quality looks amazing. The Kickstarter had various stretch goals for upgraded card stock, linen finish, wooden components and metal coins (depending on pledge level). One of the stretch goals unlocked were Mission cards which give each player a secret objective to work towards which is a great addition and adds another level of gameplay.
The gameplay looks streamlined and smooth. With only being able to pick one action out of five there will be minimal downtime, making for quick turns. The theme (which doesn’t really bother me) could have been anything, but if you can get over the animals and the fantasy land of Astoria, Raccoon Tycoon looks like a solid, well made, quick playing game.
Raccoon Tycoon is due to be delivered to backers in November 2018 and I am looking forward to seeing what the land of Astoria has to offer.