“Deliver goods, build the city and your tableau using a unique dice selection method.”

Link: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/314582/amsterdam
Playing Time: 60-120 Minutes
Weight: Midweight
Genre: Territorial Control
Designer: Stefan Feld
Players: 1-4

In Amsterdam, players will play as trade merchants, working to build trading houses in town to gather resources, establish remote trade routes, and help build the dyke that keeps the city safe.

Image from boardgamegeek.com

What makes Amsterdam truly unique is the resource primrose. At the start of every turn, six dice are rolled and players can choose two of them to generate resources for them – but there’s a twist. A purple six will generate six purple cubes – six turns in the future. Whereas a white one will generate only one cube – right now. As these resources are required to buy cards to build out a tableau that increases your power and generates end-game victory points, figuring out how to balance immediate needs with long-term windfalls is the key tension in the game.

Image from boardgamegeek.com

Amsterdam is the remake of Macao (2009), one of Stefan Feld’s earliest games. And while Amsterdam is a superior production, it can be a tad pricey, and if you can find a gently used copy of the original, it’ll be worth it.