Risking the pox to visit James were David, Kieron, Stuart and Orhan this week. James retrieved Emira from the loft - a game played just once about two and a half years ago where players are sheikhs competing to attract princesses ('Emira') to their harems. Our memories (and the original write-up) were favourable but somehow this game didn't work for us tonight.
Once we'd got through the over-long rules, the game itself took ages and we eventually called a halt by setting a deadline rather than anyone meeting their victory conditions. So it was a win for Stuart with the most princesses in his harem but although we had a fun night, it wasn't really a fun game. Some of the reviews on BGG highlight the problem: you need to specialise in one attribute to be able to gain princesses and once you get the lead in an attribute it is very difficult for the other players to get the lead in that attribute (and if you've chosen the wrong attribute you're stuffed as some come up more than others). The game then comes down to pure luck as you hope for the princesses who like your attribute to be turned up first.
A nice looking game with some clever mechanisms, but ultimately not very satisfying.
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