Kraftwagen: A lot of fun under the hood

Kraftwagen , with its action mechanics on a rondel- style track (as found in some well-known games), remains effective. It creates interesting strategic choices around timing and managing the opportunities left to opponents.

But the true depth of the game is revealed in the phase of selling cars to different customers. You’ll have to carefully choose the engine and model based on market preferences. You can spend several turns preparing the ideal car… only to see an opponent snatch up the targeted customer, due to a lack of anticipation or poor timing. It’s sometimes frustrating, but it’s also what makes the game so exciting. 

The game is highly interactive , especially with the action track and competition over customers and race positions. Players must constantly monitor and anticipate each other’s choices.

That said, some analysis paralysis can occur if players try to calculate everything and this can cause some slowdown, especially if you add investor management to car purchases.

In my opinion, the various tokens and icons related to investors and engineers weigh down the experience a bit. These elements are a bit unclear and not very intuitive, which will force you to keep the rulebook handy during your first games.

The racing part is rather simple mechanically, but it can be worth a lot of points if you let one player get too far ahead.

Finally, the theme of car manufacturing is well integrated into the game. It gives real coherence to the mechanics, and the illustrations contribute to this immersion with great care.

In summary , Kraftwagen is a good economic strategy game, with marked interaction between players, an original theme and real tactical depth, despite some slightly superfluous elements which can harm the fluidity of the first games.