- Publisher : Quined Games, Pixie Games
- Designer : Xavier Georges
- Artist(s) : Ian O'Toole
- Players : 1–4
- Playing time : 90–120 Min
- Weight BGG : 3.82
What's this?
The game is inspired by the life of Andrew Carnegie who was a 19th century philanthropic entrepreneur who built an economic empire in various industries while donating millions to various charities.
In the game you will have to manage your employees, develop your business and establish yourself across the entire map of the United States.
How do you play?
The game lasts 20 turns, and one of the captivating mechanics of the game, like Puerto Rico, is that the choice of action in each turn applies to all players, with four options representing the game’s four corporate departments (Human Resources, Management, Construction, Research & Development).
Each player activates all departments of the chosen type in his company, containing active employees. Before that, when the active player selects the action type, we all activate an associated bonus before performing our actions. Thus, by observing the track of actions, we can anticipate the bonuses that other players will ideally activate by planning and strategically placing our employees in advance. These bonuses usually result in cash income and victory points.
Regarding the main actions, players can basically: earn money, expand their business, build new departments, hire new employees, move them, train them, build projects in cities across the United States, and so on. following. There is also a touch of “Rail Adventurers”, because it is necessary to reach several cities in the United States to accumulate a large number of victory points at the end of the game.
Is it good?
Carnegie stands out as an exceptional game and was a real favorite in 2022. It is a gem of optimization and anticipation, requiring constant analysis of the player boards, the main board, and especially the actions, in order to ‘avoid wasting time, because whether it is ourselves or the other players, we will strive to choose actions that will certainly not favor others.
The interaction is therefore intense, whether in the choice of actions, bonuses to activate, or even in the planning of connections between the different cities on the main board, where as they say, the principle of first come, first served applies.
The material is of exceptional quality, and Ian O’Toole’s illustrations always have a striking visual impact.
If you are looking for an expert game with fluid rules, but offering depth of play and sustained interaction, I can only recommend Carnegie.
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Review Carnegie
Positives
- Optimization and essential anticipation
- Interaction between players
- Clear rules for a deep game
- Material and illustrations
Negatives
- Can be frustrating not being able to do anything during turns if you don't anticipate
Breakdown
- Components and illustrations 10.0
- Mechanics 9.0
- Thematic 9.0
- Replayability 9.0
- Handling 9.0
- Interaction 9.0
- Originality 9.0
