Today I wanted to take a good look at something we haven't really looked at here before, an expansion! The Oil Springs scenario for Catan brings black gold and Texas tea into the world of Catan! Oil can be converted into other resources, used to build a metropolis, or sequestered to protect the environment because if you use too much oil the island of Catan can suffer from coastal flooding and loss of resources. If this sounds cool to you it's free to PnP so check it out!
Expansions tend to rely on previous knowledge of how the game works and sometimes can forget things. How did this rulebook do? Pull up a pdf of the rules and join me to find out!
Expansions tend to rely on previous knowledge of how the game works and sometimes can forget things. How did this rulebook do? Pull up a pdf of the rules and join me to find out!
Organization and Layout: Everything is in a good order so you can read it from start to finish while learning to play. 3-4 players games (the most common kind) come first, followed by 5-6 players games and other varients. The game is meant to deliver a message about the environment as well and it does present facts throughout the rulebook in simple sidebars while keep the majority of the information at the end out of the way of the rules which keeps learning easier.
Clarity: The rules were perfectly clear and easy to understand.
Graphics: Lot's of good pictures in here. It shows sample setups, what tokens and tiles look like in relevant secions, and my favorite part is that it is designed so that on the back of the rulebook there is a diagram for how much it costs to build a metropolis and how oil exchanges work, making it really convenient when playing.
Depth: The rulebook did manage to miss a very small number of things. Checking out the FAQs for the game (some of which were covered in the rulebook with the exact same text which is odd) but it did show that the rulebook didn't mention what to do if you ran out of metropolis tokens, that the Robber can't be places on destroyed tiles, and that spaces with oil do not produce other resources.
Writing: I couldn't find any typos or grammar errors, and everything had that professional feel you are looking for in a rulebook. The game does have some writing that obviously exemplifies those who would sequester oil and use it responsibly during the game, but considering the game's content this isn't surprising.
Clarity: The rules were perfectly clear and easy to understand.
Graphics: Lot's of good pictures in here. It shows sample setups, what tokens and tiles look like in relevant secions, and my favorite part is that it is designed so that on the back of the rulebook there is a diagram for how much it costs to build a metropolis and how oil exchanges work, making it really convenient when playing.
Depth: The rulebook did manage to miss a very small number of things. Checking out the FAQs for the game (some of which were covered in the rulebook with the exact same text which is odd) but it did show that the rulebook didn't mention what to do if you ran out of metropolis tokens, that the Robber can't be places on destroyed tiles, and that spaces with oil do not produce other resources.
Writing: I couldn't find any typos or grammar errors, and everything had that professional feel you are looking for in a rulebook. The game does have some writing that obviously exemplifies those who would sequester oil and use it responsibly during the game, but considering the game's content this isn't surprising.
So what does our mustache expert have to say? On the Susan Rating Scale this rulebook gets:
Susan's Explanation: While many things were done right missing those three important parts of the game from the rules might make the game more difficult for people to learn. This is still a rulebook you can learn the game from rather easily though, so I can't rate it any lower.
Susan's Explanation: While many things were done right missing those three important parts of the game from the rules might make the game more difficult for people to learn. This is still a rulebook you can learn the game from rather easily though, so I can't rate it any lower.
That's all for today's Rulebook Review! Did you see anything we missed? If so, let us know below. Y'all come back now, y'hear? Until Next Time: Every Game Deserves A Good Rulebook.