I love a number of games that Mayfair makes. Modern Art, Lunar Rails to name a couple.
There are games from Mayfair I don't like. Overall though, I feel like I can buy a Mayfair Game and have a reasonably good chance of getting a game I like. I should add, I would say I like Rio Grande Games more, overall. If I saw two games I knew nothing about that were the same price, one being from Mayfair and one being from Rio Grande, I would have picked the Rio Grande Game...until I bought Automobile.
I bought this one, despite having been released for a couple of years and having no reviews being as it was from Mayfair. I am a big fan of Rio Grande's "Power Grid" and the complex economic system. Power Grid is also one of the few games that have a number of expansions that improve the game, don't tamper with the rules of the game excessively and overall improve the diversity of the game.
So, I bought Automobile and I sneaked a peak at the contents and I found that the game's construction and materials were quite agreeably good. The cardboard counters, although hearkening back to a long-gone era of 70s and 80s counter games are far thicker and are "generic", lacking tedious numbers and attributes. So, overall, they are just tokens, not true war-game counters. Although this game has a "Modern European Game" look to it, it is a cut-throat competitive economic game. The system is somewhat severe, but allows correction. Its kind of in the middle. It looks like what American Games have evolved into in response to the European game craze. The game has some characters, it has some wooden counters. A friend looked at the game and thought it might be related to "Tigris and Euphrates", also from Mayfair Games, owing to the presence of wooden cubes as some counters in "Automobile" but there is little game similarity otherwise. The wooden pieces that are present almost might lead you to believe its a "Modern European Game". The money is different colors and double-sided which is pretty slick. It makes Monopoly Money look ridiculous. Overall, the game materials and design is very pretty and almost mesmerizing to new players.
The board at first looks meandering, has way too many pictures and graphics, and cluttered. When you learn the rules of the game, however, you will find that the game has a very sleek and clean system, changing turn order quite seamlessly several times, based on different periods with zero confusion.
The play of the game isn't like "Power Grid", but it fills the same need of calculating losses and profits involved in "Power Grid". The economic systems have similar modes. The dynamic demand element to the economic system trumps "Power Grid" though. As "Power Grid" exists and there is an infinite amount of demand. "Automobile" exponentially punishes over-production. The same element of carefully weighing decisions in relation to opponents actions is present. "Automobile's" meat of the turn in the 'Actions' and 'Executive Decision' phases involve positioning to get premium opportunities and strategic game thinking is helpful in weighing decisions. There is a lot more provocation, trying to intimidate opponents and laying traps to get competitors to make errors and accumulate strategic losses.
There is no ultimate winning strategy, the only small randomizing element to the game is variable consumer demand for cars. Over-production can destroy and erode profits from consumer demand-sector sales. Direct sales, which are purely strategic with no random factor, on the other hand can be oversubscribed by players and balances the consumer demands nicely.
Did I forget the two best selling points of the game? Experienced four and five player sets can complete games in 75 minutes or less and the game is easy to learn. there is a learning curve that obviously benefits experienced players (find a game short of rock-paper-scissors that isn't that way!), but it still has that "First time playing and I liked it" element of Modern European games.
I strongly recommend this game. Of the dozen or so people I have taught to play the game, 10 love it, one is indifferent to it. Only one person doesn't like it. They also don't like "Power Grid" or economic games in general, however.
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