#12/52. A game from a "system" - 504

504 is a new game from Friedemann Friesse, the designer of one of our favorite games, Power Grid. I have heard that this is an innovative and unique game or game system in that the rule book is structured in such a way as to allow you to combine nine different modules to create 504 different games. Hence the name. The nine modules are made up of different types of game mechanics:

1. Pick-Up & Deliver
2. Race
3. Privileges
4. Military
5. Exploration
6. Roads
7. Majorities
8. Production
9. Shares

Mark and I played our first game of 504 on Monday, January 4, 2016. We played what the companion to the rule book suggested, Modules 1, 2, & 3. Setting up the game was a bit of a brain bender as you not only have to read the unique rule book, but you also have to consult the companion to the rule book as a legend for the pieces and decks. It also gives detailed instructions (more than the official rule book) for Modules 1, 2, & 3. However, if you use these more traditional instructions as a key for learning to read the rule book, it starts to make more sense. Or so I thought.

Once we got down to playing the game, we had fun. Modules 1, 2, & 3 made sense and we enjoyed the game which took about 45 minutes to play and score. Mark won the game. That being said, it did take us about 45 minutes to set up the game initially, but we put that down to this being our first time looking at it. Or so we thought.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016 was our game group night and I took 504. We showed up early and Mark, me, and our friends Dwayne, and Erik sat down to give this a try. Rather than just running through 1, 2, & 3 again, I asked each of the guys to pick a number between 1 and 9. We ended up with Modules 4, 7, & 9. Mark and Dwayne set up the map while Erik and I tried to pull out all of the components. It turns out that both activities were very confusing.

About an hour later we thought we were ready to start playing. Except we could not find the movement rules in the rule book or the companion book. The previous modules had stated movement rules, but none of these three modules said anything about movement. Dwayne looked on Board Game Geek while Mark and I scoured over the rule book and companion book. In the end, we packed up the game and played two games of Nefarious instead.

I haven't given up on 504. It's a game that I think is going to need some study and maybe the development of some quick reference guides. A couple of player aids and FAQs have been posted on Board Game Geek, but they seem equally as confusing as the rule book does. As I said, it's going to take some study. I do think (or rather hope) that eventually this game will be worth the effort. More later...