So, after it was strongly suggested to me by a couple of folks, I recently picked up Race for the Galaxy (and the first expansion, Gathering Storm) and having a blast with it. I’ve played at least a couple dozen games in the last week. I also grabbed 7 Wonders, which I think is pretty bad (primarily because military seems horribly unbalanced to me). I also don’t care for San Juan, partly because of theme, but also the sheer number of buildings available just feels like on many options where I want something a bit more focused, and I like Race’s fixed phase order.
I wound up looking at the list of tableau builders at BGG and there are a couple inbound on iOS that look really good, namely Castles of Burgundy and Terraforming Mars. I think the sweet spot for me in terms of complexity is probably near the 2.25-3.25 on BGG’s scale.
I’m also really looking forward to New Fontiers. While I expect it to be much closer to San Juan than RftG, I’m hoping the fact that I like Race so much will help me get past the things I don’t like about San Juan. Hopefully, they get someone to do a digital version that is as good as Race.
I also have Among the Stars, which is fine, but didn’t get it’s hooks in me like Race did, as well as Puerto Rico & Agricola. I never did get Through the Ages, but I think it might be a bit heavy for what I tend to enjoy. The games I tend to play again and again are the ones that have fairly simple decision making each turn and can play quickly once you get the hang of it.