Age: 14+
Playtime: 90-150 minutes
Complexity: 8/10
You were born to a family of renowned instrument makers in the halcyon days of classical music. And you shall devote your life to the making, maintenance and promotion of your genius creations—as long as generous patrons keep your whole enterprise afloat, it goes without saying.
Over six rounds, players compete for resources, instrument blueprints, repair contracts and performance opportunities, all while advancing their reputations as masters of their craft.
Now do not brush Luthier aside as just another medium-heavy worker placement game. It comes with an important twist: each worker is a disc (numbered from 1 through 5) placed face down on the action of your choice. Normally, the owner of the first worker dropped on a location gets first dibs; unless, that is, another worker there is revealed to sport a higher value, in which case workers are switched around.
So do you really need to use your 5 there? Or will a 3 do the trick, freeing your top worker to exert their influence elsewhere?
The theme is fantastic, superbly well integrated into the game mechanics, and the production is lavish enough to have Stradivari make a double-take. (Even the lowly "retail edition" looks great, with the deluxe version turning the glam up to 11.)
The rulebook might appear daunting, but Luthier's not a complicated game to learn. Playing it well, though? Might be faster to just pick up the cello.
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