BY WERNER HODEL
PRODUCED BY GOLD SIERBE SPIELE
IMPORTED BY RIO GRANDE GAMES
BOXED ET $39.95

If there are any two things I love about gaming, it's board games, and games that have to do with my favorite historical period... the Old West. Thus, wherever and whenever a combination of the two manages to arise, I'm all over it. Games like Gunslinger (Avalon Hill), Prospecting (Leisure Three Enterprises), and Remember The Alamo (TSR, Inc.), although out of print, have always been among my favorites, so when I heard about a new German import called The Mississippi Queen, needless to say my curiosity was aroused.

For those of you unfamiliar with the historical meaning of the name of this game, Mississippi Queen was the coveted title in a series of races along the great river during the hey days of the river boats (equivalent of the America's Cup for sailing). The Mississippi Queen game puts players in command of their own river boat in a race to pick up passengers and get to the destination landing as the fastest river boat on the Father of Waters.

The first thing I liked about this game was it's simplicity. There are beginner rules, but you should be able to go straight to the "advanced" rules for your first game. Simply, each player starts with a speed meter, and coal meter each numbered 1 - 6. Each turn a player can accelerate, decelerate, and/or make one hexside facing change for free, and speed must be set before the player moves their ship. Anything beyond that (additional acc/dec or facing changes) requires the player to spend coal points.

The board is the most important part of the game. Divided into tiles with a hexagonal map overlaid, and three cusps to attach them together, the river is different every game, and this is what gives The Mississippi Queen its replay ability. Basically, whenever a player moves onto a new piece of the map, they add another randomly drawn tile to the existing map, and roll a special direction die to see which of the cusps this new tile is attached to. This tends a lot to what strategy will be used by each player.

Player strategy actually is a big factor in this game. Game balance is brought about by the fact that if one player gets out ahead of the rest of the group, they are basically navigating the river for the other players. This allows the other players more time to plan their speeds, and turns.

Also, because each player has to stop to pick up two loads of passengers somewhere along the route, "full steam ahead" can use up a lot of coal decelerating, and that leads to why coal is so important.... When a player runs out of coal, they must be very cautious. Anytime you are required to spend coal (primarily when you are going too fast, and have to make more than one hexside facing change to avoid beaching your boat), and do not have any coal left to spend, you are out of the game. Plain and simple!

The object of the game is to stop twice somewhere along the river at any of the numerous landings to pick up passengers, and be the first to steam on to the final landing, and the title of Mississippi Queen, fastest ship on the Father of Waters. The game comes with five ships, coal/speed markers, map tiles, and pawns representing the passengers. Considering what comes in this box, compared to the price you pay, and what you get out of other games, the retail price of The Mississippi Queen is more than justified.

I really enjoyed playing The Mississippi Queen. It has all of the elements of what I consider a great board game... theme, game balance, replay ability, and easy rules. It was equally as easy to teach it to the group I played it with, and they enjoyed it as much as I did. Even if you're not an Old West nut like I am, I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time racing for the title of Mississippi Queen.