You always said you loved a good challenge. Now you have been given one. On a whim, you took a bet that you could turn this bit of land into a fully functioning village. In order to win the bet you have to gather certain items to prove you have made this place into a productive village. The land here is strange and you have had to bribe your new villagers with all the ale they can drink.
This is a total economic scenario. No military action at all. The land its self should prove enough of a challenge. You must build in the low level areas. No access has been given to the highest land area. You will need to manage your space wisely.
Playability - Playability was good. I wanted to finish the scenario although I did feel bored sometimes, but I never thought of exiting the scenario. It took quite some time to finish playing the scenario, so The Bet should give you enough challenge for many hours. The scenario has, however, one slight "bug": the victory conditions do not include any population requirements, thus giving the option to gather all the required goods, delete most of the town and easily achieve the 'ale coverage' and 'blessed' requirements.
Balance - Balance was good, too, although I was able to gather certain goods more than was required. I enjoyed adjusting food rations and taxes, but there could have been some more bad events, like fires and plagues. The scenario's main challenge is figuring out what to build, when and where. The challenging map design made the scenario harder than normal.
Creativity - The one thing that makes The Bet more unique than most Economics scenarios, is the unique Map Design. The map is almost like a network of little caves connected by tunnels. Another thing, that raised the Creativity score was the events, which had a resource or a population size as a condition, not just a date.
Map Design - I'd love to rate Map Design 4.0, because the map structure was so clever and unique. Howeve, the map wasn't detailed enough to earn a 4.0, so the average score will have to do now. Some parts of the map weren't designed pretty, for example, the iron and stone resources did not look good on the map.
Story/Instructions - The story was a little more unique than normally, but it was too short to really be attractive and fascinating. There were also a few spelling mistakes.
Final comments: All in all, a good scenario. I recommend The Bet for everyone who enjoys playing a challenging long-term economics scenario.
Dianna125
Posted on 11/24/02 @ 12:00 AM
Rating
4.0
Breakdown
Playability
4.0
Balance
3.0
Creativity
4.0
Map Design
5.0
Story/Instructions
4.0
I had a great time playing this map. The limited amount of space made it a difficult and fun map to play. It was a different look, not your normal map, and this made it all the more enjoyable.