Prime Minister

Started by Silent Disapproval Robot, January 30, 2024, 04:35:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Silent Disapproval Robot

I picked up a copy of Prime Minister on a whim (and in total contravention of my "no more boardgames" rule) a few weeks ago.

1-4 players take on the role of Victorian era British politicians and vie to become the pre-eminent leader of the time.

It's an interesting system because two players play as members of the Liberal party while 2 others play as Conservatives.  They must work together to advance their party's fortunes but only one player can win so there's lots of opportunity for double dealing, backstabbing, dropping poison pills, and the like.

TBH, I'm terrible at these types of games as I'm nowhere near subtle enough to succeed but I do enjoy the shenanigans.

We tried it out last week and enjoyed it even though the scoring system is a bit obtuse and led to a few screw ups of the rules by me.

Gonna give it another go this weekend and see just how far back in last place I can be this time.




Phantom

Curious about this one myself - seen it bobbing around on BGG. Would be interesting to see how this compares to GMT's Mr President, both from a gaming AND political perspective.
I would forget all of that "no more board games" nonsense. I recently had to buy Colonial Twilight after having a similar pause - there's just always something out there that looks soooo good. Now I've got that out of my system I'm looking at Atlantic Chase  :laugh:

Tripoli

Quote from: Phantom on January 31, 2024, 01:47:52 PMCurious about this one myself - seen it bobbing around on BGG. Would be interesting to see how this compares to GMT's Mr President, both from a gaming AND political perspective.
I would forget all of that "no more board games" nonsense. I recently had to buy Colonial Twilight after having a similar pause - there's just always something out there that looks soooo good. Now I've got that out of my system I'm looking at Atlantic Chase  :laugh:
Atlantic chase has a really unique movement system that is worth the price of the game just to see it. Basically, the designer has come up with a way to have a hidden movement system without anything being hidden. Because of this, it also makes it possible to do hidden movement solitaire.  While it may not work for all naval games, it does a pretty good job for the time frame in the Atlantic.  Be sure to do the tutorials
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Phantom

Yes, it did strike me as a really clever game - I hear he's bringing one out based in the Pacific.

Silent Disapproval Robot

#4
Quote from: Phantom on January 31, 2024, 01:47:52 PMCurious about this one myself - seen it bobbing around on BGG. Would be interesting to see how this compares to GMT's Mr President, both from a gaming AND political perspective.
I would forget all of that "no more board games" nonsense. I recently had to buy Colonial Twilight after having a similar pause - there's just always something out there that looks soooo good. Now I've got that out of my system I'm looking at Atlantic Chase  :laugh:

I've not played Mr. President myself but I did see a few people comparing the two games in videos.  The consensus seems to be that they aren't very much alike at all.  Mr. President has a lot more chrome and granularity that Prime Minister.  Makes sense seeing as how Mr. President is a solitaire game and PM is best played with 3+.

In my opinion, the way politics is presented in Prime Minister is the game's weakest component.  The bills that you nominate are rather meaningless in their content.  The only aspect the game is concerned with is how the passage of each bill affects your party's standing with the various voting blocks and within your party membership.  The game doesn't get into how the bills affect society at all and it feels kind of pointless at times.  I would've liked to see a bit more detail on how it affected things like taxes, trade, foreign relations, etc.  The same goes for events.  The historical detail on the cards is just flavour text.  The only concern in game terms is how it affects party electability and individual politician's standings within the party.

Where PM shines is in the interplay between the players.  Just how much can you trust your backbenchers when you know they're ultimately gunning for your job as party leader?  Your political opponents might seem to be playing nice at the moment, supporting your bills and propping up the government, but you know they're building support with the various voting blocks and are just itching for a chance to bring down your government when the time is right.  You have to decide how best to guard against that while holding off challengers within your own party.

 

Phantom

Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on February 01, 2024, 03:29:17 PM
Quote from: Phantom on January 31, 2024, 01:47:52 PMCurious about this one myself - seen it bobbing around on BGG. Would be interesting to see how this compares to GMT's Mr President, both from a gaming AND political perspective.
I would forget all of that "no more board games" nonsense. I recently had to buy Colonial Twilight after having a similar pause - there's just always something out there that looks soooo good. Now I've got that out of my system I'm looking at Atlantic Chase  :laugh:

I've not player Mr. President myself but I did see a few people comparing the two games in videos.  The consensus seems to be that they aren't very much alike at all.  Mr. President has a lot more chrome and granularity that Prime Minister.  Makes sense seeing as how Mr. President is a solitaire game and PM is best played with 3+.

In my opinion, the way politics is presented in Prime Minister is the game's weakest component.  The bills that you nominate are rather meaningless in their content.  The only aspect the game is concerned with is how the passage of each bill affects your party's standing with the various voting blocks and within your party membership.  The game doesn't get into how the bills affect society at all and it feels kind of pointless at times.  I would've liked to see a bit more detail on how it affected things like taxes, trade, foreign relations, etc.  The same goes for events.  The historical detail on the cards is just flavour text.  The only concern in game terms is how it affects party electability and individual politician's standings within the party.

Where PM shines is in the interplay between the players.  Just how much can you trust your backbenchers when you know they're ultimately gunning for your job as party leader?  Your political opponents might seem to be playing nice at the moment, supporting your bills and propping up the government, but you know they're building support with the various voting blocks and are just itching for a chance to bring down your government when the time is right.  You have to decide how best to guard against that while holding off challengers within your own party.

 

I guess that all makes sense in the context of the games - Mr President from what you say influencing domestic & world events using politics & other levers, Prime Minister being concerned solely with the actual politics - both sound interesting for different reasons.

Silent Disapproval Robot

Prime Minister's take on politics strikes me as a bit cynical.  The effect of legislation on society is entirely irrelevant.  The only concern is how it affects the player's ability to gain or maintain their and their party's grip on power.

Phantom

Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on February 02, 2024, 03:58:15 PMPrime Minister's take on politics strikes me as a bit cynical.  The effect of legislation on society is entirely irrelevant.  The only concern is how it affects the player's ability to gain or maintain their and their party's grip on power.

So very realistic then  :grin: