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Airlines Europe
Author: Alan Moon
Publisher: AbacusSpiele
Year: 2011

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We are going to invest our money! Yes, these are golden times for investors! Disclaimer: we are playing a game, and the golden times in fact are in the past as the setting lies in the thirties of the past century when transporting passengers by air could earn one quite a lot of money. Two to five players invest in the various airlines, buying licences as well as acquiring shares in hopes they will considerably rise in value. Money is all what it’s all about, and after three scores it will be clear which player was the most fortunate.
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Each airline has its own home on which already a plane in that colour is placed. From this location the network is expanded. A player may expand the network of whichever airline provided it connects to its existing network; the cost for it is depicted on each route. Players start with eight million but the smallest denomination is one million, so money quickly becomes short. In a turn, when this action is chosen -and only one action per turn may be taken- up to two licences may be bought. Per route there is room for one to three different companies; blocking routes for rivalling companies this way is possible, although it must be said that the companies itself have no owner, they merely belong to the shareholders.
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When a licence for a route of an airline is bought the most low-priced space is paid and occupied with an airplane of that airline. This way subsequent airlines pay a higher price. The token for the market value of the airline is increased by the paid price of the licence. To conclude his action, the player takes a share from a display of five, or take a blind card from the stack. The share does not need to be of the airline(s) he bought a licence for.
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Players start the game with eight randomly dealt shares of which they may place two different of them open on the table; these are active shares. The other shares are only active and count in a score when they are also played and placed open on the table; this is an other possible action in a turn. A player puts all shares of one kind on the table, or two different ones, and gets two million paid per share.
A third possible action is simply taking eight million from the bank, to refill the always tight cash.
Each time a licence is bought, a plane is placed on the route; eventually this leads to an airline not being able to expand anymore. This could also occur because not all airlines have equal quantities of planes. The four airlines with the least planes earn a bonus when connected to a specific city; when this occurs the value of the airline in one blow increases six to nine million.
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This way each player tries to make his share portfolio as profitable as possible by expanding the network of the various airlines he has shares of, keeping an eye on other players and trying to keep the lead in shares. When one of the three score cards that has been shuffled through the shares deck is drawn, there is a score. Players score for majorities of their shares that are compared with the actual value of the company, the higher the value, the more points that can be obtained -and, just as a reminder, this valueis dependent on the size of the network. The player with the most shares scores the points for 1st place, with lesser points for other shareholders. It must be hard for the fifth and last shareholder in any company as the board each time confronts him, just to make it very clear, with his score: 0 points!
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At each score special Air Abacus shares are scored according to a fixed table. These shares are very rewarding, but to get these a player must exchange one or three shares for one or two Air Abacus certificates. The exchanged shares go out of the game. If played tactically the player used shares of a company he himself had a minor share in, but it could prevent two other competing players of gaining the upperhand, so if there is a resulting tie, these players each score less than when one of them would have acquired the largest stock.
If a player manages to uphold his majority in Air Abacus shares, this could earn him a total of twenty eigth points in the three ratings!
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There already once was an ‘Airlines’, published in 1990. It played on a map of the United States of America, and had special route cards for the various companies with which a licence had to be paid. There was no money, and scores where kept on a separate pad. With a sabotage marker a player could block a route for other companies. The three score cards all were shuffled together, resulting in early and sometimes rapidly succeeding scores. But it was a nice and often played game, only to be snowed under by the many new games that where published afterwards.
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‘Airlines Europe’ has all what Americans have come to call a Eurogame. This new game is not so much simpler as more accessible, and has a much smoother game play. The score cards are shuffled in a special more balanced way through the deck so players have some more time before the first score occurs, and some more time between the other scores. The clumsy route cards have disapperaed and are exchanged for a free choice of where to buy a licence. The game board is state of the art, and on the further execution nothing leaves to be desired -although the stiff drawn box cover is a bit out of place.
The rules are more than complete with numerous examples and manage to cover all possible questions, also giving some useful tactical tips. There is an adjustment in the rules for two players and this works wonderful well.
Still a minus point: the colours red and orange are easily confused, and it would have been better to exclude one of these colours in a game with less than five players instead of yellow, as it is now.
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At the start of the game a player’s hand of shares will probably determine which licences to buy; gradually other players actions become important as in which airline they take shares and which airlines they increase in value. It is always good to have at least some shares tobe able to score when it is not possible to get a majority. Trying to get a majority of shares in at least two or three airlines is essential, but the shares in the display come randomly and not necessesarily to a players favor.
It is better to place many shares of one airline open on the table than to do this in multiple turns. Not only because it takes away other actions, but also because it gives other players an undesirable premature insight in that players portfolio.
Shares that score minor or bot at all should be used in exchanging them for Air Abacus. These shares go out of the game, blind, so potential ties between other players may harm them more than you; a player might still take that specific share from the display in hopes of getting a majority.
Noteworthy is that all components -including the cute little planes!- find their place in a perfect fitting tray. What does a player want more when he wants to play a nice and challenging game with the whole family?
With this new and fresh ‘Airlines Europe’ Air Abacus might possibly fly towards a Spiel des Jahres nomination!
© 2011 Richard van Vugt

Airlines Europe, AbacusSpiele, 2011 - 2 to 5 players, 10 years and up, 75 minutes
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