There's enough going on that it can hold my attention, but, each turn is super simple. And now that I think about it, while there's strong degree to which it feels like an engine builder, it mostly isn't. You do get combos, but they tend to be one-turn things. It's got the right mix of determinism and random; RNG won't win or lose you the game, but every game is going to be at least a bit different because of it.
Also new to me: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342942/ark-nova AKA "Zoo Mars", since we like it for many of the reasons we like Terraforming Mars, although it's simpler, and turns go by faster. It does have a bit of an issue in that poor card draw on your part (or, in one game, excellent card draw on one player's) can lose you the game, as you do build an engine but not all cards will work with the specific engine you're building.
There's enough going on that it can hold my attention, but, each turn is super simple. And now that I think about it, while there's strong degree to which it feels like an engine builder, it mostly isn't. You do get combos, but they tend to be one-turn things. It's got the right mix of determinism and random; RNG won't win or lose you the game, but every game is going to be at least a bit different because of it.
Also new to me: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342942/ark-nova AKA "Zoo Mars", since we like it for many of the reasons we like Terraforming Mars, although it's simpler, and turns go by faster. It does have a bit of an issue in that poor card draw on your part (or, in one game, excellent card draw on one player's) can lose you the game, as you do build an engine but not all cards will work with the specific engine you're building.