Saint Petersburg is a tableau-building economic engine game set in the early 1700s, where players will hire workers and merchants, build buildings and eventually try to hire nobles, who will earn you victory points. Just don’t tell those nobles what will happen to their descendants in, oh, about 200 years.

On each turn, players will purchase one card from the library. That card will generate money or victory points, as well as have resource icons which create a little synergy, that let them buy more, bigger and better cards.

Interesting Mechanic: First Player Selection. There are four card purchasing phases of the game – worker, building, aristocrat and trading card phase. In each of those phases, a different tableau of cards is played. Who goes first is random – each player draws a card, and that determines the phase in which he’ll go first. While you don’t know exactly what cards will flip over, going first is a huge advantage, so savvy players need to ensure they have maximized their income to ensure they can best take advantage of when they have the best selection.

Saint Petersburg is a good euro-style family game that is very good, despite the fact that it tends to be a little bit like solitaire. It’s hard to find now, but it’s still a treat when it hits the table.

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(Photo Credit: Hiew’s Boardgame Blog)