![\"M\u00fcll+Money\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/muell_t.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Publisher<\/b>: Hans im Gl\u00fcck<\/p>\n
Author<\/b>: Dr. J\u00fcrgen Strohm<\/p>\n
Tester<\/b>: Aaron Haag<\/p>\n
Game Tested<\/b>: German edition 2001<\/p>\n
Scenario<\/b>: Resources, production, innovation, growth and profits and last but
\nnot least M\u00fcll – the German word for waste – are the key ingredientes of this game. Each
\nplayer tries to max out the interlinked parameters of his production plant by applying
\nsuitable strategies and tactics.<\/p>\n
The Game<\/b>: Each player starts with a production plant which needs five work
\nforce units and five resources to produce and which generates 5 units of waste. The five
\nwork forces and the first five resources are part of the start set-up. The products of
\none production cycle sell for initially 14$ million.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of each round the start player deals sets of three cards openly
\ntaking care that a set only contains unique cards (i.e. no duplicate types). The number
\nof card sets is determined by the number of players plus one. The start player is the
\nfirst to select a set and the other players follow in clockwise order.<\/p>\n
The cards are the motor of the game and when it is a player’s turn he plays one of
\nthe cards of his set and executes the corresponding action.<\/p>\n
A round continues until no player wants to play any of their cards – it is allowed
\nthat a player keeps one of his cards for the next turn. This is particularly useful if
\none has a bribe card. Playing this card only makes sense during an environmental
\ncatastrophe which happens immediately once the respective card is drawn when the start
\nplayer creates the card sets. All player that have excessive waste in their plant’s
\nstores must pay damages between $5 million and $10 million. This can be reduced to $1
\nmillion by playing a bribe card at that point in time. At the end of a round players have
\nto pay for their work forces (irrespective of whether or not they produced in this round)
\nand the start player position shifts one position in clockwise direction.<\/p>\n
Once the last round of the game has been completed players count their victory points.
\nIncreases in productivity yield additional victory points as well as increases in the
\nplants income. Interestingly, the money in player’s hands only counts half but any
\nloans reduce the victory points by the full amount.<\/p>\n
Playing Time<\/b>: Rules are explained in about 15 minutes – playing time is about
\n75 minutes.<\/p>\n
Similar Games<\/b>: Schoko & Co.<\/a> (Yves Hirschfeld, G. Monnet), McMulti (Crude)<\/a>, Modern Art<\/a> (Reiner Knizia)<\/p>\n Westpark Gamers’ Opinion<\/b>: When I played the game for the first time it In my opinion the resource auctions are the key to winning the game. As with Reiner It could be a sound strategy to go for the auctions and productivity cards only, with I believe this game has a lot of potential for a wide range of different tactics and The English version of the game has been published by Rio Grande Games<\/a> under the name of Aaron’s Rating<\/b>: 7 (out of 10)<\/p>\n Westpark Gamers’ Rating<\/b>: not yet rated<\/p>\n
\nreminded me very much of “Schocko & Co.”, one of the finalists of the 1988
\nSpiel des Jahres<\/a> award.
\nThere you also had the task to optimize the various parameters of production so that
\nincome is maximized. In “M\u00fcll + Money” I found it hard to time my actions right
\nthough, because one’s options are very dependent on the set of cards available for
\nselection. If you are sitting right to the start player you are faced with the
\n“leftovers” of all the other players because you are the last to select and
\nthere are only two remaining sets. On the other hand, next turn you will be the first to
\nselect your set and you may want to prepare the next move now. Maybe your work force is
\nstill high and you want to decrease it to save costs. If there is a “work
\nforce” card still available this could be a good point in time to do so. However,
\nnext round you will need to select a set of cards that contains a
\n“productivity” card in order to adjust your plant productivity accordingly.
\nReducing the work force before improving productivity is a risky business and should only
\nbe tried in situations like this unless you do want to become unable to produce.<\/p>\n![\"M\u00fcll+Money\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/muell1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nKnizia’s “Modern Art”<\/a> you can generate a lot of money by clever
\nauctioning. Many times I have seen situations where a player gets resources virtually for
\nfree by first auctioning a set and cashing in and then buying the next set resources with
\nexactly the money received from the first auction. This can be exploited by two players
\nwho work together in two subsequent auctions with one player selling to the other for a
\npreviously agreed (too) high price. There is nothing the other players can do about this
\nother than avoiding the situation that these two players both receive auction cards in
\ntheir sets. So maybe you want to establish a house rule that disallows any negotiations
\nabout resource prices.<\/p>\n
\nthe goal to generate cash and victory points by selling resources to other players and by
\nincreasing productivity and plant income respectively, leaving production (and costly
\nwaste generation) to the other players. As an additional benefit you are pushing for an
\nearly end of the game by quickly moving the plant income marker to the $20 million area
\nharming those who took an early loan. A similar strategy worked in the first release of
\n“Dicke Kartoffeln”<\/a> by Doris Matth\u00e4us & Frank Nestel
\nwhere the goal of the game was to generate money by growing and selling potatoes. Here
\nthe alternative strategy was to grow lots of worms (normally used as fertilizer) and
\nselling them to the bank or the other players instead of using them on one’s
\nfields.<\/p>\n
\nstrategies and it’s replay value is correspondingly high. The web of interlinked
\nparameters is big enough to provide ample possibilities for people who like business
\nsimulations. As usual for “Hans im Gl\u00fcck”<\/a> games the components are of impeccable
\nquality.<\/p>\n
\n“Industrial Waste<\/a>“.<\/p>\n