Klondike Rush

Today's review, which I felt appropriately timed given local weather, is of the 2017 release, Klondike Rush.  For 2-5 players, it takes 60 minutes.

Overview
You are a mining company investor, seeking the greatest profit of all.  You each start with $30; who knows what riches await in the Klondike?

On your turn, you draw and bid on the top card of the mining company deck.  (Each company card has a color and attributes (like certificates, mines, or orders).)  Each player can bid only once; winner pays the bank, gets the card, and receives any applicable items (mines or order cards) to place on it.  Regardless of who won, you then may build mines (if you have them) by paying a connection cost (which varies based on distance from existing mines), placing the mine, collecting the hunt token on that space, and advancing that company's value on the value track (upper left in the below picture).  At any time, you can match your hunt tokens with order cards to earn income.  Once per game, you may play a profit card, allowing you to collect money based on the number of your certificates in a given company combined with how valuable that company is at the time.  The game ends when all mining company cards are purchased.

game components; image from here

Review
This game is . . . okay.  The art is fantastic and components of high quality, but something felt amiss.  I think it's the dominance of the early game over the other phases- if one player gets behind early, it's extremely difficult to come back.  The keys of the game:
- Bidding.  Getting only one bid is an interesting twist and must be done well.  Bid too much too soon, and you'll be out of cash (and luck) the entire game.
- Knowing when to cash in your profit card (which will likely be necessary for a cash infusion mid-game)- waiting will likely net you more money, but wait too long and you may be out of cash and unable to bid in some rounds.

I enjoyed it well enough, but I don't think this will see much time at my game table.

UPDATE: the publisher released new 'director's cut' rules that eliminates the bidding aspect (see here).  Interesting; I played through (against myself) to check it out.  The new rules drastically alter the game, and I prefer it to the standard version. Here, cashing in for profit seems unnecessary (since there's no bidding, you should be able to get enough hunt tokens for supply cards to keep cash flowing).  The game is still only 'okay' in my book.

Rating: B-