What Is An Engine Building Game Explained

What is an Engine Building Game?

Have you ever played a game where you start small and then, little by little, you create something amazing? That’s kind of what an engine building game is all about! Imagine you’re a little train that starts with just a few carts. As the game goes on, you add more carts, maybe some special ones, and soon, you have a super powerful train that can go super far and carry lots of things. In an engine building game, the “train” is your personal strategy, and the “carts” are all the cool actions and things you get during the game.

The Core Idea: Building Your Machine

The real heart of an engine building game is the idea of creating a system that gets better and better as you play. Think of it like building a machine, but instead of gears and metal, you’re working with cards, tiles, or other game pieces. At the beginning, your machine might not do very much, but with smart decisions, you can add new parts that let you do more and more. And the best part? These new parts often work together, helping you get even more out of each turn. This snowball effect, where your actions become stronger and more efficient over time, is what makes engine building games so fun and rewarding.

How Does it Work?

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. While each engine building game has its unique rules and mechanics, they generally share some common ways of letting you build your powerful game engine. You start with a basic set of resources or actions, but as you play, you gather or purchase new things that give you better actions or more resources. These new items might let you gain more things, take more steps, or get extra points in the game. This process is often referred to as “the engine” because just like a car engine getting more powerful, your capabilities in the game increase with time.

Key Game Elements

Many engine building games include these elements:

• Cards: Lots of these games use cards. These cards can represent actions, resources, or even special powers. You usually get to add these cards to your personal supply during the game, making your “engine” bigger and better.
• Resources: Many games involve collecting resources like food, wood, or money. These resources are then used to buy more cards, take actions, or score points.
• Actions: These are the things you can do on your turn. As your engine develops, the number and type of actions you can take will expand.
• Point Scoring: Points often involve converting resources, accomplishing goals on cards, or having certain types of cards in your collection at the end of the game.

Types of Engines You Might Build

Engine building games are all about creating something unique. Here are some different types of “engines” you might find:

Resource Engine

This type of engine focuses on generating resources. At the start, you might produce a small number of food or metal, but as you improve your engine, you will gather huge amount of required resource that will ultimately help you score more points. The more you produce, the more options you have in the game, giving you an extra advantage.

Action Engine

An action engine focuses on the things you can do each turn. Initially, you might only have a small number of actions, but with a good strategy, you gain more actions, which will help you score points more faster. These engines enable you to complete more actions and score more points each turn and complete actions that are normally expensive in terms of resources.

Combination Engine

This is where things get really interesting. A combination engine is a mix of different things, like generating resources, taking actions, and scoring points all at the same time. It’s like having a well-oiled machine that does many things at once. These engines require more planning and careful choices, but they can be super powerful when they work well together.

The Fun of Engine Building

So why are engine building games so engaging? Here are a few reasons:

• Feeling of Progress: There is a really great feeling when you see your engine get more and more powerful as the game moves along. It is great to start small and watch your actions become more effective and efficient.
• Strategic Choices: You have to think carefully about the cards you buy or the actions you take. You will have a lots of decisions in each turn, so the choices you make will affect the performance of your engine. Do you focus on generating resources, or more actions, or scoring more points? The answer isn’t always straightforward, which makes the game challenging.
• Variety and Replayability: Engine building games often have many different cards or parts, which means every game can be different. You can try different strategies and find new ways to build a winning engine each time you play.
• Personalized Gameplay: Your engine is your creation. It’s very personal, and watching your unique creation grow throughout the game can be very satisfying.

Examples of Engine Building Games

There are many fantastic engine building games to check out! Here are a couple to give you a feel for what they are like:

Dominion

A classic deck-building game (which is a form of engine building). In Dominion, you buy cards and build your own deck. These cards are used to gain resources, perform actions, and score points. Every turn, you draw a handful of cards, play them to gain money, buy better cards from a central board, and then discard everything, creating a deck that will be used again next turn. Over the course of the game you will add more and better cards to your deck, making each turn stronger than before.

• Simplicity: Easy to learn, hard to master, which makes it very popular.
• Variety: Lots of expansions with different types of cards, keeping gameplay fresh.
• Focus: You are focused on the cards you get, and how to create an effective set of cards to score more points.

Splendor

In Splendor, players collect gems to buy development cards, these development cards are used to gain points. The game revolves around collecting gems, then buying cards, and then using your cards to reduce the cost of other cards, eventually scoring more points by purchasing other better and higher points cards. The game is all about how to create an engine that can help you to purchase high points card.

• Elegance: Beautiful components, making the game easy to look at.
• Resource Management: A focus on managing gems and planning your purchases for more development cards.
• Progression: You get to see how your engine develop with time, enabling you to collect better cards for your engine.

Is it Right for You?

If you enjoy games that need strategy and planning and like to see your actions become better, then engine building games are for you. They provide a rewarding experience, as you watch your hard work pay off. If you love the challenge of thinking ahead and creating something unique, then give them a try. With many variations available, there is surely an engine building game out there for you.

Engine Building vs Other Game Types

It’s helpful to understand how engine building games are different from other kinds of board games:

Compared to Worker Placement Games

In worker placement games, you usually send workers to different spots to gather resources or perform actions. While some worker placement games might have some elements of engine building, their main focus is about managing your workers and resources on the board. In contrast, engine building games, focus on your own engine that improves over time and how this will give you an advantage over the course of the game.

Example: Agricola is a worker placement game where you expand your farm, whereas a game like Wingspan is an engine builder where you focus on building your bird habitats and collecting resources.

Compared to Deck Building Games

Many engine building games also include deck building elements, and deck building games are considered to be a subcategory of engine building games. However, deck building games typically only focus on the cards that you buy and add to your deck. Engine building games usually have more to it, like boards, tiles and resources that also make your engine work. It also focuses on how you utilize these different components to build an effective game engine.

Compared to Euro Games

Euro games usually are about efficiency, resource management and a smooth playing experience. Engine building games fits within this category, but it particularly emphasizes how your actions will increase in value and power throughout the game. This is a common element in most engine building games, which is not always the focus for many other Euro Games.

Tips for Playing Engine Building Games

If you’re new to engine building games, here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Plan Ahead: Think about the things that work together. How are the cards and actions and resources connected? Do they help each other, and can be a good way to score more points?
• Don’t Try To Do Everything: Initially, choose a good strategy. Try not to buy too many cards, and focus on one or two important things that will build your engine. Focus on a core strategy early in the game, then expand it.
• Look at Other Player’s Engines: Try to see what kind of engine other players are building, and learn from them. You might also consider taking cards that they need to stop them from scoring more points.
• Experiment: Try different strategies each game, and see what works best. Engine building games are about figuring out the best system to win, so try different things and see what happens.

These tips should guide you to improve and also help you to understand the engine building aspect of the game.

Engine building games offer a rewarding and strategic experience. By creating a system that gets better and better as you play, you get a sense of accomplishment and a lot of fun. So the next time you want to play a game that is full of strategy and challenges you, try an engine building game! You will enjoy your time.