[pinusc]

John Company 2nd edition is a fantastic game.

Instant favourite, the smoothest rules (I could not have imagined a game with this complexity could flow so well and have a manual so easy to navigate) Insanely good player interaction, at no time boring, and there's basically no downtime. Paying attention to other players is necessary and effortless. Paired with great rulebook and well defined order of actions, this made my first game flow incredibly well—even though the short scenario took over 6 hours. 2-3 hours in we all felt like we had been playing for 45 minutes.

True competitive co-op, nothing like terraforming Mars (which is co-op in flavor only). You generally want the company to do well while skimming a bit more off the top than your opponents.

And the game does not abstract away the horrible things you do. It's very clear that the players are not the good guys. Power is central to John Company, and not just in the sense of "might", although military strength s important—in the sense of political and economical power, unchecked except by those who would like that power for themselves.

10/10 might not be enough of a rating