No Time to Waste
Taking the Temperature on Vital Lacerda’s Weather Machine
Most veteran strategy gamers are familiar with analysis paralysis – staring at the board transfixed, desperately trying to weigh your options, and panicking at the lack of intuition about what to do next.
Despite my familiarity and comfort with Lacerda’s other titles – Lisboa and Kanban EV notable among them – Weather Machine has been the first to turn me into an AP player, with the deepest apologies to my gaming companion. It’s a surprising commentary, given the limited decision space you have on your turn; there are five action spaces, and you can’t return to the same one twice in a row, so really there are only four possible choices!
Before I go any further, I want to make clear that this is not a criticism of Weather Machine. At most I can merely reflect about why the mechanics of WM serve to stifle my brain space so emphatically, but a mere four plays in, I make no claims as to any objective truths about the game. I would go further to say that despite my trials and tribulations, the frustrated feelings of inadequacy in understanding how to construct my turns let alone my strategy, I yearn to play more.
This tension – the love for Lacerda’s games contrasted with the unique frustrations that WM has elicited – has animated this post, and a search for answers.
My search begins with the recounting of a dreaded experience in WM – arriving at your intended action space devoid of the crucial resource (chemicals, gears, vouchers) needed to confidently strive forward. WM is a clinic in planning ahead. Thinking one turn in advance is quite reasonable, of course, as I take stock of my inventory in preparation for an optimal turn. Yet this is rarely how WM plays out in my experience. Rather, given the many abilities that allow you to obtain bonus resources and extra actions, playing one turn becomes a chess-like endeavor to predict that if I do x, then y will happen, which will give me z, which I can then use for… HELP!
I’m onto something, but the search is far from complete. The challenge of resource accumulation and distribution is what makes these games an exciting puzzle, and it is by no means unique to WM. I can think of numerous games, Lost Ruins of Arnak being one of my favorites, that thrives on challenging the player to construct an intricate series of turns where resource bonuses cascade into magnificent feats of optimality.
“This tension – the love for Lacerda’s games contrasted with the unique frustrations that WM has elicited – has animated this post, and a search for answers.”
Only five resources, but it seems like infinite possibilities…
More recounting then, more stirring up dreadful memories of confusion…
It is my turn to move. I scour the board and find a worrying scene. Lativ has been moved onto the leftmost action space of Government, any hope I had of completing two actions in that location has been dashed, despite having full government vouchers. My opponent, having just moved Lativ, is on the first supply space, meaning I have to pay him a voucher should I also go for a much-needed resupply. I have a gear and a chemical, the wrong combination (f***!), but I could still go to R&D and make it work, though that would mean foregoing the government voucher bonuses since I’m already full. And there is no sense in going to Lativ’s Lab, since the next weather experiment to possibly run successfully is multiple turns away. I weight my options as the analysis paralysis slowly creeps in…
I am well aware that this is the nature of the puzzle. And again, this is not exactly a complaint, it’s merely an attempt to put sense to my momentary feelings of despair while trying to comprehend this game. In my limited plays of the game, I’ve already experienced the “two steps forward, one step back” feeling of improving on my early plays, only to fall flat on my face in my last attempt. Yet I am already envisioning of a strategy that could push me forward yet again!
Though this was certainly not intended to be a review, I do hope sharing this journey may have helped you decipher whether WM is the type of game you and your game group might enjoy. Though my experience is inherently subjective, it is fair to say that there are objectively difficult elements of the WM experience:
Worker placement that can result in your opponent(s) or Lativ blocking you from key action spaces.
Tight resource optimization which can result in inefficient turns if you lack the proper combination of resources.
Endgame conditions that cause it to end sooner than you are prepared for, leading to the classic Lacerda feeling of wanting just one more turn.
For my own tastes, I am more likely to play a game that offers a friendlier decision space more frequently, like the aforementioned Lost Ruins. Despite this, I admire the challenge that WM represents, and I do not intend to shrink from it entirely. I thought this write-up would help bring closure to my twisted time with WM, but I must admit here at the end that I feel the allure to go back for more punishment.
If I were to leverage a tepid criticism at WM, it would be that I find the theme the least convincing. Ironic, because it is my favorite art that Ian O’Toole has ever done. Yes, before you comment, I have read the many forums on the topic and statements from Lacerda himself on the theme. I respect it, certainly the intention, it just doesn’t fully work for me. “Working” in the lab, seeing the weather get worse, it feels to me like the endgame should lean more heavily into how our actions have helped to ameliorate the worsening climate. Yet it never fully embraces this ending, focusing more on the experiments run and the knowledge learned. An admirable theme for sure, but not one I found particularly satisfying.
That seems to be a fair place to leave it. Weather Machine has given me unexpected fits of AP - the resource juggle, the frustrating worker placement, even the abstract theme. It is a testament to the reality that not every game works perfectly for every player. Still, I find plenty to value and will continue to unravel this experience. After all, as long as Mr. Lacerda continues to make games, I will continue to play them.
