If you’re hunting for your next board game night star, welcome to my review! I put this one through the wringer with my friends—there were laughs, curses, and a dramatic attempt to sell a fake canal house. In this review, I’ll share the highs, lows, and random cheese-related outbursts, so you’ll know if this cardboard trip is worth your hard-earned guilders.
How It Plays
Setting up
First, lay out the board which looks like a map of old Amsterdam. Give each player their set of pieces and tokens (don’t mix them up—my group did and chaos almost broke out). Shuffle the cards and put the goods tiles and coins in their spots. Everyone starts with a little money, not a lot, but enough to feel hopeful.
Gameplay
Players take turns bidding for routes with their money. If you snooze, you lose! You move your carts to deliver goods, collect bonus cards, and sometimes block your pals (which they never forget). You’ll haggle and bluff, trying to snatch the best routes before everyone else. Goods delivery, auctions, and a race for bonuses keep everyone busy. The game is equal parts sneaky and strategic—perfect for my mischievous brother.
Winning the game
When someone reaches the end of the route list or the goods run out, you count up points from routes, goods delivered, and special cards. The winner is the player with the most points. You might think you’re winning, only to lose by a few points because you forgot that sneaky endgame bonus your friend nabbed. Trust me, keep an eye on all the cards!
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Amsterdam.
How Amsterdam Gets Players Talking (And Sometimes Yelling!)
If you’ve ever wanted to see your friends burst into dramatic speeches or silent glares, let me tell you: Amsterdam is your stage. The game’s mechanics shine brightest when players start bumping into each other—literally and on the board.
Each turn feels important because you’re making real choices, not just flipping a lucky card. You’re hustling goods, bidding for the best routes, and sometimes, shamelessly blocking rivals. This is not a game where you sit around waiting for your turn—there’s always something to react to, whether it’s a sneaky trade or that one friend who hoards all the cheese markets like a goblin.
What I love most is the clever auction mechanism. You can bluff, or go all-in and hope everyone else is too broke to outbid. There’s strategy but it’s never too heavy and it avoids feeling random—no unlucky dice ruining your plans. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you’ll want to flip the table when someone outbids you by one coin, but it’s the good kind of frustration.
Player interaction is high; you’ll constantly try to read others and negotiate. Maybe you’ll form a secret alliance for one round. Maybe you’ll stab your buddy in the back the next. The mechanics make you care about everyone’s move, and if you play with cutthroat friends, prepare for some hilarious betrayals.
All this makes Amsterdam a solid choice if you like games with both brains and banter. Next up, we’ll take a gondola (not literally!) to see whether the theme and artwork make the game as pretty as a Dutch postcard.
Theme and Artwork: Amsterdam’s Canals Never Looked So Good
I’ve seen my fair share of board games with themes as thin as instant noodles, but Amsterdam rocked up to game night dressed in full Dutch regalia. The whole city vibe just oozes out of the box. You feel like you’re actually rolling up your sleeves and trading goods along those famous cobblestone streets. I barely resisted the urge to wear a fake mustache and yell about tulips.
The artwork is a real winner. The board is busy but never cluttered, kinda like my kitchen when I cook pasta—chaotic at first glance, but everything makes sense when you look closer. The canals are bright and detailed, which is great when you’re trying to trace your routes with your finger (or when you’re just lost, like my friend Bob usually is). The designers didn’t skimp on the tokens either. They’re chunky and colorful. I can’t tell you how many games have bored me to death with beige cubes, but Amsterdam’s pieces actually excite the eyes. The only beige thing on this table is my snack plate.
The cards and player boards pop with little details, too. I spent a solid minute just admiring the funky hats on one of the merchant meeples. I mean, if you’re going to lose a round, you might as well have a stylish character, right?
If I have to nitpick, I’d say some icons could be bigger—my friend Sarah had to squint and ended up wearing two pairs of glasses. But overall, they nailed the theme and artwork. Next up, let’s talk about replayability and game length—stick around if you want to know if Amsterdam will keep you up way past bedtime!
Replayability and Game Length in Amsterdam: Why You’ll Keep Coming Back
The first time I played Amsterdam, I thought, “Well, that was wild. Surely it can’t feel new the next time.” Boy, I was wrong. Amsterdam’s replayability is its secret power—kind of like when you find out your grandma was a chess grandmaster after years of pretending not to know how to play. Every session brings fresh choices and new ways to outsmart your friends. The variable setup and a stack of different tiles make sure no two games feel the same. So even if you have a friend who repeats jokes at every game night (hi, Dave), at least the board will be different every single time.
Game length sits in the ‘just right’ Goldilocks zone. With four people, our games usually clock in at about 90 minutes. It’s not so short you barely blink before it’s over, but not so long you wonder if you should order pizza twice. The pacing stays tight, and there’s enough to chew on each turn that you never feel bored, even when it isn’t your move. I appreciate when a game respects my time; Amsterdam definitely does, unless you play with a notorious over-thinker—then you might want to bring snacks.
What really hooked me is how eager everyone is to play again as soon as we finish. Whether you win or lose, the ‘let’s run it back’ energy is strong. Amsterdam doesn’t grow stale, and that is saying something when you live with a bunch of opinionated board gamers like I do.
Next up, let’s talk about the real test: is Amsterdam more brains than dice? Or do you just cross your fingers and pray to the cardboard gods? Stay tuned for some spicy takes on luck and strategy balance!
Is Amsterdam More Strategy or Sheer Luck? Let’s Break it Down!
I’ve played Amsterdam with a range of friends, from hyper-strategists to those who just want to mess with everyone else. One of the first questions that always pops up around the table: is this game all about skill, or can you win just by getting lucky and pulling a rabbit out of a hat?
The answer: strategy takes the main stage, but luck’s got a sneaky supporting role. Amsterdam rewards players who plan ahead. The way you manage your money, time, and city tiles genuinely matters. You need to read your opponents, time your bids, and think a step ahead. When my friend Laura tried to win just by hoping for good draws, she ended up with a street that looked more like a lost tourist’s doodle than a real plan. But when she actually mapped out her auctions and focused on smart routes, she finally beat me for once (I swear it was just a fluke!).
Now, I won’t pretend luck never sticks its nose in. Sometimes the tiles up for grabs aren’t what you hoped, or someone nabs the exact route you wanted. But in Amsterdam, you have enough tools to change your plan if things go sideways. Luck can mess up your day, but it won’t destroy your whole game unless you rely on it more than your own brain.
So, if you love games where brains beat luck most of the time, Amsterdam is a must-try. I recommend it wholeheartedly, unless you insist every win should come courtesy of divine intervention. In that case, I suggest playing bingo!
Conclusion
Alright, that’s my review of Amsterdam, and I can finally stop saying ‘tulip bubble’ every other sentence. Is Amsterdam worth your time and table space? For me and my friends, it was a solid hit: fair mechanics, tons of tactics, and no one yelling about bad luck—just yelling about being outbid! The artwork pops, the replayability’s top notch, and it wraps up in just about 90 minutes, meaning I can play and still have time to eat three stroopwafels before bed.
That said, if you want a game where your pet hamster can roll the dice and win it for you, Amsterdam won’t be for you. This one rewards plans, not lucky streaks. Still, I’m giving Amsterdam a big thumbs up and a spot on my shelf—just remember to bring your sharpest auction face!
That finishes this review. Let me know if you try Amsterdam… or if you, too, keep pronouncing it ‘Hamsterdam.’
