Crystal blue seas, tropical heat and crazy nightclubs are Key West, the extreme tip of the Florida Keys and a paradise for people who enjoy a wild and thrilling existence, including people like the writer Ernest Hemingway who was attracted by more than just the sea and the bars.

How will you make your way there? You might make good money with hotels, but first bridges must be built so that tourists, artists and business people of all kinds can flock to the islands. Plantations and cigar factories can show lush profits as well. Adventurers are attracted out to sea, where they dive for sunken shipwrecks and treasures. But the bottom line in Key West is that wanting everything is never a good goal. Don't get bogged down; stay cool and plan your actions like a pro.

Key West is set in the 1930s and depicts the economic development of the Florida Keys. Players build hotels, maintain fruit plantations, buy cigar factories (both producing and selling), ensure that bridges are built, and search the deeps for treasure and wrecks. It features an original and surprising auction mechanism from Martin Schlegel.

The game is divided into two parts: first bidding, then actions. At the beginning of each of the eight rounds, there is a offers phase, in which players bid to secure Key West cards, which represent, for example, ownership of bridges and plantations and other benefits for the subsequent actions round. Individual actions are a finite and players will need to approach them tactically. It often won't be possible to do everything one wants and what not to do an agonizing decision.

Both experienced players and families will find something to like in Key West. There are seven different paths for generating victory points, but those who try to get involved everywhere won't succeed. The focus should be on three or four programs. In the next game one can try a different set. As there are thus many combinations, the intentions is that matters stay fresh for many re-playings.

An Essen 2010 game. See you at spiele-idee.de Hall 4 Booth 414

Source: based on publisher blurb

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