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Description
Autobahn is an economic strategy game about the building of the German motorway system over three periods of time spanning from the end of World War II to the present day.
At the end of the second period (in 1990), the Unification opens up opportunities to further extend the network into the eastern part of the country.
As a director within the BundesAutobahn Organisation, you are responsible for managing and developing the German Federal Highway System.
Aside from building roads, you’ll also be responsible for facilitating the transport of goods to neighbouring countries and constructing petrol stations to benefit from this new traffic.
As you contribute to the development of the network, you gain seats at the administration boards of each highway, and they will increase your budget at the start of each period.
Over the course of the game, your board members will eventually advance to more prestigious seats within the Bundesautobahn building, which instead will provide victory points at the end of the game.
Plan ahead to optimize your efficiency: Each contribution you make builds your reputation and gains you access to new departments and scoring opportunities that better align with your chosen path to victory.
The cards in your hand allows you to take actions on one of the 7 main Autobahns.
You’ll need to plan carefully and time your actions perfectly if you want to make the most of your hand before you need to collect your cards back.
—description from the publisher
Year Published
2022
Featured Videos
Review
Autobahn in about 3 minutes
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 2 ·
neu 2 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video N4RtgGjbHYM
Board Game Dad general_discussion at 3:58 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 30838 · mention_pk 90903
Click to watch at 3:58 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- clear structure and pacing via finite tracks
Cons
- not well known to all players
- heavy in theme-specific knowledge
Thematic elements
- employee progression and department-based scoring
- German autobond tracking
- track-driven progression
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- employee management — promotion and placement of employees influences scoring
- Track advancement — players advance along department tracks linked to scoring
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- these are games like wingspan or Ark Nova in general these games are a lot of fun
- the designer's intent is that over the course of the game the luck is going to balance out
- it's up to the player to make calculated risks and mitigate for bad luck
- it's those times where the games can get really frustrating for me
- the remedy for players who like me don't like bad luck due to cards
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video FNyuTp1JjrY
Unknown Channel game_review at 0:01 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 30125 · mention_pk 150168
Click to watch at 0:01 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Theme integration with a unique promotion mechanic that ties efficiency to scoring
- High depth and strategic planning with multi-layered systems
- Strong player interaction and need to anticipate others' moves
Cons
- Excessive bonuses and dense symbolography can overwhelm new players
- Component quality issues (small tokens, non-double-layered boards) complicates setup and handling
Thematic elements
- Efficient logistics and corporate administration drive victory points through promotions rather than simple road-building
- Germany, Autobahn network development, with emphasis on East/West Germany during reunification
- Strategic simulation with historical backdrop and corporate governance mechanics
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action drafting — On a turn, players play a color-coded card to perform tasks; action count is limited and cards are drafted over turns.
- Administrative phases and aging — Three administration phases end each age, scoring based on offices, routes, deliveries, stations, and coins.
- Autobahn building and promotion system — Building road segments grants access to offices; promotion tracks convert effort into victory points.
- Bonuses and technology tracks — Development and technology tracks unlock bonuses and enable promotions.
- Pick-up and deliver — Load trucks with goods from depots, move along routes, deliver to cities for bonuses.
- Player interaction and planning — Strategic planning requires attention to opponents' routes and opportunities to piggyback on others' roads.
- Positive player interaction — Strategic planning requires attention to opponents' routes and opportunities to piggyback on others' roads.
- Task delegation and action drafting — On a turn, players play a color-coded card to perform tasks; action count is limited and cards are drafted over turns.
- Track advancement — Development and technology tracks unlock bonuses and enable promotions.
- Truck loading and delivery phase — Load trucks with goods from depots, move along routes, deliver to cities for bonuses.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the theme is well done and I would give it an eight out of 10
- you don't get victory points just by building a road
- it's immensely strategic
- bonuses seem overwhelming
- there are so much going on and it all just it it it really creates an environment where you are very much working together to build the network for the entire country
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video o_Vd86p1MZo
Unknown Channel top_10_list at 13:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 30010 · mention_pk 88097
Click to watch at 13:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Multiple viable playstyles and strategies
- Dynamic player interaction through shared goals and spaces
- Encourages adaptation and collaboration among players
Cons
- Complex rules and steep learning curve
- Can be time-consuming to teach and play
Thematic elements
- Strategic infrastructure development with specialization and inter-player interaction.
- Building and upgrading the German highway system with cooperative competition.
- Collaborative-yet-competitive engine-building with role specialization.
Comparison games
- Carnegie
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Employee promotions — Promotions grant more victory points as tasks of a similar nature are completed.
- Network/route building — Players complete tasks to construct and upgrade routes, service stations, and trucking infrastructure.
- Specialization and adaptation — Players focus on a particular aspect of the Autobahn and adapt to others' moves to gain an edge.
- Task-based route building — Players complete tasks to construct and upgrade routes, service stations, and trucking infrastructure.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Strategy is the process of creating a set of well-aligned activities with the aim of occupying a valuable position in a competitive landscape
- Tactics are single activities and aligning them together is what comprises a strategy
- There is no luck for the rest of the game
- The five games do have that little something extra
- Carnegie this is a kind of a complicated game to explain
- I did do a full length review about this game so I'll be sure to make links available for that
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video krvN3GmzMrw
Chairman of the Board top_14_list at 4:01 sentiment: negative
video_pk 10691 · mention_pk 31559
Click to watch at 4:01 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- interesting core ideas and pacing that could be appealing
Cons
- restrictive action reuse (you must reset to reuse an action)
- plodding tempo, rules could be streamlined
- endgame scoring can be tedious and slow
Thematic elements
- transport logistics and infrastructure
- German autobahn network and service stations
- mechanistic, dry euro
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Color-coded action cards — hand management with restricted reuse of actions
- pickup-and-delivery and route building — build out a network and deliver goods to cities
- scoring via councils/matching conditions — endgame scoring depends on meeting council criteria
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- There is a lot going on here, way more than I can summarize in a short clip like this
- this took us over five hours to play with a teach, and that's unforgivable
- an older Martin Wallace game, paint-by-numbers and ultra generic
- it's not my favorite of the racing genre
- five minutes to play and it's just a different Unique Style game
- the core system is brilliant and it keeps you engaged throughout
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video m9tzfjL7DD8
Three Minute Board Game game_review at 2:47 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 4935 · mention_pk 14708
Click to watch at 2:47 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Rich interaction among multiple interlocking systems (deck-building, logistics, area control, and scoring)
- Strong opportunity for interaction in a heavy euro context (blockage, competition for routes, truck delivery decisions)
- Satisfying truck-loading mechanic noted as a highlight
Cons
- Iconography and symbols are dense; some symbols are similar but do different things
- Fiddly to manage and track many interacting systems in a single turn
- Would have benefited from per-player player aids to ease learning curve
Thematic elements
- transportation infrastructure, political progression of workers to promotions
- Germany, spanning 70 years across three eras to build and upgrade an Autobahn network
- procedural, system-driven progression with deck-building and token bonuses
Comparison games
- Maglev Metro
- Brass: Birmingham
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Play a card to take a single action per turn, anchored to the top of the player board
- Color Matching — Actions require a matching color card to affect the corresponding Autobahn segment
- Deck building — Start with a basic hand and add more cards throughout the game
- Delivery center management — Production centers provide goods and cards; movement of trucks advances goods along the network
- Era Progression — End of era scoring and the introduction of East Germany in Era 3
- Key action and technologies — Key actions move elements on the board; Technologies grant bonuses and define which scoring rooms your workers may occupy
- Pick-up and deliver — Load trucks with Goods and deliver them along the road network
- pickup and deliver — Load trucks with Goods and deliver them along the road network
- Promotions and scoring rooms — Promotions advance you in scoring rooms, affecting end-of-era scoring
- Reclaim as Action — Reclaim cards for coins or reclaim all cards for free if you’ve played them all
- Reclaiming cards — Reclaim cards for coins or reclaim all cards for free if you’ve played them all
- Road building — Build roads with a resource cost; the second part of a two-part Road action applies in some cases
- Road upgrades — Upgrading roads increases the value of cities along a route
- Service stations — Place service stations to gain bonuses when your trucks pass them (and smaller bonuses when others pass)
- worker placement — Place workers on the far right of the matching colored office; blocked workers go to the lobby
- Worker placement on offices — Place workers on the far right of the matching colored office; blocked workers go to the lobby
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Autobahn has a lot happening in it and contains a myriad of different mechanisms
- if you do like games with lots of interacting systems and figuring out those interactions is fun, this could be a good fit for you
- the best thing about this game is loading the trucks up
- the amount of iconography in the game is a lot to take in
- i would have liked the player aid for each player
- Autobahn: your Fahrvergnugen may vary
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video lUnrbCsqs2U
The Broken Meeple general_discussion at 5:14 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 2093 · mention_pk 6113
Click to watch at 5:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- looks cool
- area control mechanics
- euro game style
Cons
- work in progress rulebook
- prototype components
- difficult to learn
- uncertain reception
Thematic elements
- german highway
- racing
- area control
Comparison games
- A How
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- you're listening to the broken meeple show a podcast that speaks passionately about board games
- i'm trying to keep this episode a little bit shorter
- i'm the sort of person who likes to play the sport not watch it
- i started my new job what two weeks ago now and it's going well
- all i hear about tsu is that if you play with anybody who knows how to play the game they're going to hate your guts afterwards
- ryan lockett what are you on so what are you seriously on
- this guy does not sleep this guy does not age
- this is just way too much stuff for one single person to undertake it's crazy
- i don't want to have to care anymore about sleep or aging
- convert me into a machine and i'll join the robot uprising
- it's only a game
- i am mainly just a case of i'll wait and see
- the amount of buzz that game has got has to put it at the top ten
- so many games so little time well who'd be a content creator with a job anyway
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GBEGcMBMBNU
Chairman of the Board general_discussion at 6:46 sentiment: positive
video_pk 851 · mention_pk 2444
Click to watch at 6:46 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong designer pedigree (Lopiano; Mangone) and pedigree of prior mid-weight euro titles
- Economic edge with network building
Cons
- Pricing concerns for deluxe variants were noted in discussions; not a flaw in the game itself
Thematic elements
- economic/transport network expansion
- Germany, post-World War II to present day
- historical/real-world setting
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- economic_engineering — Economic-driven decisions with network effects and resource flows.
- network_building — Constructing motorway networks across three periods with delivery/logistics considerations.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the publisher track record is appealing
- this could be a big big hit
- something with a bit more of an edge a bit more cutting like this does appeal to me
- this is going to be a big production
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–7 of 7