Taxicab session report with humble suggestions

["imfurry" <imfurry@...>]

I recently played Mark Biggar's Taxicab with some friends at Drexoll 
Games in Vancouver. We found it an enjoyable, light game. The part I 
liked the best was driving my little cab around town making beep-beep 
and vroom-vroom noises.

The rules are easy to understand, although one of the players 
couldn't keep the driving and turning rules straight. We put it down 
to his lack of a driver's licence. We were also playing without a 
play mat to show the movement spaces, so perhaps that made it more 
difficult. We found that the tiles can get knocked about, so I 
recommend using a tablecloth to reduce slippage.

I have two minor complaints: the fiddle factor, and player 
interaction. I'll start with the fiddle factor. We had some trouble 
remembering to draw a new passenger when we picked one up, but I'm 
sure that would get better with practice. The most fiddly rule was 
for deciding what address a passenger is at in a city block. You roll 
two dice and consult a table for one of eight spaces around the 
block. My humble suggestion is the following rule, which we switched 
to halfway through the game.

To choose an address: Draw a coin from the bag and place it on the 
tile with the matching suit and value. Then place it on one of the 
eight spaces around the edge of that tile. Now roll a die and move 
the coin that number of spaces clockwise around the edge of the tile. 
If you roll an ace, move the coin one space. If you roll a null, 
leave it where it is. The coin could end up on any one of the eight 
spaces except the two spaces counter-clockwise from its starting 
space.

My other complaint regards player interaction. I think the game could 
use more. There is some, and in the final round of our game I was 
blocked from making my last drop off. Unfortunately the movement 
rules are quite strict, and the interaction is more random than 
strategic. My humble suggestion in this case is to allow players to 
break the law. (Only in the game, of course.) Perhaps a risk vs. gain 
mechanism like the one in Racepack would help. A player could exceed 
the speed limit by moving more than eight spaces and then roll a die 
to see if he gets caught. Subtract nine from the distance moved, and 
if the die roll is higher than that, he gets away with it. If not, 
pay a fine of the die roll times the excess movement. You could also 
allow other moving violations like driving on the wrong side of the 
road and making a U-turn in the middle of the block. Each would be 
worth so many points, and the die roll needs to be less than the 
total of all your moving violations and excess movement in the turn. 
I haven't had a chance to try this idea yet, so use it at your own 
risk.

Even with these minor complaints, it was still an enjoyable game. I 
plan to try it again.