One may be able to decipher how many plays a reviewer or player has by which section they most sound or play like...
0-5 plays:
- too complicated
- there's too much going on
- symbols are confusing, text is so much better
- phases are confusing
- Explore +1+1's way too much
5-20 plays:
- enjoyable but can't figure out strategy, quits
- consume and trade are confusing
- no player interaction
- what is the best phase for me?
- Settles way too much
- settles Terraformed World with Doomed World homeworld
20-50 plays:
- i had no chance, my starting hand was awful
- playgroup discovers military
- military always wins
- understands Contact Specialist
- starts using Consume-Trade
- does not respect the leech (intentionally skipping phases because you "have a plan")
- game is pure luck
- Improved Logistics is overpowered
50-100 plays:
- playgroup discovers tableau rushing
- tableau rushing always wins
- i had no chance, my opponent got a god draw
- too much randomness
- deck slowly gets memorized over time
- playgroup discovers consume engines
- consume engines always win
- reads some strategy articles
- what are my opponents doing?
- thank god for symbols and not text
- discovers leeching
- Terraforming Guild is overpowered
- what are the best phases for my opponents?
- what phases are my opponents likely to choose?
- there is player interaction and it's neat!
100-200 plays:
- realizes there's metagame and groupthink
- what phase should i choose that least helps my opponents and most helps me?
- Improved Logistics isn't that great
- Old Earth sucks
- Alien Toy Shop is overpowered
- learns about naked trades
- starts detecting tells and taking advantage of them
- starts bluffing
200-350 plays:
- discovers the Trade strategy
- leeches every phase like a champ
- overemphasis on rushing results in 12-tableau that loses to 6-card Alien tableau
- ELC+ATS is overpowered
- Old Earth sucks
- deck slowly gets grokked over time
- Research Labs sucks
- Pan-Galactic Research is overpowered
- discovers blunting
- finally very few rules errors
- reverse/multilevel psychology
- constructs extremely efficient consume engines
350-600 plays:
- always discards Alien Toy Shop for a challenge
- grey worlds suck with goals
- hates Damaged Alien Factory because its opening phases are too predictable
- builds cards based on what might be drawn that goes well with it
- Old Earth sucks but willing to play it when it's correct to do so
- Epsilon Eridani sucks
- hates choosing between Ancient Race and Damaged Alien Factory
- blunts as a bluff
- finds esoteric outs in rarely seen scenarios
600-1000 plays:
- nothing is overpowered
- likes Research Labs
- no longer groans when opponent plays Pan-Galactic Research
- learns ability to win with the absolute worst of starting hands
- hates getting Damaged Alien Factory as military homeworld choice when has a military hand
- very rarely plays pure, predictable consume engines, always finds better hybrid paths
- Earth's Lost Colony sucks
- hates getting ELC+ATS because it's too predictable/exploitable, but it's slightly too good not to play it
- still implements some aspect of the takeover rules wrong
- vaguely ponders Doomed World into Old Earth with the worst hand ever
- Alien Toy Shop isn't that great
1000-??? plays:
- TBD, still learning and still fun, how deep does the rabbit hole go?
Feel free to add any i'm forgetting!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/521 ... ning-curve