by mjacobsca
My game group seemed convinced loans were the only way to win the game, and hence soured on it. I agree winning without loans is possible, but it really depends on how the cards come out, what special buildings there are, and what other players are doing. That's why I like the game. It plays a little different every time, especially with the expansion. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to see it make it to the table again, since our only group copy was put up for trade.The one big risk about the no-loan approach is that if you aren't careful and do happen to end up taking one early to mid-game, you have basically wasted your advantage since you'll be paying the same interest as everyone else for the rest of the game. If you take one, you might as well take four, otherwise you are overpaying on the interest rate since the rate "goes down" the more you take.