I like that it deviates from the "dominance" conflict based game design, which was popularized in times of war and direct political conflict which feels a bit d

I like that it deviates from the "dominance" conflict based game design, which was popularized in times of war and direct political conflict which feels a bit dated today. This is more adversarial problem solving. Being the first to build a superior network is a common mechanic in games like Ticket to Ride, power grid, to some extent Settlers of Catan, and this is a much more elegant streamlined version of that mechanic.