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- Pachisi (Ludo, Parcheesi)
Traditional game of India invented over 1200 years ago
is a race powered by dice with the ability to
send players back to start by landing on them. Some may not realize that
the original four-handed partnership game requires a good deal of skill,
at least as much as
Backgammon
at any rate. As for the more modern realizations such as the European
Ludo (1896 title from the Latin word for game) or the American
Parcheesi: The India Game little remains apart from
some minor strategic and tactical appeal, perhaps a good
vehicle for introduction of strategic concepts.
Introduced to the United States under the Parcheesi title
by Selchow & Righter c. 1867 and trademarked in 1874, one of the very
first trademarks in US gaming history.
Has been published under many other titles including
Home, India, Pollyanna and others,
including many in other languages.
A
- Pacific Northwest Rails
Very enjoyable strategic railroading game is neither in the
Empire Builder nor the 18XX series. Set in Washington,
Oregon and Idaho.
[Traveling Merchant Games]
[more]
[errata]
- Palastgeflüster
This card game by Michael Rieneck
(Around the World in 80 Days,
Cuba
and, with Stefan Stadler,
Pillars of the Earth)
has an intriguing title meaning "palace buzz" or "palace
whisperings", suggesting various intrigues. Unfortunately no
such feeling emerges during play where one will only ever hold
six cards, some of them in hand, some in personal display.
There are no restrictions on the hand contents, but each card
in the display must be unique. If it is ever a player's turn
and he is unable to play a differing card, the hand is over
and all others score a point. As there are only seven card
types, this is the most likely ending to a hand, though it can
also end with a sole victory if a player manages to get six
different card types out (this should maybe end the game
immediately). But there are two other features working. One is
that many cards are colored – playing such hands the
turn to the player whose color it is; otherwise it goes to the
player with the fewest cards showing. The other is that most
cards have special powers, including abilities like picking up
a card, exchanging one or more with an opponent, showing one's
hand (not exactly a power in this case) or even suppressing a
particular type of power. There is also the Jester who, unlike in
Princes of Florence,
does nothing at all. There's not a great deal of strategy
here, nor is there much thematic connection with the card
powers. Mostly one tries to avoid getting caught in an illegal
situation by keeping the hand diversified and not so far out
in the lead as to become a target. It is sometimes possible to
try to go out on one's own, but it's dangerous and rare. There
are plenty of tactical possibilities such as forcing another
player to play and then giving him a hand of nothing but cards
he has already played. If you have enough such cards for his
whole hand, it's game over right there. The artwork is
cartoonish and a bit uneven, as if worked on by more than one
hand. Iconic language is used to describe each card's powers,
but it's not so easy to pick up. Most players seem to rely on
the tiny script font of the player aide cards. The real
problem is that the game is both too long and too short. An
individual hand goes too quickly for the situation to really
develop, but unlike a trick-taking game where every hand must
be diagnosed and played accordingly, here every hand is pretty
much alike, and very subject to change. Thus, the game's
requirement to repeat six hands or more is far too many. The
other problem is that not having a regular turn order means a
player can have a long, uncertain wait.
Strategy: Medium; Theme: Low; Tactics: High; Evaluation: Low; Personal Rating: 5
Michael Rieneck; Adlung; 2007; 3-5
- Palazzo
Multi-player Reiner Knizia auction game of skyscraper building,
Renaissance Italy-style. I believe this is the latest in what
I think of as his "bid on odd lots" series and for me, the most
successful. This is fundamentally because, compared with
Medici,
RA
and
Traumfabrik,
the player feels more in control of his own fate. The storeys
one hopes to add to his towers are not all acutioned, but can
often be purchased outright. And even when there are auctions,
players can readily discern what future auctions will be and
where new tiles will appear. It's similar with the distribution
of funds. If you need more, just reveal funds cards and draft
a pair for yourself. The rest are taken by other players.
Scoring is very intuitive as one just wants to build a lot
of high towers that are also aesthetically pleasing. Extra
height and matching building styles have the same importance,
but accomplishing both is best of course. This boosts theme as
well, although the idea of bidding for building additions makes
little sense under scrutiny. Play moves right along, keeping
everyone involved. The small package presentation is attractive,
including small boards which are not strictly necessary. The
artwork leaves some doors and windows – crucial to scoring –
somewhat ambiguous, but this may be intentional, considering the
ways that in the past Knizia has tried to discourage analysis
paralysis, e.g. the screens in
Tigris & Euphrates
and
Samurai.
Fans of theme may not be excited, but just about everyone should
be able to appreciate this at some level, for some probably
topping their list of what to play for quite a while.
Strategy: Medium; Theme: Low; Tactics: Medium; Evaluation: High
- Palermo
In 1992, three years before
Streetcar,
Piatnik had already published a game in which the board was
built in the first half so that pawns could navigate it in the
second. In this one, the topic is the mafia protection racket,
but the goal is essentially the same: visit all of your locations,
and visit them the most quickly, or so I think, but more about
that anon. In this one, players needn't worry about luck of
the draw as they may use any of the available tiles. The six
different offerings depict various roof arrangements, important
because roofs (structures) block movement and because each new
tile's roof must touch an existing roof. Anyone who leaves
no free roofs gives his left hand neighbor a free choice. In
the second half, players race around according to a fixed
schedule, gaining more movement points with each success. This
activity generates victory points too, equal to the number of
movement points not used on that turn. This is where
the instructions show the lack of a strong editor as there are
significant ambiguities. In particular, it's not clear whether
and to what extent players can deliberately noodle around in
order to maximize their points. Can they toggle ten times between
the same two spaces for example? If so, what is the point of the
police pieces that players use to delay others? Then there are the
lesser ambiguities. How are the polizia supposed to work on
the fast autostradi that encircle the board? And may they
be placed in the starting plaza while player pawns are yet to
start there? But the delaying tactics are the main problem. Are
players really supposed to procrastinate as much as possible?
If so, why do the police exist? And why do players who complete
the cource receive only an insufficient three points per turn
while waiting for others to finish? Only its inventor can tell us
for sure, but I rather suspect Walter Ziser intended that players
always follow the shortest route and there's no rule to enforce
it because the one-time inventor never dreamed anyone would do
otherwise! The end result is a lovely mess: great innovation with
lousy execution – this no doubt accrued to Streetcar's
benefit three years down the road. But apart from some doubts
about the abuses the polices enable, this one could probably be
just as excellent with a bit of tinkering.
- Palmyra
Knizia game depicting a Silk Road bazaar subject to
the whims of sudden news and the tax man, it actually has
the feeling of a modern stock market. Prices go up and up
and up until someone decides that their price point has
been reached and then watch them fall like a stone as
everyone is in a headlong rush to sell off their inventory
while they are still worth something. The tracking mechanism
is reminiscent of that employed by
McMulti.
Players sometimes complain of too little control, but
this may be the point. To be fair, some have also
complained that the game too much resembles an accounting
exercise, and perhaps this is true as the game winds down,
but the tension and decision of reaching that climactic
decision point in the game, which can occur a bit too early,
will be more than worth it for many players. Strategically,
consider that the cards one knows cannot be played are at
least as important as those which can be.
Cover displays Reiner Knizia's middle initial which with some
displeasure he noted to me the publisher was not supposed to do.
The Silk Road Foundation offers a fascinating
article on Palmyra's history.
- Paparazzo
Small game by Friedemann Friese and Wolfgang Panning seems to catch the
paint drippings of Knizia's
Modern Art
from the previous year. Instead of art dealers, players represent
middlemen buying celebrity photos from those pesky paparazzi
and re-selling them to magazines. Once again players have
hands of cards (photos) that they put up for auction, always
trying to figure out how many other cards in the same series
are in play. They get some help in this as before play everyone
gets to see the hand of the player to the right. This is just
one of the unusual rules in play as the auction treatment is
also rather unorthodox. They are conducted in two rounds, the
first to set the price and the second to decide who will buy.
Moreover, not just the starting price, but also the minimum
bid increment increases as more photos in the series appear and
become more valuable. The rotating auctioneer, who chooses what
to sell not from his hand but from three cards placed by previous
auction winners, gets paid only half the auction price and so
it's usually necessary to eke out additional funds by selling a
photo or two to Stunk (logo similar to the famous German
Stern), which pays immediately instead of only at the
end. Success, besides depending on gathering information based
on the way others play, seems to require the particular trick
of winning the auction just before one is to be auctioneer and
thus being able to auction a valuable card on one's own turn. In
terms of information, there seems to be a problem shared with
Vernissage
that if a player receives cards that no one else has (only a
few from the large deck are dealt), he operates at a distinct
disadvantage. Although the more limited nature of the bidding
permits escape from the fragility of Modern Art, there
is something a bit rote about the decisionmaking and the best
part of the experience may be the hilarious satirical photos
which expose their unnamed celebrity targets – politicians,
tennis stars, fashion plates, opera divas, wives of soccer stars
et al. – in all sorts of scandalous positions.
- Paris Paris
Michael Schacht invention about the busing of tour groups
in the French capital. Employing the popular drafting
mechanism, players each take turns choosing from a random
set of stops. Cleverly, the one not chosen is the one
scored, or if no one there, its closest neighbor. But each
stop also comprises one or more routes. If stops on a route
have not been chosen twice, then the route is actually run
and everyone with stops on it receives points, getting more
if they have additional stops adjoining them. This means
there are a number of ways to look at the strategy:
connectivity vs. ubiquity, short term vs. long term, and,
since it's possible to remove other's pieces, offensively
or defensively. Since the details are simple, it can also
be played either lightly or intensely. The map appears to
be a fairly accurate rendition of the city and a unique
cardboard bus piece facilitates making the run. It's
difficult to say anything against this one, unless it's
that there is a fair dose of luck around the order in which
items are drawn from the bag and one's place in the turn
order when each happens, but as length is only about thirty
minutes, there is not much cause for complaint. Recommended
for anyone who likes a short dose of thoughtful fun, but ultimately
not fair enough for master strategists, even in the generally
more tolerable two-player version.
[Holiday List 2003]
- Parthenon: Rise of the Aegean
Merchant travel and trade for up to six from the Z-Man.
Some things in this ancient Greek setting – production, trade
– are done as they are in
Catan,
but there is nothing here that is not Zeus (and his whims).
After trade and before production players may also sail to
non-player destinations and perform further swaps. Virtually
all phases are simultaneous, including construction of the
various advantage-conferring building and two named "wonders"
which are the pinnacle of their efforts. Wonders confer more
advantages, as do philosophy cards, the fruits of the all-important
academy, which, however, is deceptively labeled as just another
building. One could even neglect its erection in favor of something
else and thereby lose the chance and lose out too on the fourth
tiebreaker to victory. Tiebreakers are critical because often
several players progress at the same rate and will otherwise finish
at the same time. Those who have fallen out of the race often have
no reason to blame themselves, however, as most likely their
holdings have been wiped out by one or more of the vicious hazard
cards drawn every sailing phase. Although the cards affect all
players and some like pirates can eventually be defended against or
negated – note: only by a player who is already doing well –
others such as storm can cause loss of an entire ship holding up to
six cards, which could represent anywhere from half to all of the
player's production. Card victims can probably forget any building
for the turn. Thematically such events are correct, of course, but
the system does not seem to sufficiently compensate in terms of
game. One attempt at this is the archon power, voted by the
players, which, depending on the events drawn, may sometimes
be useful. Another is that construction of some wonders requires
giving wares to any other player, who ought to be the last placed
one. Even so these measures are often not enough, especially
considering that a trailing player cannot afford extra ships and is
likely to put all in one, greatly tempting a repeat disaster. Even
so, all of this would not be so bad were the game to conclude its
business in a timely fashion, but instead it lingers on for two,
sometimes three hours, forcing unfortunates to go through the
motions without the slightest chance of winning. This is
despite the fact that all but two trading phases are
basically meaningless as no one wants to trade. A shorter scenario
is available, but it has a balance problem since event and harbor
cards are designed for particular factions and not all of them are
used in this case. Other caveats include the large, messy table
print created by such a huge number of cards – every single
thing a player builds or acquires must be laid out as a full-sized
card. There's a small, basically unnecessary board too, which takes
up more space than the mere six card decks which would really be
required. There's a certain inelegance of design as well,
especially in all the different ways that the normal rules become
altered. The four event cards per year apply not just in their own
season, but in every season. Then each minor building confers some
minor effect which must be remembered. Add to these the effects of
the wonders, the philosophies and the harbor cards and you get a
sprawling jumble of effects that are beyond anyone to master, or
even want to try. This really feels like overdevelopment under
horror of a vaccuum – at the very least it is neither clean nor
spare. Its best features are probably its bows to theme and
use of simultaneous phases and if anyone can enjoy this, it will be
deep-thinking tactical artistes who will appreciate the extent to
which theme is addressed and look for clever ways to exploit the
many card combinations. But most others will turn away, and
eventually even they. By the way, on our last try we used clear
plastic chips to mark player holdings and this made some issues
considerably easier, though sacrificing the illustrations of
Stephen Walsh, who also worked on the American edition of
Tigris & Euphrates.
Strategy: Low; Theme: Medium; Tactics: High; Evaluation: Medium
- Pass the Pigs
Variant on a dice-rolling game in which instead of generating pips on dice,
the landing position of rolled rubber pig figures is considered. Of not
much strategy and limited replay value.
- Password
Word game of synonyms rewards a large vocabulary. Ingenious printing of
clue cards makes them illegible until inserted into a special sleeve
with a colored window. Light amusement for those who love words, though
not much strategy. Published by Milton Bradley and
based on the television game show in the United States in the 1960's.
A "magical" feature of the game for children was that the clue cards were
printed such that they only became visible when viewed through the film window
of the plastic sleeves.
- Past Lives
Mostly random game of advancing on a board via dice collecting
treasures. The conceit of the game is that each player is
trying to advance to a higher state in the sense of the Indian
theologies. The look of the game is nice, but play doesn't
leave much to the imagination. Most interesting feature is for
students of histories who may enjoy perusing the biographies and
considering whether or not the relative rankings are appropriate.
- Patrizier (Patrician)
This tower-building game attempts to evoke the construction
competitions of Renaissance Tuscany, but the strong
association is
Manhattan.
Just as in that game one plays a card and then places one or two
pieces atop a multi-player tower, the goal being to have the
most pieces in it and, if tied, be above the competition. The
board is divided into ten named cities, each of which offers two
tower locations. Each card indicates in which city a tower must
be placed. After placement one draws the randomly-drawn face-up
card that is in that city. Thus success is a matter of finding
in a hand of three cards a play-and-draw combination in which
both are worthwhile. In addition, each card has a secondary
symbol. Some are just figureheads which form part of a set
collection game that only applies at the end of play. Others
can be more valuable as they confer an immediate extra power,
the best of which is to relocate one tower piece in a different
city. Physically, the board and cards are well designed: clear,
practical and attractive. The wooden tower pieces are unique;
they resemble wrinkles, stack quite satisfyingly and there are
a generous 149 of them. Turns tend to go quickly and a playing
could complete in as few as twenty minutes if all play fast. This
idea of the thing done affecting the future action has been done
quite a bit before, by Knizia, by Schacht and also in
Kupferkessel Co.
The same goes for the majority control and stacking
mechanisms. But that was the past. Today one needs to ask,
what else is on offer? Inventor Michael Schacht has delivered
the "what else" before and then some, so indications are that
it must be the publisher who here either trimmed out parts of
the design or encouraged blanding it out. While that's
probably fine for those new to the hobby, if anyone at Amigo
ever wonders why the cognoscenti prefer Alea and
Hans-im-Glück, they need look no further than efforts
like this. Moreover, any success it has again demonstrates the
truth that players are more willing to accept randomness from
a deck of cards than a roll of the dice, even though either can
be equally cruel.
Strategy: Low; Theme: Low; Tactics: High; Evaluation: High; Personal Rating: 5
Michael Schacht; Amigo/Mayfair; 2007; 2-5
- People's Choice, The
Blind bid auction game on the US presidency. Included are 43
president cards, from first to worst. Each has a party affiliation
and several other attributes such as family, personal, legacy,
etc., each of which is also color coded in red, white or
blue. Other cards are then revealed which show the colors the
voters seek in the current election. Players then each secretly
choose one of their politicians to run, possibly committing one of
their starting coins to help. Players add the coin to the number
of ways their candidate matches the popular taste to determine the
election winner. Three wins takes the game. Not only is there not
much technique to play – possibly keeping a good variety
of candidates being an exception – but players must also
perform an annoying amount of confusing pattern matching. So
there is little to recommend here as a game, but I'm reminded
of a book of the presidents that I had as a child, a book which
inspired me to learn a lot about the presidents. Even today I
can still recite their exact order by heart. It occurs to me that
these cards can serve exactly the same purpose, being orderable
and dealable, perhaps even more so. I have little doubt that
all the facts on the cards will help to do this. Another little
side benefit are the player screens, illustrated to look like
the White House. These must the largest and most elaborate
screens I've ever seen and would be very nice to appropriate
for other games like Keydom where they are too flimsy.
Strategy: Low; Theme: Low; Tactics: Low; Evaluation: Medium
- Perry Rhodan: Die Kosmische Hanse
This pickup-and-deliver game based on the long running series
of science fiction books is a new entry in Kosmos two-player
series. After not having much to recommend for a few years,
the series re-vivifies with this new entry. There is no board
per se, but a solar system display consisting of a large sun
platter and six smaller, distinct planets (the back story of
each is described in the rules book). Over these the players
pilot their ships, represented by illustrated cardboard in
plastic stands. Solar gravity is simulated by letting ships
count each planet as a movement point when traveling toward the
sun, but on the way out forcing them to also count the spaces
between the planets. Speed is determined by roll of the die,
but a result of one means that the die is rolled again and the
new result added on. Arrayed at each planet are cards showing
other planets. By dropping down to the planet a ship loads one
type into its hold. When they are delivered to the planet
showing the player receives points on the spiral track shown on
the sun disk and the cards are flipped over. If their reverse
sides are the same, they are removed from play. Otherwise they
represent new cards to be shipped. By this elegant mechanism cards
gradually disappear until eventually passenger cards from the hand
become a surer means of income. Other hand cards in the player's
individual deck are of the one-time use variety, two of which can
be played per turn. Still others are permanent, offering various
advantages such as extra holds, the ability to load without
landing, an increased re-draw rate, special movement abilities,
etc. These begin cheap, but later cost points equal to the number
of such cards already purchased. Choosing which ones are the
most useful is a challenging dilemma made more challenging by
the fact that the card one wants may take a while to appear.
The number of such cards played is also the re-draw rate. The
physical production is attractive, but the passenger cards
show their planets too low on the card and the victory point
markers are slightly too large for the track. But the amount
of time to play is right. Interaction is not major, but
players do compete over the same loads and may also play cards
to cancel the opponent's cards. Overall this should appeal to
just about anyone as long as reading a lot of cards is not
minded. For this reason it's absolutely critical to have a
version in a language one understands. (At this moment only a
German edition is available.) If the game sells well, perhaps
an expansion could create a planetary geography more
interesting than a simple line, an
Auf Achse
in space if you will.
Strategy: High; Theme: High; Tactics: Medium; Evaluation: Medium; Personal Rating: 7
Heinrich Glumpler; Kosmos; 2007; 2
- Pez
Mike Fitzgerald invention that ties in to the popular (originally
German) PfEfferminZ (peppermint) candy. Although a play mat is
provided to organize matters, this is a card game, basically
of the "take that!" variety. In their two-action turns players
draft candy dispenser cards which specify a diverse list of candy
cards required to fill them. Once filled, the dispenser is kept
for points in the race to twenty-five. Players may interfere with
one another by playing candy cards to match the top showing cards
of opponents and thus remove them. A completely-cleared dispenser
discards it. Thus the dilemmas are what size dispenser to claim,
where to play candy cards among one's own dispensers and when
to instead keep someone else from winning. Which works better,
a few big point dispensers or many small ones? Eventually it
becomes impossible to stop everyone and victory occurs, almost
as if by accident. The card illustrations are delicious and
make one hunger for the candy. Nor do matters last longer than
appropriate for theme and mechanics. But this is certainly no
meaty endeavor and those who need a hearty meal will not be happy
with mere peppermint candy. Rare dispenser cards which provide
special powers are only available in random booster packs which
is the largest objection to the product. In contradistinction
to other collectible card games, at least these cards provide
no special benefit to their owner, but are part of the common
milieu. If you want this, it doesn't turn up in game stores,
but check your local candy store. It's surprising that there
isn't a stronger product tie-in such as selling cards with
dispensers or finding a coupon for buying a dispenser in the game.
PEZ fans may enjoy this book on the product's long history:
Collector's Guide to Pez. (2003)
- Pfeffersäcke (Medieval Merchant)
Game for up to six set in medieval Europe, mostly Germany.
Apparently originally about trains, it seems like the best thematic
fit would actually be an expanding airline.
In any case, the theme is not particularly important as it plays
mostly like an abstract. There is almost no luck apart from the initial
deal of start cities and even this means little in comparison to the
large effect on play of other player actions. Key is a keen
understanding of the mysterious long-term plans by the midpoint.
By time matters are three-quarters finished, these
plans are obvious, but it is too late to do anything about it. Turns are
short with only a couple actions being allowed, so usually moves
along fairly well. Distinct strategies are also possible. Should a player
work hardest to be in all the provinces or work harder to be first in the
most cities? A monetary stategy may also be a possibility.
The German title means "pepper sacks" and is a somewhat derogatory term
for the wealthy medieval spice merchants.
Designer Christwart Conrad earlier created
Vino, featuring similar complexity,
which ended up being published later.
- Picknick Panik (Picknick Panik Deluxe)
The onslaught of bugs inevitable to any picnic form the backdrop
of this card game. Inventive packaging – an illustrated
cloth bag – and attractive artwork grace this entry
in the Yun Games line.
The theme is not particularly strong as players represent both
the spiders, ants and flies as well as the humans trying to
do them in via boots, swatters and spray. While there are some
intriguing mechanics, particularly the chance to divert a bug
attack by matching the card, there is much that is automatic.
Morever, replenishment changes the hand so frequently that
there is really no long-term planning. Tactical ploys are mostly
limited to decisions of how many cards to play at a time which
offers a degree of interest, but bad luck in drawing can prove
devastating. The deluxe version subsitutes wooden pieces for
the cards.
[translation]
[Holiday List 2003]
- Pictionary
Enjoyable party game for large groups. One player must draw
a picture of the word given to him while the rest of the team
guesses the word in a limited timespan.
Good drawing
skills are definitely rewarded as well as players who
know one another well. Objects are easy, but some words, e.g.
"wide", can prove quite challenging and stimulating to creativity.
[amazon.com]
- Pingvinas (Packeis am Pol; Hey! That's My Fish!)
Near abstract for two to four is ostensibly about penguins
("pingvinas" in Lithuanian) collecting fish on the pack ice about
the pole. It wasn't designed that way, but this could be considered
a version of
Nanuuk
with fewer rules. The "board" is a play area formed by an arbitrary
grouping of hexagons, each of which shows a varying number of fish.
A player moves one of his penguins to claim a tile, but the trick
is that the tile is not claimed upon arrival, but on departure.
This simple alteration from the usual approach makes a world of
difference as it permits opponents to have some say in the
consequences of the move. In particular, by blocking and/or
removing adjacent tiles, penguins can strand others on tiny islands
where they are unable to score any more fish. Playing well is far
trickier than it looks and it appears that everyone's second game
is far better than their first. Perhaps most interesting is the
challenge of figuring out which area might be large by the end –
keeping one's options open – and which tiny. There is a special
edition using wooden hexagons, but even the ordinary version is
quite handsome with stand-up, inscribed wooden penguins that remind
a little of the old Tennessee Tuxedo cartoon character. As the
rules are so simply explained, the duration so short and the play
decisions so inobvious, it's very difficult to say "no" to the
game. Lack of thematic feeling and a sometimes feeling of fleeting
nastiness would be the only possible quibbles. The ability to look
ahead, as in most abstracts, is the chief necessary talent to win.
Strategically, I have come to favor a "keep options open" approach.
This means that initial placements and later movements all follow
the idea that the next move has several different possibilities.
This not only keeps the opponents guessing, but permits rapid
response to more developments. In choose these positions, I also
look for a locations that on the next move can provide effective
blocks to the opposition in at least two locations.
Co-inventor/publisher Günter Cornett discusses the game in an
interview
on this site.
[Bambus]
Also available at
Brettspielwelt
(as Packeis am Pol).
Strategy: Medium; Theme: Low; Tactics: High; Evaluation: Low
- Pinochle
Trick-taking card game played in many variations. In Double Pinochel,
before the trick-taking game, players score points for any
melds that they can show. This tends to enhance the role of luck of the draw.
- Piraten Poker
Michael Schacht-designed card game
is a rather simple matter of players making three consecutive secret
bids over three treasures before replenishing their hands.
Ideally a player would like to win all three bids, but as this is almost
always impossible, it becomes mostly a matter of luck of the draw.
[Pirate Games]
- Piratenbillard (Cannonball Capture)
Action game for up to four played on a raised linen platform overlaid with a wooden grid. Players use
wooden mallets strike under painted balls, attempting to reach the opposite edge – which scores a point –
or into the space of another – thereby capturing it. Strategy is hard to find, so dominant is the skill
factor. Compared to other action games, this one offers great subtlety and patience which decay as the
game goes on, but in the attractive mallet offers a fun tool for all artistes to master. While generally
credited to Reinhold Wittig and Abacus, an American company is selling it under the title Cannonball Capture.
It's unclear whether there is prior art in this regard or whether Wittig and Abacus are being shamelessly
knocked off.
[Pirate Games]
- Pisa
Trick-taking game akin to
Njet!
and
Tzuris
in which the cards used and the very rules of the game are
"negotiated" among the players before play begins. A nice
idea, but flawed in that high cards are more useful than low
for bidding. Would have been preferable if the cards which are
numbered 1-13 were instead numbered -6 to 6 and the absolute
values used for bidding purposes. Also, there is a lot of
tiring preparation just to play an 8-card hand
(five-player version).
- Pit
Raucous trading game invented in 1903 by George S. Parker (founder of Parker
Bros.) probably comes closest to the feel
of being a traditional stock trader, an occupation
being quickly replaced by computers. Lots of nonstop and quick
fun for a large group.
- Pitstop
Auto racing game for up to six. This is also the number of gears to choose from,
cars being able to shift up by two or down by three each turn. Each additional
gear allows rolling another six-sided die. The dice are special, having
50 kph on five sides with a blank on the sixth. Players may also choose to
do what we call "turbo", allowing addition of 50 or 100 kph depending on gear.
The number of 50's achieved is the number of spaces the car moves with tire
penalties for exceeding the ratings of the curves. One side of the die has the
50 circled which causes use of a fuel point unless the player finishes on a curve.
Separable cardboard track segments in a wide
variety of curves and straights are assembled in puzzle fashion to replicate various
famous tracks around the world. The detail with which this is done reflects a
characteristic Italian sense of style and attention to artistic detail.
Cars are small, nicely-made plastic. The dashboard displays are well-made
from thick cardboard; plastic pawns are used to note statuses. Overall, deceptively
simple, but actually quite a worthy entry in an overpopulated field. It does make
a difference how one comes in and out of the turns. Moreover, there are multiple
valid driving styles. Players who take the turns too fast may well get in the
lead, but will be forced to make a pitstop to repair tires while others may attempt
to complete three laps avoiding the pit altogether. The speed and fuel variabilities
introduced by the dice are not dramatic, but just enough to upset a too-careful plan.
On top of all this, it is easy for players to design their own tracks. One problem
is that the English rules are not the best, in the case of the drafting rules
an entire paragraph is missing, but various support on the web
(B)
is available.
Overall, recommended for racing fans and particularly for those who've found most
auto racing games a bit too divorced from reality.
- Poker
Traditional gambling card game has endless variations.
Unfairly discriminated against because of the gambling
element, played with minimal and equal starting stakes it
can serve as simply a challenging card game played with
the traditional 52-card deck. Sometimes jokers are added
as wild cards and also other cards, especially 2's (called
deuces) can serve as wild cards as well. Suits are important,
but none takes precedence. Usually played by 3 to 7, but
sometimes more or fewer, they are dealt hands which are
usually reduced to 5 cards or less. Betting and sometimes
bluffing are followed by a "showdown" in which all hands
are fully revealed, the one with the best combination being
the winner. Likely invented by Chinese around 900 A.D.,
possibly using dominoes. On New Year's Eve, 969, the
chronicles record that the Emperor Mu-tsung played "domino
cards" with his wife. Another possible origin is the
Persian game called As Nas. The 5-player game requires
a special deck of 25 cards with 5 suits and is dated to
the 17th century. French people who settled in New Orleans
played Poque, a card game involving bluffing and betting.
Poker traveled up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and west
via wagon and train. Many modifications such as stud poker,
the draw, and the straight became popular were introduced
during the Civil War period. The joker was introduced as
a wild card in 1875. Although in 1910, Nevada made it a
crime to bet, the Attorney General of California ruled that
as the game was based on skill, it could not be prevented
by anti-gambling measures. Nevada was to reverse itself
only in 1931. The lore of the games in Old West saloons is
by now legendary. Over the years, "Dealer's Choice" has
become the most popular way as each dealer gets to choose
the variant which will be used, thus adding his or her own
personal creativity to the proceedings.
- Politico
Having recently looked at
Scripts & Scribes
and now this one makes it seem that self-publishing a small package card
game and promoting it on boardgamegeek.com has become a new trend to
observe. While it's unlikely any
of these will prove hits, it's a reasonable way for game creators
to get notice and feedback. The conceit of this one is that the king
has died and potential successors are vying for support among four
groups called peasants, guilds, merchants and clergy. The primary
driver of play is the simultaneous option selection mechanism
familiar from games such as
Adel Verpflichtet
and
Basari.
Here the two possibilities are either to gain supporters in the
currently showing group or to draw/play cards. The one clever
idea is that the number of actions one gets varies directly with
the number of players who did not choose the same option. One
clever idea can certainly be enough to make a fine game, but
here the "star" is sadly let down by all the supporting cast,
sets, costumes, etc. The cards one gets are mostly of the "take
that!" variety which would be bad enough, but even worse, many
of them will often be more harmful to the player than helpful, or
merely neutral, making questionable whether cardplay should ever
be chosen at all. But this is not the only indication of
underdevelopment. Victory
requires having thirteen pieces including at least one from each
group. In one playing, the single clergy card happened to be at
the bottom of the deck, meaning that no one had acquired a rare
clergy piece before then. More than one player had more than
the required thirteen pieces and no one had been able to draw
the right card(s) to reduce them. This meant that whichever
eligible player happened to go first on that round –
a privilege which is simply passed to the left – would
win. This unedifying ending raises the question whether it is
truly the game being played, or is it the player. On the other
hand, playings with many players may turn into endless battles
which no one can win. Cards and artwork are of
good quality, but unfortunately the brown and yellow cards
look too similar. They are distinguishable when placed side by
side, but much less so when only one is being regarded, which
is quite often. Similarly, the cards often refer to the group
names, but do not mention the relevant color, which can be
difficult to remember as the pieces are unlabeled. The pieces
themselves, being stackable plastic, are of nice quality, but
as their shapes do not directly relate to the theme, it's not
clear that they're much of a win over simple cubes. Meanwhile
the $19 (+6) price has probably been increased to compensate.
Without signficant alterations this limited press run deserves
to remain just that, limited.
Strategy: Low; Theme: Medium; Tactics: Medium; Evaluation: Medium; Personal Rating: 4
John Clowdus; Small Box Games; 2007; 2-5
- Pompeji
It's the 70's again; no, not the 1970's, but the 070's and
Vesuvius is about to erupt all over the ancient Roman town
of Pompeii. Players erect new buildings (lay cards) in a 7x7
grid trying to score as many points as possible. Not allowed to
place a card of the same symbol or color next its match, they
nevertheless seek to locate them in the same row and/or column
to score the most points, while hoping to get rid of all cards
before the appearance of the two volcano cards, salted somewhere
into the lower part of the deck. Each player also has one joker
(statue) card and an interrupt card which allows taking the turn
right after any player, once. While this card initially caused
misgivings because the only way to resolve players simultaneously
wishing to use it is in real-time competition, in practice it is
not much of a problem since players' three-card hands usually have
different needs. The cards can be a bit difficult to decipher,
but maybe this was supposed to be part of the challenge. One does
get used to them after a bit and the city comes to look quite nice
as it builds up. Deciding what to play is usually more a matter
of finding the only play which scores points rather than choosing
between several point-scoring options – to change this,
it might be better if the hand size were increased (perhaps to
5 or 6?). This might increase the amount that players need to
worry about the subsequent plays of others as well. Otherwise,
there is a strong solitaire feeling, the result being only an
average tile-laying experience.
- Pony Express
Alan Moon design is really two games in one, the first a betting
game on racing horses (the pony express theme being rather inapt),
the second a more mechanical,
Can't Stop-like affair of using
dice to race them.
During the betting phase, players take turns placing bets of
prescribed values in decreasing amounts on any of seven horses.
At the same time they also play a card on the horse which will
become part of that horse's hand, not to mention, using a rather
ingenious deux ex machina, changing the odds rating for
that horse. In the deck are two special "Move Up" cards which
in the race can be used to permit the horse to move up to catch
it's nearest leader, but in the betting can have a devasting
effect on the odds calculation. Players take control of horses
by virtue of the fact of having a plurality of bets on them.
Some players may control several horses and others none at all.
Ties are resolved by having the horse operated by a decent random
decent algorithm which will probably fail in most cases.
A horse always moves one segment forward (there are nineteen in all),
but may move an additional one forward if the color of the card
played matches that of the current segment. It may also move forward
further if an optional ten-sided die roll is equal to or less than
the card number. If this works, yet one more die roll may be tried
for the same reward. The risk is great however as a failed die roll
means no movement at all. When three horses have arrived, their owners
are paid a bonus and then all bettors are paid based on the size of
their bets and the horses' odds, the payoffs being reduced for second-
and third-place showings.
Overall generally pleasing, if a bit confusing to learn. There
may be a bit too much luck of the draw and of the dice for some.
Strategically, getting one's favorite to the longest odds with yellow
cards appears to be the best approach, especially since this horse
gets to move before any of the others. The variant which permits horse
owners to choose their favorite lane based on the horse's hand
is recommended as otherwise players may feel there is too little
planning and control.
- Pool Position
Multi-player game of tourists lounging around a posh pool in Italy.
Unscrupulous entrepreneurs, i.e. we, are selling prime chaise longue
positions – naturally the nearer the pool the higher our bribe will
be. Our audacity is limited by action points, distributed in the
following novel way: each player simultaneously reveals a random card
from his identical deck, à la
Raj.
But it is not one's own card that gives the action points, but the
next lower one played that round, with a wraparound occurring at
th bottom. Meanwhile, on the board itself a player may either place
his towel marker, or, for the same cost, re-place another's, tossing
the latter's into the pool! Easy decision, right? Sure, except that
each row and column of towels is overseen by a different pool
attendant, each named Luigi. With each toss Luigi moves closer and
eventually will prevent tossing in his rank or file altogether.
When enough Luigis have done so, play ends. This brainchild of Thorsten
Gimmler, more recently responsible for
(Geschenkt,
Odin's Ravens,
and
Cape Horn)
is probably a little too random to earn large number of replays, but
has a fun feeling and is certainly worth trying out. Possibly
it can even be improved by the simple variant of having each player
actively choose which card to use, thus affording many mind games.
Add to that some
Paris Paris-like
compensation for unplayed cards or tossed towels and this could be
quite good indeed.
Strategy: Medium; Theme: High; Tactics: High; Evaluation: Low
- Portobello Market
The inventor's previous publication,
Die Dolmengötter,
was a pure abstract with an overlaid theme and this one is no
different. Now the setting is the famous
London antiques district
in Notting Hill, which also figures prominently in the
Lovejoy detective novels.
The board is composed of a series of triangles in various
sizes, their contents being stalls for shops. Where a triangle
joins one or more other triangles there is a plaza. Players
have clock markers labeled 2, 3 and 4. On a turn a player
flips one of these over and places wooden shop pieces equal to
the number. The trick is that the shops must go into the
triangle where the bobby figure is currently standing. The
bobby may be moved, but possibly at the cost of some victory
points, points which may go to another player if two or more
of his stalls are o'erleaped. Also possible is to draw a
customer out of the cloth bag. These are meeples in three
different colors representing customers who are posh, middling
or indigent and which are placed in a plaza. When a row of
shops is full and customers stand at either end, the row is
scored for all present, the richer the customers, the better
the payoff. In addition, players may use up their 2 and 4
clocks by placing them in the middle of a triangle for further
scoring. Every year these days it seems there are at least a
few of these multi-player luck-free, lookahead games. Their
fans know what they like and probably the rest can take them
or leave them. While this one is right in their wheelhouse,
there is nothing here to particularly recommend it to the
rest. Certainly not thematically. The illustrated board and wooden
pieces are quite well realized, however.
Strategy: Medium; Theme: Low; Tactics: High; Evaluation: High; Personal Rating:5
Thomas Odenhoven; Schmidt Spiele; 2007; 2-4
[Buy it at Amazon]
- Premiere (Showmanager, Atlantic Star)
Game of impresarios putting on stage shows. There is a great
fun factor in the parodic names of the shows and actors and in
particular casting total mismatches. Fun is enhanced by having
each player they read out their cast in the best Broadway promoter
fashion as they launch a new show. This nicely clean system is
good for three to six. Although there are healthy doses of luck
and memory, there is some strategy as well. In particular, try
to delay putting on your first show until you can find out what
show will be in the most lucrative location. Once that is set,
you can put all your energy into making that show your best one
and probably win the game. Usually it is okay to put on a lousy
show in the worst location, or if one happens to put on a good
one there early, feel free to borrow from it heavily in order to
put on excellent ones elsewhere. Premiere is the original
edition with flavor locations set in Germany. Showmanager
provided worldwide locations, including the little-known
Troisdorf, home of the publisher. The Atlantic Star edition
changed the venue to cruise ships and made a minor rule change:
it is permitted to have two performer cards left over at the end.
[db-Spiele]
- Der Prestel Schlossgarten
Somewhat bizarre game of castle garden construction has a
very inviting appearance, but is betrayed by poor rules
writing and underdevelopment that limit balance and
enjoyment. Prestel published its first game in 1998,
another in each of 2000 and 2002, then
following with four more, of which this is one, in
2004. It appears to be inventor Ulf Siebert's third
publication. Players being by randomly placing
variously-valued square tiles to form a "board".
Already this is unfair as one tends to acquire the tiles
located nearest one's starting position. They each
locates his king, builder and gardener pieces and takes a
positioning card. At the start of each turn another card
is drawn – another problem as it adds downtime. We
immediately changed this rule so that two cards are
always held and a replacement drawn at turn's end. In any
case the player must reveal one of these cards and then
use up to 5 movement points to position their figures to
match the card. As the cards can be oriented in any of
the four cardinal directions and since opposing figures
can be used as stand-ins, this can take quite a bit of
time, especially if one wants to find the absolutely best
move. Usually we tended to just take the first or second
we could find. But at least most positions are achievable
since diagonal movement, jumping and bumping are all
permitted. Once this is done, the player flips an unowned
tile that this adjacent to one of his workers and may
claim it if he can replace it with one of his own
constructions, which come in sizes 1, 2 and 3. Most
frequently a player will choose to replace not only this
tile but also an opponent's previous construction at the
same time. A few points are left ambiguous, but
apparently this is the way it was meant to work. The
contest ends when someone reaches 21 points without even
guaranteeing the same number of turns for each player,
so clearly the earlier one goes, the beter. The box and
tiles are beautifully rendered and it's very inviting to
open up and start playing. The artist has done his or her
job amazingly well, bu the editor must have been very
rushed or not known his job to leave matters in this
state. Recommended only for tinkerers who want to create
their own game with these handsome components.
Strategy: Low; Theme: Medium; Tactics: Medium; Evaluation: Low
- Princes of the Renaissance
Martin Wallace multi-player game and negotiation treads where
Junta
has marched before. An even closer predecessor is
Putsch
as there also players take turns sequentially rather than simultaneously and
there is the same concern with each country's status, here treated similar to
a stock price. Following previous criticsm of
Attila,
should this be called "Lorenzo the Stockbroker"? This part hearkens back to the
designer's
1630something,
but solves one of its main problems – getting stuck with a weak country – by
letting players gradually get into up to three countries during the course of
the contest. Most of the aforementioned titles are found in the Military Games
section, but you are reading about this one here under Society Games because
the effects of war are amazingly minimal. Players must win auctions to control
one of the combatants and even a loss never destroys an army card. The only
effects are winning a victory laurel – part of a set collection game – and the
changed city-state status levels. A nice feature are the many illustrated
historical personality cards available for auction à la
Lords of the Sierra Madre.
Here they have dual roles: besides conferring some minor game advantage, they also
constitute a share in the city to which they belong. The latter reason means these
items have minimum costs which feel a bit too high compared to the average income.
Players may feel their options a bit too constrained. Also troubling is the apparent
dominance of the military approach. This is exacerbated by there being so few die
rolls, which can increase the chances of a win by lucky rolling. Since this is a
negotiation game, that opponents could pool money and influence to stop a leader,
but it seems difficult since after the sharing that may not be all that much to
share back. This is another "board game" with an unnecessary board (see
St. Petersburg).
Geography is depicted, but has absolutely no effect on play. The theme is further
obscured by the fact that anyone can control any city at any time. Warfrog continues
to be plagued with communication design problems with more symbols being needed on tiles
and at least one having a copy-paste error. Not surprisingly for a venture of this complexity
there is a fair amount of errata again too. With many auctions and negotiations, a playing
can last a few hours, limiting its general appeal, the likely audience probably being
fans of multi-player war games and for them this is certainly preferable to
Diplomacy
or Macchiavelli, but for master strategists, negotiation and tactics have replaced
the more enjoyable planning that was featured in the designer's
Empires of the Ancient World
and
Liberté.
- Principe, Il
Board game of the Italian Renaisance by Emanuele
(Oltremare)
Ornella. For those who know
Marchands d'Empire/Himalaya,
there is a bit of the same feeling here, sans the programmed
movement aspect. Each turn players are dealt a number of cards
which they use in combination to fulfill publically available
"contracts". This grants certain advantages, in particular the
ability to place pieces on the north Italian map where an area
dominance sub-game is underway. It is here that most victory points
are earned. The most novel feature of the entire affair is that
just after receiving cards, each player tosses in two. These are
all collected together, divided into lots and auctioned off. The
entire process has challenging decisionmaking and dilemmas, though
it seems that the subsequent phases might yet be improved to make
it hold even more interest. As to the rest, the area dominance game
is so friendly with respect to ties and second places that the
whole contest seems to lose significance, or can turn on very small
factors. The contract fulfillment phase has the annoying feature in
common with the bad
Empire Builder
"open contracts" variant wherein anyone can fill any contract card.
In this way a player can rather easily and yet completely
unknowingly ruin entirely the day of someone else who was depending
on doing the exact same thing. Finally, the design has been canted
so that upon conclusion of every contract six or seven discrete game
functions must be performed – at which point any pretense to
elegance has sailed out the window. Recommended for logistics
experts, if any.
Strategy: Low; Theme: Low; Tactics: Medium; Evaluation: High
- Privateer (Pirateer)
Abstract with ostensible theme of up to four pirates fighting over treasure.
Player pieces travel on a grid using dice to move as in
Backgammon.
Of some interest, probably best as a two player game, but with less replay
value than Backgammon. Questionable marketing
techniques of the publisher on the newsgroups leave a bad taste in the mouth
for many cognoscenti.
Later published in slightly different form as Pirateer.
[Pirate Games]
- Probe
Word game of guessing what word other players have hidden behind their
displays is something of a multiplayer Hangman. There are limited
tactical possibilities, but mostly of interest for word fans and
vocabulary building.
- Programmer's Nightmare
Innovative Tom Jolly-designed game in which the players use cards representing
computer instructions to create something resembling a computer program, but
with the important different that players have controlling interests in particular
cards. These interests control whether the instructions execute or not when the
program counter reaches them. Various wild effects make matters interestingly
unpredictable, but long term strategy is still possible. Downside is the
rather simple presentation, some ambiguity in the rules for some of the cards
and above all, the regrettable artifact that some players are eliminated (when
they run out of bits or life points) quite some time before the game ends.
[Jolly Games]
- Pueblo
The design-graphics-publishing team responsible for
Tikal,
Torres,
Java
and
Mexica
return to North America, paying a visit to the homes of the Hopi and Zuni.
It is also something of a return to Torres in the high level of abstraction
as players are essentially solving a puzzle in building the eponymous pueblo from
pieces which are three-dimensional rectangles, joined at a right angle at one end.
Players hold both neutral pieces and those of their own color,
placing them so as to minimize the visibility of the latter, by the end producing
a complicated, conglomerate structure. This is a good illustration of
"path-dependency", the general concept that the end result derives less from any wise
overall design at the outset, but more from the tugs and tweaks that happen along
the way. The idea applies well to the body of law produced by
Congress and many other situations. A game unexpectedly similar
to this is Streetcar, as the
course of playing can be mapped to its two stages, first the
building, then the final scoring. (It's true that Pueblo
has scoring during the building phase which Streetcar
does not, but on the other hand the expertness of the latter's
building contributes more in the long term.) I'm not sure if
we will hear all of the complaining about the end game for this
one that we have heard for Streetcar, however. On the
good side, the rules are very easy to understand and there are
not many of them. There is no secret information to worry about
and nothing to bid on or worry about how much to value. The
downside is that the experience is disappointingly tactical as
the pueblo changes so quickly that there is relatively little
long-term planning available. For those who might enjoy it,
forcing opponents to take a bunch of points all in one go offers a
higher-than-average nastiness factor. Andreas Seyfarth, inventor
of Puerto Rico, has written "A game shall be fun and be
based on a storyline - if possible." I don't think he would
find much of the latter here. Moreover, the blocks do not much
resemble an
actual pueblo, either. [Holiday List 2002]
- Puerto Rico
Invented by Andreas Seyfarth, creator of Waldmeister and Manhattan, it is a game
of Caribbean colonization similar in scope and style to Princes of Florence and Traders of Genoa, also published
by Alea. All of these games feature a wide variety of options
and multiple strategic paths, words near and dear to the heart
of the sophisticated game player. In fact, so typical and
impressive are these games that it becomes necessary to coin
the term "Alea-style" and heap praise on Stefan Brück,
their publisher. Just as in Princes of Florence (and
Waldmeister), the player operates on his own tableau,
here divided into town and country. For the country he drafts
plantations of up to five different types and in the city,
mills to process their output or other buildings, which confer
some special advantage not normally allowed. Selling crops
confers cash to buy more buildings while sending them back
to Spain gives victory points. Points are also granted for
buildings at the end. Although the special rules for filling
ships and satisfying the demands of trade are interesting,
probably the most novel feature is the drafting of player
functions. These are seven hardback cards, each of which performs
a different function. Each player will draft one of them in
turn, but all players will then perform the function, with the
drafter getting a minor bonus. Absent but not missed is all the
negotiation from Traders of Genoa (which suggests that the
latter's systems might have been flipped over so that there was
normally no negotiation and that it come into play only when
it mattered enough that the active player was willing to pay
for the privilege). Functions which are not chosen receive a
bonus coin à la Vinci
to make them more attractive the next time around. There appears
to be a lot of strategy to learn, but a few thoughts can be
offered. Buying several quarries early along with a hospice can
be effective for a strategy of collecting buildings quickly.
Quarries may be the nearest thing to the jester in Princes
of Florence. Players not buying a hospice should probably
try for a hacienda. When deciding what crops to grow, the
workings of the ship and the trader make it wise to avoid
what your right hand neighbor grows and to strongly consider
growing what your left hand neighbor does. Corn is good because
it doesn't require processing, but Indigo may be undervalued.
Perhaps obviously, the large buildings can be quite valuable.
The graphic design is wonderfully evocative, although more
color-coding of the buildings would have helped as they are
remotely stored on personal displays. The theme works well,
although it would have been more intuitive to craft the functions
as events rather than occupations. For example, "New Settlers
Arrive" would have worked better than the mere "Settler". The
American edition renames the "overseer" as the "Craftsman".
Overall, should strongly appeal to the fans of the other recent
Alea offerings. It feels slightly less complicated than
Princes of Florence and those bothered by having to
study so closely the activities and holdings of opponents will
enjoy this more as it is not so important and there is nothing
hidden apart from the victory points. Of course, it may still
be over-complicated for the inexperienced. The only thing
which may keep it from being a classic along the lines of Die Siedler von Catan,
Euphrat & Tigris,
and Carcassonne
may be that all of these are wide open enough in their
designs that every game tends to be very different –
this is much less the case here. Surprising that while
everything else pretty much scales for different numbers of
players, the Trader does not. Four may be the ideal size.
[design analysis]
[variant] [Tips
by Moritz Eggert]
Strategy: Medium; Theme: High; Tactics: High; Evaluation: High; Personal Rating: 9
Andreas Seyfarth; Alea; 2002; 3-5 (2)
[Buy it at Amazon]
- Putsch
Very involved negotiation card game set in banana republics.
Overwhelmed by a bewildering number of options for the players
and too much importance given to the luck of the draw.
- Pyramiden des Jaguar, Die
Two-player card game features a deck numbered 1 to 40. On a turn
a player offers the opponent two hand cards: the opponent takes
one, then the player, the other. These must be located in the
owners' pyramids in strict ascending sequence. The problem is
how much space to leave between cards; the goal is to offer two
cards where one has space and the opponent does not. Should this
happen, the opponent overlays a card and marks it with a wooden
jaguar head piece. This means that the player gets to advance
on the track and depending on where he lands, possibly perform
a special action, e.g. remove a card from hand, remove a card from board, etc.
The pyramids hold only a few cards, meaning the strategic opportunities are less
than elsewhere, but is probably suitable for those seeking a very light
two-player game with a feeling akin to
Racko.
One can probably do better with something like
Flowerpower
in this vein.
"The Pyramids of the Jaguar"
is a re-make of Pacal, which as far as I can determine,
lacked the scoring track and started the game with the pyramids filled.
Both versions are set in the Mayan empire at its height.
- Q -
- Quacksalbe
Trick-taking card game about various kinds of quacks — bloodletters,
accupuncturists, electro-shockists, pill pushers etc. — trying to
cure the most patients without in the process killing them. This is reflected
in a challenging problem of trying to have the highest total of cards played, but
not exceeding the printed value on the patient.
Mostly a matter of luck of the draw, although almost compensated for by
the very humorous card art and descriptions of different types of patients.
- Queen's Necklace
Card game of pre-Revolution France by Brunos Faidutti and Cathala is also the topic
of a decent
film
(with Hilary Swank, Adrien Brody and Christopher Walken)
based on the Alexandre Dumas, père,
novel.
The story connection is not particularly strong even though all of the elements
are there, attractively-illustrated to boot.
Instead it's a game of jewel acquisition in four varieties and then maximizing
profits on the sale. The spine of play is the ability to draft cards worth a
total value of up to ten points. Each card has a cost which declines each time it
is not taken until it eventually disappears altogether. (This dial interface is
nicely handled by use of small golden rings.) Just as in
Citadels,
cards confer a number of special powers forcing players to consider a wide
variety of possible eventualities. There is much to consider, almost all tactical
in nature. In something unusual for its acquisition type, the rate can be very
irregular. One player may build up a huge lead while another is held scoreless
for the game. But so huge are the possible gains that no lead is safe – there is
really no sure way to guarantee or lock down anything. It's another good tactical
outing for those who enjoyed Citadels, perhaps slightly less exciting
without the roles. Some male players may need to see if they can pass their
masculinity check as included is a necklace which play of the corresponding card
dictates must be donned.
[Days of Wonder]
- Quirks
Evolutionary card game by the designers of
Cosmic Encounter
is very accessible, not very historical
and rather subject to luck of the draw.
Also published
were Quirks Expansion Kit 1 and Quirks Expansion
Kit 2, both of which simply add more cards to the deck.
- Quivive
Abstract for up to five players is of the "disappearing board" type.
Each turn a player's pawn hops one space and then removes an unoccupied piece of
the board. Pawns unable to move are out of the game. The last player
surviving wins. Quick and not without interest, but highly dependent
on the skills and whims of other players.
- Quo Vadis
Reiner Knizia's first big one is a negotiation game about machinations in the
public life of Ancient Rome. Those familiar with the cursus honorum
(course of honor)
actually pursued by Roman magistrates will readily recognize it in the board.
At first glance appears to be a no-holds-barred negotiation outing —
and therefore prone to long delays and boring interludes —
but actually plays better than it à priori seems. In fact
negotiation is pretty much limited to the first half, after which it shifts
gears into becoming an interesting match in lookahead and outguess.
Features nice plastic pawn figures representing the acanthus.
Title is Latin for "Where are you going?" — probably deriving from the
famous
novel
and
film
of the same name.
On to R
- Main
Please forward any comments and additions for this site to
Rick Heli.