Game Nite magazine issue 23

Game Nite

Free

the magazine of tabletop gaming

april 2018

Curt covert

designer/publisher

v

Issue # 23

Board game photography pt. 4

The surrounding Game

DVD

In this issue: Interview 42

Curt Covert Game Designer/Publisher

Video Review 06

The Surrounding Game Go Documentary

mobile Review 14

Terra Mystica: Fire and Ice For Android and iOS

game Reviews 28

Vast: The Fearsome Foes

36

Wildcatters

54

Alexandria

60

Tzolk’in

TAMSK

18

Index of Past Interviews

Review index 70

Back Issue Index

A Library in Cinders.

Mayan Madness.

Part Four: Depth of Field

top 10 04

Interview Gallery 66

Drilling for Fun.

Game Photography

abstract games 64

Vast Expansions.

My Top 10 Online Games

Calendar 77

May 2018

Contributors 69

Game Nite Contributors

Š Game Nite 2018. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

All information contained in this magazine is for educational purposes only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of release. Readers are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers with regard to the price of their products. All material remains the property of its respective creators. Opinions expressed by the writers are their opinions alone and may not reflect the opinions of Game Nite. Disclaimer: Game Nite receives review copies of games, but does not accept payment for reviews.

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Game Nite Issue #23

From across the table

Game Nite ISSUE # 23

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t’s been a while since we’ve had an opportunity to review a video that would be of interest to our readers, however, this issue we have “The Surrounding Game” by Moyo Pictures that focuses on the competitive world of Go. Although Chess is my favorite game, when it comes to non-commercial games, Go and Backgammon are right up there. Go is a fascinating game due to the complexity and depth of the game, yet the rules are so short and simple, that it would seem like a light filler. And while the board game’s Golden Age continues to blossom, games such as Chess and Go have lasted for centuries and millions of people continue to play them worldwide.

Perhaps the “Cult of the Old” is something that you might want to look into!

This month I continue my series on Board Game Photography, this time discussing Depth of Field.

Cover Photograph by Serge Pierro.

Wildcatters © Capstone Games

Editor in Chief/Publisher: Serge Pierro

Editor:

My top 10 list for the month is for the online games that I’ve recently been playing and the sites where they can be found.

The May calendar features Wildcatters and provides the release date for issue #24.

In this issue: Tom M Franklin’s Abstract Games column takes a look at TAMSK. Tom also takes a look at the classic Tzolk’in.

Eric Devlin Writers:

Photographers:

Tom Franklin Serge Pierro Tom Franklin Jeff Rhind Jeff Rhind

Special thanks to Curt Covert for taking time from his busy schedule to share his thoughts with our readers.

If you are interested in contributing to Game Nite, feel free to contact us, as we’d love to hear from you!

Follow us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/GameNiteMagazine Visit us at:

Serge Pierro

www.gamenitemagazine.com Follow us on Instagram:

Editor in Chief/Publisher

@gamenitemagazine

editor@gamenitemagazine.com

Follow us on Twitter:

@GameNiteMag

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Top 10 -

1

Current Online Games

Terra Mystica Board Game Arena

2

Mystic Vale Yucata

3

Innovation Board Game Arena

4

Guildhall Yucata

5

Trajan Boiteajeux

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By Serge Pierro

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Concordia Boiteajeux

7

Automobiles Yucata

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Castles of Burgundy Boiteajeux/Yucata

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Lost Cities Board Game Arena

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Targi Board Game Arena Game Nite Issue #23

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Video Review

By Serge Pierro

The Surrounding Game

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s someone who heavily follows the world of chess and to a lesser extent, the world of Go, it is always frustrating to see how these two great games/sports are never receive the coverage in the United States, as they do in other countries. In Russia, Chess is an integral part of the country. In Japan, Korea and China, Go is an integral part of their culture. “The Surrounding Game” provides us with not only an interesting story about Americans trying to become the first Western Go Professionals, but also the impact that it has within countries, where children aspire to become professional Go players at a very young age and sacrifice “everything” in order to pursue their dreams.

We will be taking a look at the Starter Package that includes either a DVD or BluRay disk, a custom cherrywood 9x9 Go board, two sets of pieces with their own cloth bags, a Go rulebook and a “The Surrounding Game” sticker.

The main focus of this package is the documentary. The production of which is by Will Lockhart and Cole Pruitt who are both Go Masters. Their love for the game and expertise shines throughout, as they are putting forth a labor of love and are evangelists for the game. One of the first things you will notice is the high production values throughout, as this is not an amateur production, but a well crafted documentary that tries to include as much as possible without bogging down the story for those who are unfamiliar with the game.

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The documentary mainly focuses on two protagonists, Andy Liu and Ben Lockhart, as they try to become the first Western professional Go players. It is interesting to note that the players have many of the same personality traits as subjects in Chess and Scrabble documentaries.

This is of course not unexpected, as the typical gamer is not likely to be a conventional member of society. They play by their own rules and have their own obsessions.

I was impressed with the concept of holding a tournament in which the winners would become the first Western professional Go players. The hope is that one of these players would provide the catalyst to spark interest in the West as Bobby Fischer did for Chess.

This is all with the blessing of the Asian markets, as they also realize that even though the game is huge in their countries, if the West was able to produce players that were competitive with their top pros, it would only further grow the sport and bring greater attention to the game.

Andy Liu could be considered to be the main focus of the movie and such he displays the kind of quirks that would make for a compelling character. He is introverted and focuses on playing Go. He is the top rated player in North America and it appears that most of it is natural talent, as he doesn’t appear to have a lot of training, however, he does play a lot of games online.

Ben Lockhart is in many ways different from Andy Liu. Ben is the type of person who yearns for the upper echelon and is willing to sacrifice all to get there. As a teacher myself, I see this in many students and it is heartbreaking when they don’t realize the amount of work necessary to reach the level that they aspire to.

Ben’s main talent is his drive to obtain his dreams and his willingness to toss aside things that are not conducive to fulfilling his desires.

The emotional elements of the documentary play off of the differences and similarities between the two main characters. Viewers are treated to small snippets from the world of Go, including museums with signed Go boards and TV matches. For many Westerners it will be difficult to comprehend just how big Go is, as they are almost totally unaware of its existence and it doesn’t help when we see the Annual Go Congress and the somewhat small gathering of players.

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Video Review (Cont)

All Movie Stills: Provided by Moyo Pictures

As someone who plays Go, I was happy to see players such as Go Seigen and Lee Sedol. I was a little surprised that so little screen time was given to Michael Redmond, as he is already a 9 Dan player from the United States and would seem more likely to have profound insights into the West vs. East perception of Go.

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There are some goofy moments scattered throughout.

I’ve seen similar things in Chess and Scrabble tournaments and movies, it just seems to go along with the territory as tournament directors and fans sing songs and sometimes act strangely.

surface veneer which is glued to two 1/8” board which are glued together. The top features engraved lines (laser?) which add durability, as they won’t chip/wear away, which is possible with a painted surface. The bottom of the board features a beautiful engraved logo from the cover of the DVD. It’s a shame that this is the bottom of the board, because it looks great. It is perfect for starting to learn how to play. For me, the Go Board and Pieces, Rulebook and Sticker only downside is that it doesn’t have the 3x3 points and center dots engraved, as that is how I’m used to seeing While the DVD/BluRay is the main focus, the board these types of boards. But, this is not a huge factor, it and pieces in the Starter Package are well worth talking is similar to a classical guitar having no inlays on the about. The main component is the 9x9 Go board. The fretboard and an electric guitar which has inlays - it’s 8 1/2” x 8 1/2” x 1/4” board is made of a Cherrywood just a matter of what you are used to.

Overall, this is a fine offering from Moyo Pictures.

It features an interesting look at the top players, a concise overview of the world of Go and some fine cinematography and editing. My only real “complaint” is it ends with a black screen displaying text of “what the personalities are doing now”. But then again, this is how many of these types of documentaries end.

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Video Review (Cont)

The player pieces each have their own cloth bag that features a drawstring. The plastic lozenge shaped pieces are much larger than I would have anticipated, and that is a good thing! They measure 13/16” and are perfect for learning how to place Go pieces on the board. Side note: there is actually a specific technique that is used for placing the pieces on the board that involves using your index and middle finger.

Of course all of this is useless if you don’t know how to play, so the package includes a small four page booklet that explains the basic concepts and rules of Go. The complexity of Go is in the actual gameplay, as the rules are incredibly simple, so the rulebook should have you up and running in no time.

The package also includes a 3” black circle sticker with the movies logo.

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The movie has recently been made available on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play, as well as their website.

Overall this is an excellent package for someone looking to explore the world of Go. The movie will pique your curiosity as to what makes this game so attractive to so many people and cultures, and the board and pieces will allow you to start immediately playing, as you begin your journey into the world of Go.

Director: Publisher:

Will Lockhart

Moyo Pictures

Recommended www.surroundinggamemovie.com Overleaf Provided by Moyo Pictures : The Legendary Go Seigen

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Mobile Review

By Serge Pierro

Terra Mystica: Fire and Ice Expansion

O

ver the last several months, Terra Mystica has rocketed to the top of my favorite games. Here’s a game that is strategically deep and has no luck.

A game that has 14 different factions to choose from, with each of them being completely different from the others. A game worth sitting down to play and become engrossed in. My favorite game of all time is Chess, but when it comes to commercial board games - that title goes to Terra Mystica. Having already given the app an Editor’s Choice award in issue #15, it should come as no surprise that I was waiting to see what the Fire and Ice expansion was going to bring to the mobile platform.

And I’m happy to say that it was not only worth the wait, but it is a welcome addition!

The big selling point of the Fire and Ice expansion is the inclusion of six new Factions, some new Scoring Tiles and two new boards. Each of the six Factions bring new and interesting abilities to the game. Let’s take quick look at each.

To be honest, it is hard to review an expansion such as this, as the the actual app is already excellent (missing only tougher AI’s, and for most, that is not a problem) and the expectations are that the expansion should follow suit.

The Yeti’s ability is to pay one less for the Power actions on the board. Your Stronghold and Sanctuary have a Power value of 4. The Stronghold ability allows you to use Power actions that have already been used on the board.

But nonetheless, let’s take a look at what is included just in case there are some people who are “on the fence” about purchasing it. (Heresy!)

The Volcano Factions represent the “Fire” in “Fire and Ice” and include Dragonlords and Acolytes.

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The Ice Factions represent the “Ice” in “Fire and Ice” and include Ice Maidens and Yetis.

The Ice Maiden’s ability is to start the game with one Favor tile of their choice and use its effects as though it was part of their ability. Their Stronghold ability grants 3 Victory points for each of your Temples on the board when you pass.

The Dragonlords’ ability is to use Power tokens to transform terrain, 2 for an opponent’s terrain and 1 for any other. These can be taken from any of the bowls.

Their Stronghold ability is to immediately take X Power tokens from the supply equal to the number of players.

The Acolytes ability is to use Cult points to transform terrain, 4 for an opponent’s terrain and 3 for any other. These must be paid for from a single track. The Stronghold ability allows Priests to move +1 step when sent to the track.

The Variable Factions include Shapeshifters and Riverwalkers.

The Shapeshifters’ ability is to be able to pay 1 Victory point to take 1 Power from the supply due to when at least one of your neighbors is involved in a building activity. If they refuse to take Power, you just take 1 Power. The Stronghold ability allows you to change your Home terrain into the terrain of any other type not taken by another player. This costs 5 Power, either moved from bowl three to one, or 5 Power removed from any of your bowls.

The Riverwalkers ability is that they don’t transform terrain, but they “unlock” it so that it gives them more terrains that they can settle in. The ability is triggered when you obtain a Priest and a Priest is removed from

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Mobile Review

(Cont.)

one of the spaces of your Terrain cycle. It costs 2 coins to unlock an opponent’s terrain, while any of the others cost only 1. The Stronghold ability allows you to immediately build two Bridges for free.

Besides the abilities and Stronghold effects, each of the Factions has a starting effect. For Example: The Ice Faction gets to choose a starting terrain before the next player chooses their faction. This terrain is marked with an Ice ring and is now considered the terrain of the Ice Faction. The chosen terrain can’t be one that has already been taken. This can be used to also prevent a player from choosing a specific faction. Example: If the Ice ring is placed on a Forest, the remaining players may not choose Witches or Auren.

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The only downside was that there was no documentation about the expansion. I had to go online and download the PDF separately. The button for “online manual” only takes you to the game’s main rulebook. I hope to see this implemented in the near future, so that new players will have access to this information.

Otherwise the UI and gameplay continues to condense a great deal of information onto a small screen. If you liked the base game, then there’s no reason you won’t love the expansion also.

I have barely scratched the surface of the expansion, but so far out of the Factions that I’ve played, I’ve been enjoying the Dragonlords, and I look forward to

continuing to explore what they have to offer. The ability to use Power to transform terrains is intriguing and I’m looking forward to seeing how things progress as I try to figure out the best way to use them. And that brings up what makes this expansion so worthwhile, it is the strategic depth and the pursuit of trying to maximize each faction that leads to high replayability and a very satisfying, though frustrating at time, experience. I’m sure most fans of the game have already purchased the expansion, if you haven’t, what are you waiting for!

Version # Price: Devices:

52 $4.99 Android and iOS Developer: Digidiced

Recommended http://digidiced.com

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Photography

By Serge Pierro

Board Game Photography: Pt. 4 Depth of Field

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ur past issues have featured articles on Overview, need to have a high f/stop. Although I usually shoot in Subject and Composition, and with this issue we the f/29 - f/32 range, there are times that you can get feature a short feature on “Depth of Field”. away with f/16. The reason for the higher stops is that I am usually shooting at some type of angle, thus the front What is Depth of Field? It can be best summarized as of the image is generally closer to the lens than the back. how much of the photography is in focus, as compared Since this is the case, you need the higher f/stop to bring to the main focal point. This can range from a shallow the entire image into focus. Of course if I don’t need depth of field that only has a small plane of subject some of the image in the background to be sharp, then I matter in focus and the rest of the photo has a creamy/ will go for something in the f/16 - f/22 range. As usual, blurry/out of focus effect known as Bokeh, to a deep it all depends on what you are looking for in the shot. depth of field in which everything in the photo is crisply in focus.

Depth of field for blurring out the background Shallow depth of field is obtained by using an f/stop with a low number. Lenses with f/stops such as f/1.4 or f/1.8 are ideal for shooting with a shallow depth of field.

The majority of photos that I shoot for Game Nite are in the f/29 area and generally have exposure times of 1-4 seconds. These are shot on a tripod and triggered with an infrared remote unit so as to not introduce any “shake” to the camera.

Depth of field for obtaining detailed shots In order to obtain a detailed shot of a board game, especially one that is at an angle to the lens, you will

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One use of depth of field is to eliminate a “busy” or “unessential” background from the photo. This is due in part to the phenomenon known as “Bokeh”. Bokeh is derived from the japanese word Boke. The out of focus and creamy effect that is its trademark helps to separate the subject of the photo from the background. There are various levels of Bokeh that can be used, from fully out of focus to one that is slightly out of focus. Of course the more Bokeh in the shot, the more that the subject stands out from the background. And while Bokeh is mainly considered to be a background effect, with a shallow depth of field, it is possible to also have the area in front of the subject also be out of focus, thus framing the subject in a foreground and background Bokeh.

Let’s take a look at some examples of various f/stops and techniques.

Here we have a chess set that was shot a various f/stops. It was shot on a tripod with a remote trigger and the exposure settings were essentially the same. Since it was a partly sunny day, some clouds changed the lighting on some of the shots, but nothing else was changed. f/2.8 - This will be our base shot to compare the others to. If I wanted more Bokeh in the image I would have switched to my f/1.8 lens, but since it is 50mm I didn’t feel that it would yield the types of shots that I was looking for.

Things to note: Clearly the rook is the focus of the shot. Normally I would not have the pawn on the right so close to the rook, as I would prefer to have more separation between the two pieces, but I placed it there so that you could see that even though it is close, it is already out of focus when compared to the rook. I would normally have the second pawn as the “first pawn” so that there would be a greater separation between the levels of sharpness. Notice how the row of pawns on the right quickly fades to a blur. We can see the first two pawns fairly well, but then the others start to “melt” at a much quicker pace.

On the left hand side we can see the knight and bishop, but then it’s tough to know what the other pieces are.

Also keep an eye on the squares of the board, as they are almost unrecognizable at this point, other than the ones closer to the rook.

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Photography (Cont.)

f/3.5 - Normally this is my starting f/stop if I’m thinking of shooting with some Bokeh, as it gives me an idea of how much I need to change the f/stop to get the effect I’m looking for.

Things to note: While there is no dramatic change between the two shots, you can start to notice that the darker colors are starting to become a little clearer - in particular the square that the bishop is standing on is a bit more in focus than at f/2.8, but obviously not dramatically so.

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f/5.6 - This is my starting f/stop for most of my “regular” photography in which I am interested in just getting a shot and adjusting after seeing the shot.

Things to note: The knight and bishop on the left are now starting to come into focus and the first 3-4 pawns are easier to identify. The squares on the board are starting to become more into focus. As you can see towards the front of the shot that the dark squares are actually two colors. This was not noticeable on the previous shots on the squares in the back, but now they are starting to gain some definition.

f/8 - This is the f/stop that I use when I’m planning to take a shot with some detail in it. It will still blur the background a bit, but the overall impression is that most of the photo is in focus and the entire frame is discernible to some degree.

f/11 - This is my in-between stop when trying to decide on f/8 or f/16. It allows me to get an idea of the focus range and decide which direction to go in.

Things to note: One aspect of shooting for detail is the appearance of things that your eye will normally not notice.

In this case we have our first appearance of some dust/marks on the dark part of the square that the front pawn is standing on. This wasn’t noticeable in the previous shots and you might have to dust or clean areas that you hadn’t noticed before. All of the pieces are now a bit clearer and we can start to see that there is a piece on the white square at the top of the photo. We also can start to see the blue “triangle” appear in the top left corner. While we were able to hide this previously with the Bokeh effect, now that we are shooting at deeper f/stops, background “problems” start to appear.

Things to note: The blue triangle in the upper corner is becoming more visible with a deeper color. The grain of the wood in the front squares is notably sharper. We can now see a speck of dust on the second pawn’s dark square. The rook’s base at the top of the photo is starting to become sharper. The squares down the middle of the shot are now almost touching, whereas before there was no definition.

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Photography (Cont.)

f/16 - This is my “lower limit” on a detailed shot. If I’m looking for a shot with detail from front to back, this will be the f/stop that I will use as a base.

f/22 - The only time I really use this stop is for when I want a detailed shot, but the lighting prevents me from using f/29 or f/32.

Things to note: Only the mid and background show any real signs of being out of focus. Notice how the rook, which was the center of attention in the first shot, is now competing for attention with the pawns and knight.

Things to note: The squares along the upper left side of the photo are now in focus. front pawn and knight are now much sharper and we can see some dust on the third and fourth squares of the pawns.

The intersection of the dark and light squares in the middle of the shot are starting to touch. The wood grain and dust on the dark square to the left of the rook is quite noticeable.

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Original f/2.8 photograph, for reference. f/32 - This and f/29 are my “go to� stops for shooting Game Nite photos. They allow me to get a sharp photo from front to back with little to no blurring (depending on the angle).

Things to note: At this angle this is as sharp as I can get it. This was an 8 second exposure shot on a Manfrotto professional tripod with an infrared Nikon triggering device. This is my normal setup. A sturdy tripod with a remote trigger will yield the sharpest photos with the lenses that you have. The blue triangle in the upper corner is now much clearer, along with the grain of the wood at that edge of the board.

By taking a look at this progression of f/stops you can get a better idea of what type of stop you will need to obtain the photo that you want.

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Photography (Cont.)

Removing an unwanted background.

Here’s an example on how to use a shallow depth of field to remove unwanted items in the background. On the left we have a photo of a chess king taken at f/2.8. The crown at the top of the piece pops from the dark background and there is some blobs of color in the background that add texture to backdrop.

On the right we have the same photo setup as the other, except this time we are shooting at f/32. Now all of the background distractions are readily apparent, as well as dust and scruffs on the chess board and the embroided patterns on the chair. The grill of the practice amp, as well as the guitar chord, all compete for attention and draw the eye away from the chess king.

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Here we have a series of photos in which the camera is on a tripod and triggered via remote and the only thing that is changing is the focus point of the camera is being moved for each shot, as it focuses on a different part of the card. All the shots are at f/2.8 so that we can see the maximum effect. This is something that a lot of beginning photographers don’t’ take advantage of.

Once you have your composition, feel free to move your camera’s focus point to various parts of the area and take some test shots to see the results. bottom - Here the sensor was pointed towards the bottom of the card, resulting in the text being for the

most part in focus. Of course the tradeoff is that the top is out of focus. Note the sharpness of the grid on the graph paper. The areas where the lines are sharp indicate the plane in which the focus point is shooting in. You can get a clearer sense of how things drop off by looking at the graph paper, as compared to the card itself. mid bottom - Here the sensor is pointed towards the mid bottom of the card. Notice how now the bottom area of the graph paper is starting to rapidly go out of focus and neither text area is in focus.

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Photography (Cont.)

mid top - The sensor is now pointing towards the mid top area and the creatures and structure in the back are now in focus. The bottom text is losing definition and the grid is “melting” away. The text at the top of the card is starting to become more in focus.

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top - The focus point is now towards the top and the bottom is totally blurred and the top text is clearer.

Why isn’t the top text perfectly in focus? Well, my Nikon d-90 has a limited amount of focus points and I was only able to move it to the area just below the text. A more advanced camera would have additional focus points and the text area could then be selected for the optimum results. If this was going to be used for the magazine, I would have repositioned the tripod and camera in order to have one of the sensors focus on the text.

Focus point stable, f/stop changed In these four photos the focus point was on the bottom text and the only thing changed was the f/stops. f/2.8 f/5.6 f/8 and f/16. Note that the blurring effect is due to the card being shot at an angle. If you have an extension for your tripod that allows you go shoot perfectly overhead, then you will not have this effect.

This only shown to show you the effect of the angle of the camera to the subject matter. Things that are close stay in focus and things that recede start to blur. In order to get the entire card in focus you would have to increase the f/stop further still. I’d shoot it at f/29 or f/32 for maximum clarity.

Knowing your f/stops and how to manipulate the depth of field can add a tremendous amount of “professionalism” to your photography, especially when combined with the previous tips about Choosing a Subject and Composition. I hope that this will help you in your pursuit of becoming a better board game photographer.

Next Month: Lighting

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Vast: The Fearsome Foes

By Serge Pierro

More Roles and Fun!

I

t wasn’t long ago that Vast: The Crystal Caverns was on everyone’s lips, as it was a truly unique game that featured asymmetrical play and each player had their own set of rules. It is an interesting game that has hit the table several times after the original review was written. So when the expansions became available, we knew it was going to be of interest. Let’s see what the expansions have to offer.

While we are considering it to be one expansion, there are actually three separate packages: Vast: The Crystal Caverns Miniatures Expansion, Vast: The Fearsome Foes and Vast: The Crystal Caverns: Bonus Cards.

Vast: The Crystal Caverns Miniatures Expansion

The included miniatures can be broken down into two groups: Characters and Accessories. There is a miniature for each of the main characters: The Knight, The Thief, Three Goblins (Fangs, Bones and Eye) and two versions of the Dragon, sleeping and awake. The accessories include a Turn Indicator, Cave Entrance, Flame Wall, 9 Crystals, 3 Rockslides, 6 Vaults, 12 Treasure Chests and 3 Dragon Gems (Claw, Flame and Wing). Fans of Chad Hoverter (see Issue #9) will be excited to know that both he and Patrick Fahy worked on the sculpts. Most of the minis were molded in one piece, while some of the others were cast in multiple pieces and glued together. Example: The Awake Dragon’s body was cast as one piece and the two wings were cast separately and then attached to the body.

The miniatures come in various sizes. The Knight and Thief The Miniatures Expansion comes in a glossy 8 3/4” x are both 1 1/2” tall. The Goblins are 1 1/4” tall. The Awake 11 1/2” x 2” box that features a custom plastic insert. Dragon is 2 “ tall and has a wingspan of 2”. The smallest The black insert is custom moulded for each of the piece is the Treasure Chest and it measures 5/16” x 1/2” miniatures, as well as a compartment for holding a Using the miniatures clearly adds to the atmosphere of the resealable bag of the smaller plastic pieces. One nice feature is that there are three empty areas that are game. My favorite piece, the Cave Entrance, sits on the tile designed to hold the three figures from the Vast: The and draws attention to itself the whole game and is a wonderful Fearsome Foes expansion, just in case you would like sculpt. This is especially nice, as it really was unnecessary to to store all of the miniatures in one place. The insert include a mini of the entrance to the cave, but it really adds a lot to the atmosphere of the game. Now players will have allows for a snug fit as the minis snap into place. a choice between a cardboard standee, a custom meeple or

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a miniature for each of the objects in the game. From a visual perspective the miniatures add a great deal to the look of the game, though some people may prefer to use the miniatures for the characters and tokens/ meeples for some of the other items. Though I can’t imagine ever using the custom meeples or cardboard bits again.

Vast: The Crystal Caverns: Bonus Cards The tuck box contains 34 cards and a 20 page rulebook.

The rulebook covers Variant Rules, Promo Cards, Goblin Schemes, Dragon Scales and Thief Upgrade Cards. The types of cards included are: 6x Terrain, 3x Power, 2x Sidequest, 3x Upgrade, 11x Secrets,1x Monster, 2x Event and 6x Treasure.

The Secrets cards need to be purchased, however, they provide permanent effects that last throughout the game and can’t be removed from play. Goblin players will be happy with the assortment of cards that are available to them. Example: “Mercenaries” - When drawing Monsters, you may reduce your Rage by 1 to draw another Monster. You may discard this card instead of a Treasure to pay for another Scheme.

All of the cards provide interesting effects and are quite usable. Many players will want to immediately add these cards to their favorite decks. Goblin players seem to come out on top with the addition of the 11 Secret cards, which is a good thing, as Goblins will be a more popular choice, as compared to the base game when they were not always a top choice.

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Vast: The Fearsome Foes (Cont.)

Vast: The Fearsome Foes Vast: The Fearsome Foes is the main gameplay element The miniatures range in size from the Unicorn that is 1 of the expansions. It includes three new roles: Ghost, 3/4” tall to the Ghoul which is in a crouching position Ghoul and Nightmare Unicorn. and measures 1” tall.

The Fearsome Foes comes in a glossy 8 3/4” x 11 1/4” x 2” box and features a custom, black plastic insert.

Although the Miniatures Expansion contains areas for the storage of the new miniatures contained within this box, this insert also has custom designed areas for these figures, just in case you would prefer to keep this expansion separate from the others. It also has areas for the Ghost Tiles, Cards and assorted components, as well as providing a shelf area for the storage of the player boards and three rulebooks.

The cards are standard size and linen finished and the Ghost tiles are linen finished and similar to the Cave tiles in the base set.

As stated above, there are three rulebooks. Players who have previously played Vast will understand that there is no central rulebook, as each character has their own set of rules. And while there are three new characters included, the truth is that there are really six, as each of the main characters has two very different player boards in which to choose from. Needless to say, this leads to the replayability and interest to the game. Each character’s rulebook is divided into four pages of the “main” character and two pages devoted to the “other” character. Example: The Ghoul has four pages of rules and The Vile Ghoul has two.

The Unicorn is represented by The Nightmare Unicorn and The Shadow Unicorn.

The player boards are linen finished and the size of the box and have a white back. They are made of a sturdy cardboard stock and do have a slight “bow” to them.

Like the previous characters (when using the Miniatures Expansion), each of the new characters has a cardboard standee with a plastic base, a custom meeple and a miniature. Even though there are six different roles to choose from, there is only one miniature for each of the two versions.

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The other components include wooden disks, wooden cubes and cardboard tokens, as well as three orange dice with white pips.

Let’s take a look at each of the six characters that are included in the expansion:

The Nightmare Unicorn is a replacement for the Dragon in the base game and takes its place in the turn order (after the Goblins and before the Cave). Not surprisingly its victory conditions are different from those of the Dragon. When using The Nightmare Unicorn you need to gain 9 Radiance and escape from the Cave. Unlike the Dragon, the Unicorn starts the game “awake”.

One of the interesting things about this character is that the movement is controlled by the playing of their action cards. The top of the cards indicate that they can either move “X” amount of spaces or turn in a specific direction. They also have access to teleporting which features on the same cards a grid with the Unicorn in the middle and an icon indicating where they can teleport to. Another way to Teleport is to discard two cards and the text on them is not used.

The Radiance that is needed for the victory contition The Ghoul can be added to any game, though it is can be obtained by either fighting a character, ending suggested that you use him to replace one of the original characters. We never had six or seven players, so we just on a crystal tile or ending on a tile with a treasure. used him as a substitute for one of the characters in the Needless to say there is a lot more to this character than base set. His Victory condition is based on Fury, which what is listed above, but this gives a glimpse of what it’s is based on attacking other players, as well as collecting treasures. The amount of Fury needed is based on about. the number of players, plus seven. After reaching the The Shadow Unicorn is an unusual character for required number he still has to leave the Cave in order the game. It has no victory condition and acts as an to win. antagonist throughout the game. There are various winning conditions for other players when The Shadow The Ghoul is a bit of a “random” character because his Unicorn is used in a game. The Shadow Unicorn also stats are based on the rolls of dice. He uses the three uses a deck of cards, however, the usage is best explained dies that are included in the expansion. At the start of in the rulebook. Needless to say, there was always at your turn you roll three dice and check to see if the total least one player who wanted to play this character and is equal to or less than 7. If so, you draw a Terror card. wreak havoc amongst the other players. The only way Then you choose 2 of the 3 dies and use the higher The Shadow Unicorn can win is by having the Cave one for Movement points and the lower one for Attack collapse. Of course he proved to be a nuisance, but points. The third die is not used and is placed aside. that’s what he’s designed for!

Ghoul disks are used to track these stats when needed.

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Vast: The Fearsome Foes (Cont.)

The Ghoul’s other point of interest is the use of Terror cards. These cards have two effects printed on them: Once per Turn and Once per Game. If you use the Once per Game effect you have to remove the card from the game.

Another “interesting” effect is the use of “Skitter”. At the end of any combat in which the Ghoul is involved in, he Skitters. To Skitter the player who was attacked or attacked you announces one of the Dark tile icons and the Ghoul then has to move to any one of them, their choice.

The Vile Ghoul has many of the same attributes as The Ghoul, but its victory conditions are different. They have to kill the Knight, if the Knight is in the game. If there is no Knight, then killing the Dragon is its goal. If neither characters are present, then smashing 5 Crystals and escaping the Cave is how it wins.

The Vile Ghoul uses many of the same mechanisms as The Ghoul, all of which have minor tweaks. We felt that he wasn’t as drastic a character, in terms of asymmetry, though he was certainly playable. There were a couple of players interested in playing him mainly because he reminded them of Gollum from The Hobbit.

The Ghost can be used either as a substitute for one of the main characters or for adding a sixth player to the game (seven if you include the Ghoul). Both the Ghost and the Cave Ghost are considered to be advanced, so that should be taken into account when choosing roles amongst your group and shouldn’t be given to a new player. In order for The Ghost to win the game they must lock 5 Articfacts and escape the Cave. The Ghost goes last in the turn order.

The Ghost introduces “Ghost Tiles” to the game.

These are shuffled into the deck of Cave tiles at the start of the game.

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The Ghost uses a deck of Possession cards that are based on the other characters in the game. These allow The Ghost to use the relevant card at the end of the specified player’s turn. Example: Possessed Knight allows you to take a Possession turn at the end of the Knight’s turn, as long a there aren’t any players on a Ghost tile with a locked Artifact. The rulebook gives several examples as to how a Possession turn takes place.

Although The Ghost can’t be the target of attacks or effects, they are vulnerable to a Mental Block. This allows a player to remove their Possession card from the

Possession deck and place it on The Ghost player board on the relevant space. As long as the card is on the space, that character can’t be targeted by a Possession card. Should another player use a Mental Block against The Ghost, the original card is placed back into the deck and the new card replaces it on The Ghost Player board.

The key mechanisms for The Ghost involve Telekinesis and Locking Artifacts. An Artifact is locked when The Ghost moves a character with an Artifact onto a Ghost tile, either by Telekinesis or Possession, as well as using Telekinesis to move an Artifact onto such a tile.

Telekinesis is based on the amount of Influence that you have and is clearly explained in the rulebook.

The Cave Ghost replaces the role of The Cave and has some of the powers of both The Ghost and The Cave.

To win the game The Cave Ghost must collapse the cave.

As someone who prefers to play with the Cave, I found this to be the most interesting of the new characters, as having the additional powers of The Ghost heightened my interest in that role. It is easy to see why this would be considered to be an advanced role, as there is a lot of little things to be aware of, but then again, if you have already played the game as The Cave, then this role would be a somewhat natural extension.

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Vast: The Fearsome Foes (Cont.)

You certainly are getting your money’s worth with these expansions. They clearly elevate the game to a new level, both in aesthetics and game play. With the introduction of three new roles the replayability has obviously increased, and yet, so has the interest level in the game, as players were all eager to try out the new roles.

I liked how the rulebooks were consistent with the base versions. Topics such as difficulty level, variants and playing with other characters are all covered. There’s a lot to absorb when using a new character, as there isn’t a lot of crossover from the others, however, if you’ve played the game before it is not a problem, as you have already learned what it takes to learn a new character. Each character is playable on the first play, but to excel at their use you will have to play several games to learn their nuances.

Needless to say, if you enjoyed playing the base game, then the expansion is a “must have”! I can’t imagine playing Vast again without the miniatures, and while it is nice that they included the standees and custom meeples, the table presence of the miniatures elevated the game to a higher level - I can only imagine how much more would be added to the experience with the miniatures painted! I’m happy to see that Vast: The Crystal Caverns expands upon its innovative game play, as well as raising the bar for the game. Like our rating for the original game, this is highly recommended!

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Designers: Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:

Patrick Leder & Kyle Woelfel Leder Games 1-7

Tile Placement, Assymetricas Powers

10+ 60-90 Mins.

Highly Recommended www.ledergames.com

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Wildcatters

By Serge Pierro

Drilling For Fun!

W

hile there are some companies that are capable of putting out a good game or two, there are very few that can consistently put out high quality productions. Capstone Games is one such company. Each of their releases have had high production values and excellent game play. We have previously reviewed Haspelknecht (issue #12), Haspelknecht: The Ruhr Valley (issue #16), The Ruhr (issue #19) and The Climbers (issue #18). This time we take a look at their latest offering, Wildcatters.

Wildcatters ships in a linen finished box that measures 11 1/2” x 11 1/2” x 3” and contains no insert. Generally I’m not a fan of games that don’t include some type of insert, but with the amount of components in this game, you’d be hard pressed to come up with even a simple design that would work, as all of the space inside the box is needed for storage.

Included is a little flyer announcing that the game can be learned online by watching a video of the YouTube channel “Heavy Cardboard”, which also features a play-through of the game. This is always welcome, as it gives an opportunity to have yourself and other players in your group watch the video and then you can fine tune the rules by reading the actual rulebook itself. I watched the video and thought they did a good job of explaining the game and should prove to be quite helpful for many players.

The 32 page rulebook measures 8” x 11”. It is printed on a high quality semi-gloss stock and includes the rules for the four, three and two player versions of the game. The main set of rules is for four players and the other versions have sections in the back of the book indicating the differences.

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The rules were clear, however, I would have preferred a more pronounced graphic design for the headers of each section so that it would have been easier to find the pertinent information.

The game includes four excellent player aides. These do a great job of explaining the options for a player on each turn. The only time you will need to open the rulebook again is if you want a rules clarification, otherwise everything you need to know is presented here.

The large six panel board is made of a sturdy cardboard stock and is linen finished,with each panel being the size of the box. The palette and artwork chosen fits nicely with the historical time period. Several players remarked on how great the visual appeal of the game was, especially when the board started to fill up with the various components.

The various cardboard tokens are made of a sturdy cardboard stock and feature the same light linen finish as the board.

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Wildcatters (Cont.)

The game’s cards come in two sizes. For the Stocks and Workers, the cards measure 1 3/4” x 2 1/2” and have a glossy finish. The Area cards measure 2 5/16” x 3 10/16” and are linen finished. The Area cards are shuffled at the start of the game and possibly during the game when the deck runs out. Sleeving is optional, as the linen finish should provide durability.

All of the actions available on a player’s turn are nicely laid out on the Player aide and are indicated in the exact order in which they can be executed. These actions can be broken down as follows: Choose an Area Card, Receive Area Card Bonus, Build Actions, Oil Actions, Move Your Unused Oil Tankers and Empty Partially Filled Refineries.

The main components of the game are the various wooden bits. The Drilling Rigs, Trains, Oil Barrels and Oil Tankers come in red, yellow, blue and green. There are also cubes for scoring and the round marker, as well as brown disks for the Wildcatters.

The Choose an Area Card action allows you to take one of the face up Area Cards that are placed alongside the board. Should none of the cards appeal to you, you are able to spend 4 Victory Points to place them in the discard pile and replace them with eight new ones. On each card is the area in which you are able to There is a sheet of stickers that are to be applied to the Build Drilling Rigs, Trains, Oil Tankers and Refineries.

Wildcatter disks and the Drilling Rigs. Expect to take In addition to the area listed on the card, you can also five minutes or so to apply them before you play the build 1 Train and 1 Refinery in one of the white areas game.

(Europe, Africa and Australia).

At the start of the game each player receives 20 Shares The second action, Receive Area Card Bonus is still of their own stock and 5 Shares of the player to their based on the card that you initially drew and you receive left. They also receive 20 Workers whatever is printed on it. This can include; Workers, Shares, Victory Point, as well a Refinery icon that can The setup for at the game is actually quite interesting. be used to empty an unfilled Refinery. All of your Area Instead of a somewhat “normal” setup, each player is Cards are kept in front of you until the end of the game, dealt a hand of 8 Area cards (lighter colored back) to go as the printed Victory Points are tallied at that point. along with their starting supply of six pieces: 3 Drilling The cards with the Refinery icon can be used at any time Rigs, 2 Trains, 1 Oil Tanker and 1 Refinery. Then in throughout the game, however, then they are removed player order, each player will play an Area card from from the game. their hand and place one of their pieces in the area indicated on the card. The last two cards are not used The Build Action allows you to build any of the and are discarded. This is one of those small touches following: Drilling Rigs, Trains, Oil Tankers and that adds a great deal to the replayability of the game, as Refineries. Workers are used as currency. The Player every game should have a different starting position due Aide lists the costs, but after a round or two you will to the draw of the cards and the placement of the pieces. have memorized each of the amounts. Additional Workers can be obtained at a cost of three Shares per After all of the pieces are placed, a Wildcatter disk Worker. is placed in each of the eight main areas. If there are less than two Drilling Rigs in an area, an additional Wildcatter disk is placed. Then the light backed cards are shuffled and placed on top of the deck of darker backed cards and play begins.

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The Oil Actions include Drilling for an Oilfield, Developing an Oilfield and Transporting Oil. Of these, the Drilling for an Oilfield is perhaps the most important decision to make in the game, as its timing is crucial. If you drill too early, you risk not extracting as much oil as would be possible. On the other hand, if you drill too late, you run the risk of leaving too much oil behind at the end of the game. You should expect to play several games until you start to get an idea of how many Oilfields should be in an area before you drill (if drilling early) and how late you can afford to drill, while still receiving a decent quality of oil for your return. To make matters even more “interesting”, the player who decides to drill has to pay 8 Workers in order to do so, while other players may join in by paying only 3 of their Shares. This adds to the strategic aspects of the game, as you have to decide to pull the trigger yourself or hope to jump in on an opponent’s drilling.

Once a Drilling Action has taken place, one of the Drilling Rigs is removed from the board and replaced with a Pumpjack disk that will be filled with 3 barrels of oil in the player’s color.

The Develop Oilfields Action allows you to replace Drilling Rigs with Pumpjacks after the initial drilling has taken place. This allows players to bring Pumpjacks into play on later rounds.

The Transport Oil Action allows various means of moving the oil barrels around the map and they are listed on the Player Aide.

The Move Your Unused Tanker allows you to move any of your Tankers that hadn’t moved that turn. The first one is free and each additional Tanker costs 1 Worker.

The last action allows the player to use either their Refinery Chip or an Action Card with the Refinery icon to empty a Refinery that isn’t full.

At the end of the Action phase there is an “End of Player Turn” which empties Refineries that have become full, deliver Oil to a Continent, buy a Consolidation chip and replenish the array of Area Cards.

After the “End of Player Turn” phase the game goes to the “Beginning of a Round” which was skipped at the start of the game. Each player will receive 10 Workers, the marker is advanced on the round track, the card closest to the deck is discarded and all of the other cards shift towards the deck and refilled back up to 8 cards and receive one of their Shares from the bank for each Consolidation tile they own.

Drilling can only be once per area, thus further adding to the strategic timing element. After the initial Drilling has taken place and Pumpjacks have be placed on the board there is a round of bidding for the Wildcatter token(s) in the area. There is a minimum bid of 4 Shares and players who pass are out for the rest of the round.

Whoever wins the bid pays the amount of Shares bid to the bank and places one of their oil barrels on the Play continues as above and after 7 rounds (8 rounds Wildcatter disk. Once the barrel is removed from the for a 2 or 3 player game) the game ends and points are disk, the owner of the disk places it in front of them and tallied for all of the various ways to score points. will score the associated amount of points at the end of the game determined by how many were obtained.

Although there is quite a bit going on in Wildcatters, it never becomes burdensome or overly complicated. The game play is fairly straightforward for a heavy game and

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Wildcatters (Cont.)

the strategic depth is what makes the game enjoyable.

There are several ways to score within the game and that is where the heaviness lies, as player have to make decisions that will yield the best results in each of the categories or try to focus on only a few of them and specialize.

Being able to adapt on turns where your main strategic goal can’t be implemented is key to excelling in the game, unless you want to spend the 4 VP’s to clear the display of cards and hope that what you need shows up in the next grouping. While this is part of the game, it was the part I enjoyed least. I wasn’t a fan of needing a specific card to do something in a specific area, but it only happened occasionally, so it wasn’t that terrible. Having said that, I really enjoyed how the cards themselves presented various options. There were times where you felt the need to take a card only for the VP’s that were printed on it, while other times you might have needed more Workers.

The set collection of Shares turned out to be interesting when used with the Consolidation chips, as it led to yet another subtle strategic element to the game.

Because the main scoring element is the Area Majority, the use of the Oil Tankers is the key to positioning yourself in the various areas, as well as the placement of Trains and Refineries at the start of the game. Having multiple Oil Tankers will yield the flexibility needed to fight for control of targeted areas. This becomes more apparent after playing a couple of games.

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The bidding for the Wildcatters seemed to be slightly out of line with the rest of the game, but not so much as to detract from the overall experience. The Wildcatters provided yet another source of VP’s, but didn’t seem thematic enough to warrant their inclusion. Again, nothing terrible, but I felt it was the weakest link in the game.

Overall this is a game that I am happy to add to my collection. It is heavy enough to keep a hardcore gamer engrossed with it’s strategic play, yet easy enough that an adventurous gamer can latch on quickly, as the gameplay itself is not overly difficult. If you are a fan of heavier games or games that feature multiple scoring and strategic goals, then this is a game that I can highly recommend!

Designers:

Andre Spil & Rolf Sagel Publisher: Capstone Games Players: 2-4 Mechanic: Area Majority, Set Collection Ages: 12+ Length: 120 Mins.

Highly Recommended www.capstone-games.com

Interview

By Serge Pierro

• Cutthroat Caverns • Nevermore

• Sutakku • The Tower of Madness Curt Covert - Designer/Publisher Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with our readers, can you tell us a little something about yourself?

I’m a creative guy at heart. So over the years, I’ve found a lot of ways to scratch that itch, through acting, film making, cartooning, graphic design, creative direction, writing, marketing, and of course, game design. It ended up being a great tool box of skills to wield as both a designer and publisher of games. I opened my company 15 years ago, and yet, only had the opportunity to consider it my full time career in the past year.

Did you start designing games at an early age? If so, do you remember what your first game design was like?

Not really. I certainly played games as a kid, but it wasn’t until high school and then college that I got into D&D, which opened the doorway to hobby gaming. It was only after college that I really got into board games and I guess my first designs were expansions to games

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I already loved, games like Wiz War, Dungeon Quest, and Star Trek Red Alert – which was a two year dive in creating content for what all too quickly had become a ‘dead’ collectible game. But I loved it and kept feeding the fandom more print and play content, which looked exactly like the official game would have. It was then that someone asked me why I didn’t create my own games, if I was going to put so much work into it. Honestly, I had never considered it.

So, I started to wonder, and experiment – and quickly found that building upon another designer’s brilliance was far easier than creating a game from scratch. Among my first designs was a game called Mad Impulse, in which you were an ‘id’ like Anger, Fear, Sadness, and you were trying to have your ‘person’ behave accordingly. Another was called Psy-Jack, a game about psychic espionage, where players infiltrated the mind of a notable person, and raced/fought to harvest critical information from their consciousness first. Both were cool ideas, both looked beautiful because I was a graphic artist – but they were horrible games. It was like 4-player solitaire.

There was no interaction at all, so they were boring as hell.

What games over the years have you enjoyed most, from both the point of personal enjoyment, as well as those that influenced your growth as a designer?

Well, that is exactly what I asked myself, when my first design attempts failed so terribly. If I was going to design games, shouldn’t they reflect what I love most about playing games? Dungeon Quest had the thrill of push your luck. Wiz War, Lunch Money and Magic the Gathering all had a high degree of “spell / counter-spell” and “take that”, with high levels of interaction. The very thing my designs were so lacking. It was a bit of an ‘aha’ moment for me.

By this time, I was working in marketing, helping build brands for Fortune 500 companies. I took an imaginary journey, where I had opened my own game company. How would I distinguish myself, what was my reason to be and why would people seek out this new, unknown board game brand? I decided that I would have to stand for something. So many companies at the time had mission statements like, “we make fun games for everyone!” which is a pretty terrible way to distinguish yourself. But others, like Looney Labs, Twilight Creations and Cheapass Games, had defined themselves and their product lines beautifully.

So I decided I would plant my flag in the ground as the company specialized in the art of the backstab. Highly interactive games focused on fun ‘take that’ experiences.

The name Smirk & Dagger Games was born before any game ideas actually existed. Instead, the idea of the company was the crucible that would finally inspire our games. Two weeks later, Hex Hex, came out of my head almost fully formed. It took a good year and a

half to pound it into a form that convinced me it was worth putting my house on second mortgage to finance (this was before the days of Kickstarter folks) – and you better believe I wanted to be sure I worked out all the bugs to give it the best chance of success.

When the opportunity presents itself, what games have you currently been playing?

Oh, I play nearly everything – though I don’t really have time to play games lasting two hours or more these days. Among those recently on the table are Unearth, Clank!, Stuffed Fables, Cockroach Poker, Red 7, and of course a whole bunch of prototypes in various stages of development, many from outside designers.

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Interview

(Cont.)

Who are your favorite game designers?

Goodness. Too many to mention, as I enjoy so many different styles of play. I don’t know if I could name favorites. It would be hard to even identify favorite games.

Is there a particular designer that you would be interested in collaborating with? If so, what type of game would you be interested in making?

Ha. Some crazy, wildly thematic thrill ride of a game.

Who’d be good for that? Jonathan Gilmore? Richard Garfield? Tom Jolly? The truth is, I now collaborate with designers all the time, on games they have pitched to us. I have found that it is equally enjoyable to take on a project and collaborate on how to maximize its potential as it is to develop a project all my own. Even first time inventors have had some pretty spectacular designs. Our line this year showcases one game of my own design and four that have been great collaborations.

When starting a new design, do you start with a theme or a mechanic?

I have done both, but most often, it has been theme first. I guess that makes sense. Theme, narrative and the dramatic, emotionally involving experience at the table is what I strive for, so theme is very important for me – and never just pasted on. Cutthroat Caverns, for example, recreates a moment of shock and horror I had looking around my D&D table with a nasty new group of players back in the day – a feeling I wanted to sustain and extend throughout my game. I knew the feeling I

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was going for, so I built a continual funnel for behavior in the game that perpetuated it.

But then again, Nevermore was a game that very much was developed mechanic first. I was inspired one night at a dealer’s choice poker game and the idea quickly blossomed into the hate-drafting bit of wonder that it is. You never know exactly how inspiration will strike you.

What do you think defines your “style” as a game designer, is there a specific mechanic or rule set or… ?

Ha. Well, as I mentioned, for the past fifteen years, I have been king of “being a jerk to your friends and having a good laugh about it.” Backstabbing games are a blast. There is something cathartic about letting loose, about being ‘the bad guy’ and sowing chaos. I’ve described the player experience starting with the thrill of anticipation, as you plot against others, lining them up to take a fall. There’s the joy of having the plan work perfectly – and of course, the pleasure of laughing as they twist in the wind. It’s dark, yet somehow very human, and in the safe confines of a game, where we all know it is coming because we are all plotting in similar ways, it is okay to do it. So yes, that has been my go to style because it always gets a response. There is always laughter, tension and drama. But what I learned recently is that my style may in fact be broader – that what really defines our house style, especially as we grow, are games that engage players on an emotional level. This year, people will see some very different types of games from us - that create a stir in all new ways.

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Interview

(Cont.)

Which one of your games do you consider your best design, and why?

Of the games I have personally invented, it may be a toss up between Nevermore and Cutthroat Caverns. Both broke new ground and surfaced fresh ideas, at the time of their launch. Cutthroat was one of the first true semi-coop games, admittedly one that leaned harder on non-cooperation and backstabbing, but tempered by the knowledge that if you didn’t work together, you had a very real chance of all dying and losing the game

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in a total player kill. Balancing the need to say alive, with the desire to win is the heart of the game – and the inspiration for all the laugh out loud moments created, as people go to great lengths to do terrible things to one another. I can’t think of any game that better delivers on its theme, so consistently, so deliciously, and I believe it has truly earned its place in the upper echelon of backstabbers.

I take pride in Nevermore for other innovative play mechanics. The particular style of card drafting employed in the game was… different. It took players by surprise and it forces them to make very difficult choices, from the very first pass of cards. The strategy and poker-like vibe of “playing the players, not the cards per se” brings a different feel to the game. But, the mechanic that stands out in Nevermore is how we handled player elimination, a mainstay of backstabbing games going back to the 80’s, but one that has fallen deeply out of favor in recent years.

The bigger problem was that it was all too possible for a player to be eliminated early and that was unacceptable.

So the challenge was, “how do I honor the fun of player elimination, without eliminating any players?” The answer was player “transformation,” changing a player’s condition, goals, and abilities in a significant way, that was still fun to play, but constituted an appropriate disadvantage, so the transformation felt like a penalty you had to recover from, but was still enjoyable enough to hold your interest. This is a mechanic we have continued to explore further, including our upcoming June 2018 release, The Tower of Madness.

Seeing as how you are both a publisher and designer, how does the business side influence your game designs and how does your game design influence your business decisions?

same way that I evaluate any designs presented to me as a publisher. Does it have the potential to really stand out among the 4000 games published in the coming year? Does it excite people? Do all the pieces and costs of production feel right for what the game is? When I sit down with a new group to test the prototype, does at least one person at the table ask, “when is this game coming out?” with enough consistency that I feel there is a true market for the game. These are critical questions.

Whether it is my design or someone else’s, when you put your own money down to develop, publish and promote a game, it is a business decision. I have never designed a game without evaluating its marketplace potential – nor should anyone who is serious about selling their game.

For that matter, here is an important bit of advice, whether you are pitching a company a game in hopes of them printing it, or you have decided to Kickstart it on your own. Understand that making a game is a huge investment, even if you Kickstart it. Those aren’t free dollars. And they have to pay for far more than getting the game produced, conventions, advertising, promotion, hotels, meals, travel, shipping – the list goes on and on. So consider this, if you yourself would not consider putting a second mortgage on your house to pay for the printing, it probably means the game isn’t ready to print or pitch to a game company. Not that you have to be willing to follow through with it, mind you, but do you have enough confidence and empirical evidence that the game is ready to fly off shelves. Sadly, too many games today, particularly on Kickstarter sound so good, but end up being disappointing because their creators did not do all their due diligence to assure the games were really ready.

Bottom line: Inventing a game is a purely creative endeavor.

Printing a game is equal parts creativity and They walk hand in hand. I evaluate my own designs the business.

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Interview

(Cont.)

Recently “Cutthroat Caverns” received its fifth expansion, “Death Incarnate “. What do you feel is the reason for the success of this title that it would warrant several expansions and the continued interest?

As I mentioned, the game broke new ground on its release and delivers on its promise of being a bad ass game of backstabbery. But the question here is longevity and what fuels it. The base game only scratched the surface of the game’s potential. It isn’t that I held back certain elements for expansions, I put everything I wanted, and had conceived of, in the box. The expansions, in most cases, were direct responses to fans wanting more and telling us about it. It led me, at one point, to run a promotion on BBG.com, inviting people to come up with their own unique ideas for creature Encounters. It was intended only as a fun way to promote the game, by asking fans to have fun creating content, just as I had done for games I loved long ago. I figured we’d get a handful of submissions, we’d award the prize and publish one fan-created card. We received nearly 800 ideas – and they were amazing. Among them were a number of truly inspired concepts and we knew we couldn’t just print one. With some finessing and hammering into shape, these ideas became expansions 2 & 3. Fan ideas inspired the creatures, as well as some of the new mechanics, like Events and Relics. But with all the new content, the game never got rules heavy. That was key.

In short, we gave fans what they wanted, some of which they helped create. Player abilities, Relics of power, a ‘choose your own path’ style adventure book to overlay the game, Quests. It all came very organically.

“Nevermore” has proven to be a popular game with our playgroup. The Raven mechanism is brilliant and some players actually prefer playing as the Raven. How did you develop the idea of a player taking on the role of the Raven, instead of being eliminated?

Isn’t that great? Yes, as I mentioned above, the concept of Player Transformation was one of the most important developments we made in Nevermore. Here’s how and why it really works and why some players can’t wait to be transformed. The key is rooted in both emotional and mechanical reward systems. As stated before, being a Raven is definitely an undesired state in the game, And I think what sustained it is the quality of the because you cannot win as a Raven. Importantly though, game, and the game experience, overall. it is possible to recover and become human again so you CAN win, but it is not easy to do. It was critical to make

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it challenging to revert back, so that transforming an opponent was meaningful in the game, as it is possible to win by being the last human standing.

Recently you added a new imprint, “Smirk & Laughter”. How did this come about and can you tell us something about the philosophy behind the “Smirk & Laughter” imprint?

But to understand why a player may actually want this undesirable outcome is the true magic of the mechanic.

Many people have at one time or another felt like the Earlier, you asked me about how being a designer and a outcast, and many have embraced it and drawn power businessman interact. Here is a great example and in the from being different. It is part of the human condition, process, how I learned my design aesthetic was broader one that I myself relate to. Ravens simulate this than I imagined over the last fourteen years. experience.

The harsh penalty (not being able to win), flipping over your token, and the concept of becoming a darkwinged creature of foreboding and despair already has a dramatic flair. Poe certainly used it to great effect. But this new state must change almost everything about your play experience, or it would feel empty. The most “important” cards for other players, Healing, Attack and Victory, are no longer of any use to you. But, by having the most, you can hurt those who tried to draft those cards and abilities. You peck them for damage. It is very gratifying. It also changes how you draft, allowing you to be more of a puppet master. Feed people all your attack cards so they beat up the other players for you.

These are all emotionally rewarding ways of impacting the players who are in contention for a win, while you slowly plot a way to return. The only draft-able cards you can use are those that give you access to Dark and Light Magicks. Light will help you return to human form. Dark will help you sow chaos.

Obviously, Smirk & Dagger was created with a very narrow focus, which has always been its great strength and potentially its great weakness. Man, if you loved one of our games, you could be pretty sure you were gonna enjoy most of them. We developed a very devoted fan base, who sought out our signature house style. But not everyone loves ‘take that’ games, and if you didn’t, we had nothing to offer you. So, in 2014, I tried to stretch the boundaries. Sutakku was a pub-style, push-your-luck dice game. I have always enjoyed push your luck, fell in love with the design – and convinced myself that the chance to ‘screw yourself ’ was close enough to a ‘screw your buddy’ game to fit. I was wrong. Retailers and distributors at the GAMA trade show saw it and asked “Where is the dagger in this Smirk & Dagger game?” I had to stop the presses and place a nasty mechanic in the box.

As I started to plan for the company’s growth, I understood two very important things. The first was that Smirk & Dagger had to remain undiluted. The second So, why do people desire to become Ravens? Because was that, in order to grow, I had to reach beyond my being the dark horse is fun. Mechanically, it is a new well established niche and appeal to a broader audience, way to play, emotionally, it mirrors something powerful especially since I would now be publishing 5 – 6 games and true in us, and narratively, it makes for a great a year. One or two quality backstabbing games a year story, especially when you rise from the ashes to win. was possible – but much more was doubtful.

I designed it intentionally as a thoroughly engaging ‘punishment’.

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Interview

(Cont.)

The concept behind Smirk & Laughter evolved and finally took shape last year. It was originally conceived of as a broad, party style brand, but as I started to look at titles for launch, I decided this was way too confining - again. I had been pitched one of the most emotionally rewarding storytelling games I’d ever seen, about ancient lore givers, inspired by the stars to tell the creation myths of their people (Before there were Stars, August 2018). I loved it – but I was concerned it was too much of a departure for us. Wanting so badly to include it made me re-examine what this new brand should be, and what kinds of games I wanted to explore going

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forward. And that’s when it struck me, that all along, it was the ability of a game to stir the emotions that really appealed to me. That’s what my defining house style should be modeled after. So, as long as a game had a clear emotionally driven center and delivered a memorable experience at the table, it would fit my vision. So none of these games would be out of place, they’d be adjacent to Smirk & Dagger along the emotional spectrum.

Maybe this sounds like fluff and nonsense, but to me, it was really important. I hadn’t fractured my brand, but grew it organically and discovered something really important about my personal design style, which only deepened my passion for game publishing.

The upcoming “Smirk & Dagger” title, “The Tower of Madness” is perhaps your most ambitious in terms of production values. How early in the design process was it determined that this was going to have this type of table presence and did anticipated production costs have an affect on the development of the game?

Boy, you said it. This has been a passion project of mine for the past three years or more, much of that trying to figure out how to produce it at a reasonable cost. Essentially, Tower of Madness is a Cthulhu themed dice game, with a 15” dimensional clock tower, filled with marbles, and has 30 plastic tentacles bursting from every side… all as a punishment device for failing your investigation roll. This game turns heads – and with a molded plastic support base, 30 otherworldly tentacles, 40 marbles, custom dice, cards, tokens… well, it has been a challenge.

To answer your question, this game was always intended to have this stunning table appeal, right from the beginning. I had been inspired by the RPG, Dread, which uses a Jenga tower to heighten the drama and suspense in the game. I thought that was sheer brilliance and I wondered about other ways this same tension could be added to a design. My mind instantly jumped to a mechanic that had been used in several kid’s games, most notable among them being Ker-plunk. And boy, does it do the job, heightening anticipation of the unknown as you draw a tentacle and await your fate.

But the heart of the game is dice and card driven, and far more interesting than its inspiration. For a long time, it had been called “the best game that will probably never get produced,” by play testers.

The first quotes were astronomical. Big toy companies can produce 100,000 units in one shot to drive down costs, but at 5000-7500 units, the cost would have made the selling price over $100 a piece. That was unacceptable. So for three years, and well over 10

or 20 different iterations and configurations, with different materials, I slowly figured it out. What could be cardboard, what had to be plastic, how big could it be, how detailed and big could we get the tentacles? I wanted quality, but I wanted it at a price that ‘I’ would be willing to pay for it. The final result was worth all the hard work and I hope people will appreciate everything we poured into it. This game is a thing of beauty. Plus, it is a blast to play as you “investigate unspeakable horror, without losing your marbles… literally.”

“KOI” appears to be an interesting thematic abstract/strategy game. What can you tell us about it?

One, it is drop dead gorgeous, with art by Christy Freeman, but Bill Lasek’s design is equally a thing of beauty. In the game, you are a Koi fish, swimming to and fro with the help of programmed movement cards, trying to gobble up a fine meal of dragonflies and frogs. You can also play cards to add elements to the game board, like decorative stone, cherry blossoms, and lily pads, which not only beautify the pond… but cause havoc for the other fish. Stones will block their movement, cherry blossoms ripple the water and scatter adjacent creatures, frogs can be placed on the board ad gobbled for a point, or placed near dragonflies (which are promptly devoured by them) to deprive an opponent of a meal. Each day’s weather also has an effect, so the conditions change every round. It is a great entry point into strategic games for all levels of players. We will have preview copies by Gencon, with the game actually launching in September.

As a publisher who now has two imprints, what would you consider the criteria for signing or developing a game to either “Smirk & Dagger” or “Smirk & Laughter?

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Interview

(Cont.)

This article is filled with insights on what my two brands are all about, what kind of games excite me, and how I evaluate my designs and those of other inventors.

If reading this has had any designer’s heart skip a beat, because their latest game would be a perfect fit, we’d love to hear from them at smirkanddagger@gmail.com.

Before there were Stars comes out this August, and it is the best storytelling game I’ve ever seen. Even if you haven’t like other storytelling games, this is worth a second look. It is not a favorite genre for me at all, but I LOVE what Alex Cutler and Matt Fantastic did with this game. All the feels!

And, come last September, we will follow up our popular parody game, Run for your Life Candyman, will a lightning fast, real-time dice rolling game of loping off the limbs from other gingerbread men in Roll for your Yes! In fact, this August will see the launch of Cutthroat Life Candyman! Much more fun than it has any right Caverns on both iOS and Google Play, and feature to be. some new art for the game. Because the game has so And 2019 is already lining up, with two new titles many opportunities to interrupt a turn, pass & play secured and being playtested. We’ll have more on those and networked play would have been too prone to as the year proceeds. lag. Therefore, the app version will be a solo game vs three AI opponents. There are 6 AI’s you may face and What advice would you have for would be game each has their own unique play style, which simulates the types of opponents we have seen throughout the publishers? game’s history. There will be a ‘tit for tat’ player, who The advice I received from every game publisher I focuses their aggressive plays on whoever wronged them last, a peacemaker, who tries to share the love equally, spoke with, fifteen years ago, still holds true. “Don’t do a grudge player, who just happens to hate you… and it.” In fact, it is probably more the case now than ever more. The hope is that the AI’s are able to convey the with so much competition. With over 4000 new games true spirit of the game and simulate playing against a year, no store can carry them all, nor can distributors live, angst-ridden opponents. So far, the Alpha build is effectively sell each individual title. So starting up with promising and will really come to life once the characters a single title is extremely, mind-numbingly difficult. become animated, showing their displeasure at your Especially now. backstabbing shenanigans.

That said, there will be some, who despite the warnings and every reason not to, are compelled to move forward, Are there any other upcoming projects that you driven by passion and the audacity to believe they can are at liberty to discuss or announce? succeed, armed with a tough skin and a force of will to persevere no matter what. And I know, just like the You bet. In May, we will launch a boisterous, laugh- publishers who told me the same thing, that those are out-loud, party game of quick reactions, NUT SO the only people who stand a chance to succeed.

FAST. It is a blast to play – and early reviews have talked about it taking the crown from previous games in the Talk to every publisher you can. Learn everything you genre. Plus the components, 12 chunky wood tokens can. Understand every risk and impossible hurtle. Try with wonderful nut illustrations from Chris McCoy, are to identify all the pitfalls in your path. You won’t avoid top notch. For $20, it is a must have. them all, but you can navigate every one of them you learn about. And make damn sure your first game, and

Are there any plans to bring any of your games to the mobile platform for iOS or Android?

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All Photos: Provided by Curt Covert

every game after, is something you would stake your house on before you print it. Make no mistake, when you publish a game, you have opened a small business – and it comes with all the challenges and risks that any new business has.

What advice would you have for aspiring game designers?

Follow your passion, find your style, build games for yourself - but know your audience, as it will help guide your choices. Know that constructive criticism is never about you as a designer, but the specific version of the game you showed. Don’t take it personally – it is critical to have that feedback. Look for trends in what people say, as it indicates a change is necessary. But not all feedback is the right feedback and you are the filter for what will bring your game closer to your ideal vision. Never get stuck on one design. Have several projects and keep coming up with more. And when you have one that is really delighting people, show it to a publisher that feels like a good fit for your baby. Let their expertise guide you as you work together to make it the best game possible. Most importantly, have fun. Isn’t that why we do it?

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Alexandria

By Serge Pierro

A Library in Cinders

F

or some reason I seem to be attracted to themes of ancient cultures. Samurais, Egyptians, Romans, etc. all seem to draw me into their world. So it should come as no surprise that a game about the ancient Library of Alexandria would catch my attention, and if the theme itself didn’t grab me, then the captivating Vincent Dutrait on the box cover would! Let’s take a look at a game that features asymmetrical characters and a burning library.

Alexandria comes in a linen finished 11 3/4” x 11 3/4” x 2 3/4” box that features spot varnishing on the title and credits. The game contains no insert, but the inside box cover and bottom both have a printed graphic reminiscent of an ancient marble design.

The 12 page rulebook is illustrated throughout and does a good job of explaining how to play. The rules are clear and easy to follow.

The game also includes a 16 page companion to the rulebook that gives strategic insight into the characters, as well as providing backstory on the items contained in the game. There is also a walkthrough of a round from a four player game that provides some insight on how each character can be used. Kudos to the game’s designer, Babis Giannios for providing the interesting historical information that really enhances the theme of the game.

All of the various cardboard components are punched from the same sheets of punchboard, which is made of a sturdy stock as well as being linen finished.

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The standard sized cards are linen finished and have a nice snap to them. Due to the finish, sleeving is optional.

To begin the game, you take 1 Starting Tiles and four Common Tiles for each player and shuffle them all together. Then check the backs and make sure that the Lighthouse is facing in the same direction on each of the tiles. The game uses a unique method for tile placement. After placing the first

tile in the middle of the play area, you place the rest of the tiles in relation to the direction of the light beam on the tile’s back. Example: After the first tile is placed and the top tile of the deck has a light beam pointing upwards (north), you would place the new tile north of the first one and flip it over.

Then you would proceed to the next tile and place it in relation to the tile that you had just placed.

This provides for an interesting array of Library formations and adds to the game’s replayability.

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Alexandria (Cont.)

After all of the tiles have been placed, you place four Furniture tiles, face down, onto each of the Library tiles. The Furniture tiles have dots on the back to indicate their use for 2,3 or 4 player games.

Players will then place their Characters on their starting tile and reveal all of the Furniture tiles in their current room (Library tile) and orthogonally around the tile.

It costs one unit of Time to move one room.

Movement is done one room at a time. You can’t spend three Time and move three rooms. You can move orthogonally to any room that can be reached.

If the Furniture tiles are face down upon entering the room, they are now flipped over and revealed.

Multiple Heroes can occupy the same room.

It costs one unit of Time to draw a card. Maximum Each player receives their player board and handsize is 7 cards. If your deck runs out, you associated deck of cards and tokens. This is the core reshuffle the discards and form a new one. of the game, as each Character has entirely different abilities and decks of cards. Each Player board has To perform one of the card Actions you have tao special abilities built into it and the asymmetrical pay the cost indicated in units of Time. A nice twist decks of cards only enhance the difference between is that there are icons that are black which allow you the Characters. Each player will also choose one of can use to spend your opponent’s Time to help pay their two Dramatic End cards and place the unused for your card. The player who’s Time is spent must card back in the box. Each of the player’s Dramatic either be in the same room or one that is orthogonal End cards are shuffled into a small deck and will be to the room they are in. These players receive 1 VP drawn later in the game. for assisting you. This proved to be very interesting at various points in the game, as players were able To start each round, the player’s Time Tokens to hinder their opponent’s plans by using Time they are placed on the “VIII” space on the Time Track. thought they were going to have available for use Time is the currency used in the game and each on their next turn. If you can’t use another player’s round players will have 8 units of time in which Time, then you have to pay the entire cost yourself. to use. When they reach “0” they can no longer take any actions for the rest of the round. The turn It should be noted that there are cards that feature format is similar to games like “Tokaido” where an Anchor icon which can be attached to their the player who is farthest “behind” gets to move. player board and used as a special ability. These are When Time Tokens land on the same space, the top often key cards in the player’s deck and allow for token moves first. a bit of customizing of the Hero board. They are used in the same manner as using the Hero board, On a player’s turn they have several options: Move, a token is placed on the card to indicate that it was Draw a Card, Perform a Card Action, Perform a already used for the turn and the indicated Time Hero Board Action, Wait or Respond. must be paid to use it.

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As mentioned above, to use the Hero Board Should a Hero be in one of the rooms that is action you pay the cost and mark it with a counter, Burned, they will have to resolve the effect printed indicating that it was used this turn. on their Hero Board, however this is not used on the last round of the game.

The Wait action is a bit unusual, as it allows a player to do nothing and pass for one Unit of Time.

As mentioned earlier there is a deck of Dramatic However, we never found this useful, as it was End cards that was put together at the start of at the always worth spending a unit of Time to draw a card game by each player contributing one of their two instead. Especially as cycling through your deck as cards. There is a table that indicates when these many times as possible is helpful for redrawing key cards come into play. Example: in a two player cards. game one card is revealed in Round 3 and the other is revealed in Round 5.

It should be noted that there are Respond cards and Icons on the Hero Board that allow a player to On Rounds other than the last one, the Ominous play them without having to spend a unit of Time. Portents section of the card is used. These cards are similar to Event cards that change the environment After all players have used their allotted time for of the game from that point forward. Example: the round the next phase of the game commences, “The Senate Prevails: Each time a Hero takes a book the Burning Phase. This is where the Library they gain one unit of Time.” On the final round of “burns” and becomes smaller each round. During the game the last revealed card uses the Dramatic this phase one tile is removed for each player in the End section of the card and the previous cards no game, example three tiles in a three player game. longer have any effect. Example: “The Power of the There is a list that indicates the order in which the Ego: At the end of the game the player with the Library tiles are removed. Example: A room that most Rescue cards scores an additional 4 points for has a Fire token has top priority. If there is not each type.” room that meets this requirement, then a room with no Hero in it and is only adjacent to one room Once the Library has been destroyed, the game is removed, etc. There are five different criteria used ends and players will tabulate their scores based on for the removal of a room. All of the Furniture tiles the number of VP tiles they collected throughout are removed along with the Library tile. It should the game and the number of Collection sets be noted that there is one special rule and that is they assembled. The player with the most VP is that the Library itself can’t be divided into two or considered to have escaped from the burning library more separate parts, other rooms must be Burned and lives to tell the tale. instead, as per the list. During the last round of the game all of the remaining Library tiles will Burn.

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Alexandria (Cont.)

Alexandria proved to be a surprisingly balanced asymmetrical game. In one of the two player games, Octavia got off to a strong start as she was setting the Library aflame while Tabitha was moving around picking up items. It seemed that Octavia’s initial point totals were going to be hard to overcome, especially since there are only five rounds in a two player game and yet in the end Tabitha was able to win by one point!

The use of Time as a resource was another interesting aspect of the game, as there were cards and situations which manipulated it and provided for unexpected situations that kept everyone on edge. The ability to use another player’s Time to help pay for one of your cards was an unexpected mechanism, but it was balanced and did provide the player whose Time was “borrowed” to gain a VP. Although Vincent Dutrait’s name is used as a draw, it was a bit of a disappointment to see that the majority of the artwork is provided by Asterman Studio and they are not on the same level as Dutrait, though they do a good job of maintaining the overall look of the game.

There were only two things that I didn’t like about the game and they have nothing to the actual gameplay itself. The first is that the cardboard bases for the standees didn’t support them well and they were prone to falling over. The other thing is that after the Library was built and it looked great, the

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entire thing was covered up with the Furniture tiles and it made for a somewhat “messy” look. This was especially problematic for players who had OCD. Perhaps if the tiles were smaller they wouldn’t have dominated the Library’s real estate as much.

Overall this is a game that I’d be happy to take out and play again. With the combination of asymmetrical Heroes and a Library that can built to many different configurations, the replayability of the game is quite high, especially if you want to devote some time to learning how to play one Hero really well before moving onto another one. The “burning” effect of the Library adding a nice bit of tension to the game as players had to react to a changing environment and change their plans accordingly, while at the same time trying to efficiently use their dwindling Time resource. At the higher player counts there was a lot of interesting interactions going on, but even with a two player game it was quite entertaining. I think that many of our readers will find this game appealing.

Designer: Publisher: Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:

Babis Giannios LudiCreations 2-4 Time & Hand Management 14+ 60 Mins.

Recommended www.ludicreations.com

Tzolk’in

By Tom M Franklin

Mayan Worker Placement

I

n 2012 there was conjecture that the world would end because the ancient, carved stone circle that is the Mayan Calendar, stopped in December of that year. It was the biggest End of Things speculation since 1999’s Y2K disaster that also never happened.

That same year, designers Danielle Tascini and Simone Luciani released Tzolk’in. It was the best thing to come out of the public fascination with the Mayan Calendar.

Tzolk’in is played over a large, colorful board. Taking up most of the board is a central, spoked wheel that lines up with five smaller spoked wheels. To the side right side of the board are scoring tracks for each of the three gods in the game, as well as four separate technology tracks that allow you additional benefits in the game, and sections for Buildings and Monuments, each of which can be purchased with the necessary resources.

Each player starts with three workers. On each turn, a player must either place one or more workers on an available slot on one of the five smaller wheels or remove one or more workers from one of those same wheels.

That’s it.

When all players have made their moves, the central wheel gets moved one day, or one gear tooth counterclockwise, meaning each of the connected gears and the workers placed on them move ahead. Then play resumes.

If this sounds deceptively simple, that’s because it is. Since this is a very well thought-out and challenging board game, however, there are complications.

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Photo: Tom M Franklin

Take corn, for example. Corn is the basic currency of Tzolk’in and is used in many ways. Four times per game each of your workers must be fed. Each worker consumes two corn from your supply. If you lack sufficient corn to feed your workers, the gods are displeased, and you lose points. Corn is also used to

place additional workers on the five wheels. Your first worker gets placed for free, but each additional workers costs you another corn to place. If the Zero spot on the wheel of your choice is open, you may place a worker there for free. If not, each spot further along the wheel also costs you more corn to place a worker there.

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Tzolk’in (Cont.) your carefully constructed plans either by claiming that essential slot on a wheel ahead of you or by fiendishly moving the central calendar wheel ahead two days Palenque provides you with corn or wood. Yaxchilan instead of just one. provides an array of resources including corn, wood, stone, gold, and the skulls. Tikal allows you the With such emphasis placed on the timing and position opportunity to move ahead on the Technology tracks of your workers it is easy to forget that Tzolk’in is won (providing you have the resources to pay for the based on Victory Points. And there are precious few upgrade), or purchase a Building or Memorial, or move scoring opportunities in this game. Players score points ahead on one of the god tracks. Uxmal allows you to by placing blue skulls on the Chichen Itza wheel; by use corn in different ways, as well as allowing you to climbing up the three separate god tracks (which are claim an additional worker. Chichen Itza is solely for scored twice during the game) and by exchanging any the placement of blue skulls. Placing skulls gains you remaining resources at the end of the game for points. victory points, advances you on a specific god track, and And that’s it. may even grant you an additional resource.

I was initially suspicious of the gear mechanic in Tzolk’in.

The further along on each wheel you progress, the better It, like the Mayan Calendar “prediction” of the End of the choices are. For instance, if you place your worker the World, seemed a bit gimmicky. However, the central on the Zero spot of the Yaxchilan wheel, on your next calendar gear works extremely well by progressing each turn you can remove your worker and claim three corn. worker ahead on each wheel simultaneously. This However, if you waited four turns you could potentially means the only potential hidden element of the game claim seven corn. If you place a worker on the Zero is whether a player is going to take their once-per-game spot on the Chichen Itza wheel, on your next turn you opportunity to move the calendar ahead by two days could place a blue skull (providing you have one) in the instead of one. first spot and claim four points and move up one on a god track. If you waited nine turns you could score Tzolk’in is one of those games that I feel I should 13 points, move up one on a god track, and claim the instinctively be better at than I am. That’s part of what resource of your choice. makes it so challenging, we’re each facing the same obstacles and issues. It’s just a question of who is going With the simple dictate that you must either place or to manage all of them the best way. remove workers on each turn, Tzolk’in becomes a difficult balancing act. Do you leave workers on a wheel for It’s also a game that, once I’ve finished playing, I want to multiple turns to claim a better option? Or do you pull play it again right away. them off early to get that corn you so desperately need?

And what about going after the resources necessary to Designers: Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini buy a building that will mean your workers need less corn on feeding days?

Publisher: Czech Games Edition The moving gears and the opportunities available on them and your constant need for corn means you’ll spend most of your game trying to look several moves ahead. However, an opponent’s move can easily mess up

Players: Mechanic: Ages: Length:

2-4 Worker Placement 13+ 90 Mins.

Highly Recommended www.czechgames.com

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Photo: Tom M Franklin

The five wheels are each named after different cities and provide you with different resources.

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Abstract Games

By Tom M Franklin

TAMSK

P

oor TAMSK. The second of the GIPF Project -- a game about balancing the falling sands of time against a quickly shrinking board -and what happens? It runs out of time and gets officially squeezed out the Project. The Pluto of GIPF Project games.

Despite its lack of official standing within the GIPF Project, TAMSK remains one of my favorite games in the Project due to its use of Time and the excitement playing it provides.

Players start with the hexagonal, black board situated between then. Each player has three sand hourglass timers, color coded either black or red.

You also have 32 white rings which fit over the hourglass timers and over the raised tubes that hold the timers on the board. These tubes make up three concentric hexagon “rings” surrounding a single, central tube.

one of your rings over the hourglass and around the tube the hourglass is resting in. As soon as one player has placed an hourglass in a tube, the next player may move. They do not have to wait for a ring to go over the just-played hourglass.

Once a tube has rings equal to its height surrounding it, that tube is out of play. The tubes in outermost hex are tall enough for a single ring, the next inner hex has room for two rings, the next hex allows for three rings, and the center tube can hold four rings.

Thus, the outermost tubes can only be played in once, the second “ring” of hexes twice, etc.

For each hourglass timer to remain in play after its first move, it must always have sand running down to its bottom. If an hourglass runs out of sand at the top, it is frozen on the board and the tube it resides in is blocked for the remainder of the game.

The game continues until neither player can make To start your turn, pick up one of your hourglasses, any additional moves. The winner is the person who turn it over, and place it in any available tubes has the fewest rings at the end of the game. adjacent to the tube where it started. Then place

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With tubes becoming taller towards the center of the board, part of the gameplay will naturally migrate towards the center. However, the outer edges can be good places to quickly discard rings while attempting to block in an opponent’s hourglass.

(Remember, a frozen hourglass can’t move and, therefore, cannot help you get rid of rings) With the introduction of Time as a component of the game, players are forced to make quick assessments of their hourglasses, their positions on the board, the positions of their opponent’s hourglasses, areas where their hourglasses are potentially getting trapped, and how you might be able to trap and freeze one of your opponent’s hourglasses.

TAMSK is the only game I consistently play standing up. There is simply too much happening in such a limited period of time for me to sit and feel like I’m able to take in all of the strategies. It’s also the only Abstract Strategy game that gets my adrenaline pumping.

Photo: Tom M Franklin

Granted, this type of Abstract is not for everyone. There was one person I played TAMSK with who, at the end of the lone game we played, said, “I play games to relax and take my time between moves. I never want to play this again.”

Because TAMSK it is no longer officially in Project GIPF, it is no longer in production and can be very difficult to find. However, if an exciting Abstract Strategy game sounds more intriguing to you and less like an oxymoron, then it’s well worth your time to find a copy. It’s a game that I highly recommend.

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Interview Gallery

Steve Jackson #1

Dan Verssen #1

Paul Herbert #1

Reiner Knizia #2

Franz Vohwinkel #2

James Ernest #2

Mark Copplestone #2

Reiner Knizia #3

Peter Adkison #3

Brom #3

Chenier La Salle #4

Ryan Dancey #4

Brian Snoddy #4

Beth Sobel #5

Bruno Faidutti #5

Tom Jolly #6

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Antoine Bauza #7

Dennis Lohausen #7

Ryan Laukat #8

Chad Hoverter #9

Matt Leacock #9

Greg Isabelli #9

Ignacy Trzewiczek #10

Jacqui Davis #10

Johan Koitka #10

Jamey Stegmaier #11

Michael Menzel #11

Kay Wilke #11

Vincent Dutrait #12

Mike Fitzgerald #12

Sandy Petersen #13

Mihajlo Dimitrievski #13

Game Nite Issue #23

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Interview Gallery

Bruno Cathala #14

John Ariosa #14

Friedemann Friese #15

Joshua Cappel #15

Eric Vogel #15

Mac Gerdts #16

Keldon Jones #16

Steve Finn #17

J. Alex Kevern #18

Richard Ham #18

Ludovic Roudy #19

Bruno Sautter #19

Phil Walker-Harding #20

Luke Peterschmidt #21

Mike Richie #22

Grant Wilson #22

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Contributors Serge Pierro Serge has playtested numerous games for several companies, including

Wizards of the Coast and AEG. He has also written for Duelist, Inquest and Gamer print magazines. His award winning photography has appeared in both newspapers and magazines. He has self published a game, and has several other designs ready... but, currently finds his free time devoted to doing Game Nite.

Eric Devlin Eric has been the North East Regional Representative for Wizards

of the Coast, the brand manager of Legends of the Five Rings, as well as working with Sabretooth and Third World Games. He has an extensive background in playtesting for top companies. He has also written for Games Quarterly, Duelist, Inquest and others.

Jeff Rhind Jeff is a single father raising a 19 year-old son and a 8 year-old daughter, and slowly coaxing them into the world of tabletop gaming. He has been gaming for many years and shares his love and appreciation for the hobby by reviewing and talking about games on his web site: completelyboard. com as well as his You Tube channel at youtube.com/completelyboard.

You can also follow him on twitter @jeffrhind

Tom M Franklin Tom lives in North Carolina where he and his wife are staff to their five cats.

His writing has appeared in his agent’s Inbox and the occasional hand-written letter to friends. He grew up playing Abstract Strategy Games (back when they were simply called games) and still regards dice of all kinds with suspicion. His Board Gaming Claim to Fame is having taught over 300 kids how to play Chess. Considering he’s been playing board games for over 50 years he really should be much better at them than he is.

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Game Review Index

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This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us Small World Stella Nova Shoot-Out Postcard Cthulhu Postcard Empire

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Tile Chess Cards of Cthulhu Samurai Spirit Golem Arcana Pairs Sutakku Timeline

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Baseball Highlights 2045 Samurai Sword Paperback For the Crown Trench Firefly Cutthroat Caverns Rise of the Zombies Shadow Throne

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Rhino Hero Attila Spurs and Sprockets Chaosmos March of the Ants AquaSphere Fidelitas Rise of Cthulhu Maha Yodah

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Animal Upon Animal Sushi Draft Stones of Fate WWII: Stalingrad Stockpile The Magnates Sentinel Tactics Flip City Space Movers 2201 Dark Tales

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Nevermore Gold West Arcadia Quest

Dragon Flame

New York 1901

Lift Off! Tesla vs. Edison

Yashima Targi

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Outer Earth 1944: Race to the Rhine Runecast Cycling Tour Witkacy Firefly: Fistful of Credits Dozen Doubloons King Down

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Game Review Index

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Steam Works Web of Spies Cartography Xia: Legends of a Drift System Orleans Raiders of the North Sea Hoyuk Wizards of the Wild Myths at War Ring It! Hogg Wild for Wealth The Martian Investigations

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Cosmic Run Imperial Harvest Under the Pyramids (Eldritch Horror Expansion) Bomb Squad Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization Luna Biblios Dice Trekking the National Parks Fuse Skulldug!

Horrible Hex

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Cuisine a la Cart Foragers The Shadow Over Westminster Scoville Valeria: Card Kingdom Onitama Knit Wit Worlds Fair: 1893 Flip City: Reuse Gruff The Walled City Empires at Sea

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JurassAttack!

Oh My Gods!

Looting Atlantis 13 Days Apotheca Tiny Epic Galaxies Automobiles Daxu Slaughterville Kheops Scoville: Labs Ancient Conflict Treasure Chest

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Dr. Eureka Stockpile: Continuing Corruption Sugar Gliders Dawn of the Zeds: Third Edition Vast: The Crystal Caverns The Networks Grifters Trajan Conspiracy!

Secrets of the Last Tomb Best Treehouse Ever Matryoshka

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Imhotep In the Name of Odin Centauri Saga Draconis Invasion Dastardly Dirigibles Flamme Rouge Haspelknecht Hansa Teutonica Star Trek Panic Theomachy Commissioned San Ni Ichi Small City Game Nite Issue #23

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Game Review Index

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• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Kanagawa Lunarchitects Hero Realms Santorini Vinhos: Deluxe Colony Sun Tzu Bermuda Crisis Tavarua Explorers of the North Sea America San Allies Crisis

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Hanamikoji Element Villages of Valeria Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition 7 Wonders Duel Oceanos Herbaceous A Feast For Odin Schotten Totten This Belongs in a Museum

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Ninja Taisen Space Invaders Dice!

The Dresden Files Card Game Pyramids Quests of Valeria Amun-Re Cultists of Cthulhu Magic Maze Knot Dice The Cohort Crazier Eights Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

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7&7 March of the Ants: Minions of the Meadow Honshu Web of Spies Saga of the Northmen Tournament at Camelot Haspelknecht: The Ruhr Valley Plague Inc. Zephyr Terrible Monster 5ive Duress

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Fantasy Realms Space Race Isle of Skye Unearth ION Escape from 100 Million BC Battle for Souls COG Near and Far Terraforming Mars Caverna: Cave vs. Cave Pocket Mars Terra Mystica Hafid’s Grand Bazaar

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The Climbers Whistle Stop The 7th Continent Witches of the Revolution Viral Sentient Road Hog PeltaPeeps

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Game Review Index

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Mini Rails Nightmare Forest: Alien Invasion The Ruhr Summit Seikatsu Tulip Bubble Covalence

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Joraku Michael Strogoff Minute Realms Castle Dukes Rajas of the Ganges Cytosis

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Ancestree Exodus Fleet Tak Mistborn: House War Expedition: RPG Card Game

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