WeeKee Today - Filed under 'board gaming'

June 20, 2009

Board Game Review - Hansa

Hansa is one of the those good board games that occassionally slide under the radar. Hopefully this review would do the game some justice. Read on and I belive you will like this hidden gem.

Overview

Hansa is a game for 2 to 4 players by Michael Schact and published by Uberplay. In this game, players are merchants of the Hanseatic League (aka Hansa). Players get to control a ship that travels to different ports of the Baltic area. Through the trading of goods at the various ports, players gain victory points.

Game Components

Despite the small box packaging, the game components are of high quality. The game board is beautifully illustrated and function well though I would prefer it to be slightly bigger.

The single sheet rulebook is simple and well layout with clear illustrations and examples.

The game bits are simple but of great quality as what you would expect of Eurogames.

The beautifully crafted wooden ship definitely gives this game its unique character.

I believe you would agree that the Thalers (currency used in the game) look just as great!

The round wooden chips represent the market booths in the game...

and of course the goods that players get to buy.

Game Play

Players strive to get the most victory points and this is mainly done through selling of goods and setting up of their market booths in different ports. Players can move the ship through different shipping routes and visit different ports to buy goods.

Rhis task is not as simple as it looks. Moving the ship and buying of the goods require players to pay Thalers. However players get only 3 Thalers at the start of their turn and can only keep a limited amount of Thalers and goods at the end of their turn. Planning a good shipping route is crucial to do well in this game.

Apart from buying goods, players need to also setup their market booths. Market booths play an important strategic role in the game.

Being a market leader in any port (most number of market booths) will allow the player to get the goods for free. Other players wanting to buy goods at the port will have to pay the market leader as well.

They are also crucial for players to sell their goods. Although players can buy goods at any ports, they can only sell their goods in ports which they have at least a market booth. To sell their goods, players need to sell at least 2 of the same goods (based on the color).

Selling goods will enable player to gain victory points. The more goods (by number of barrels) you sell, the more points you get at the end of the game.

Though the gameplay sounds simple, what make Hansa really shines is that it requires players to make tough decisions.

At each port, players can only perform one of the 3 actions (buying goods, selling goods or setting up their markets). Hence players need to plan their routes well.

Each action also has its trade off. To setup their market booths, players need to discard their goods which mean that they have less goods to sell for victory points.

Similarly, selling goods at a port requires players to give up one of their existing market booth. Selling goods also mean that you have less goods that can be used to setup the market booths.

Wrestling with the decisions is what makes Hansa challenging and deeply satisfying.

Game Theme

I like the the trading theme in the game. The gameplay and component fits the theme well. Using the Hanseatic league is a nice touch, bringing players back the trading era of the middle ages.

The different colors of the goods work well in the game but I think having different type of goods such as corn, sugar, etc, would make the game theme even better.

Conclusion

Hansa is a great game which I think deserves more attention. The decision making part of the game is interesting and satisfying as players try to come up with the most effective sequence of decisions.

This is also a more tactical game instead of a strategical game. It is hard to plan ahead in this game since what you can do is highly dependent on the actions taken by the previous players. The shipping routes could also get a bit repetitive which could affect the replayability of this game.

There could also be moments of downtime as players can get stuck in analysis paralysis during their turn but it isn't really that big deal considering the quality of the gameplay that you get from the game.

So if you have yet try Hansa, it is definitely one of the hidden gems worth checking out.

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June 7, 2009

Board Game Review - Chicken Cha Cha Cha

This a game review of a pretty simple but interesting board game called Chicken Cha Cha Cha. It isn't a game with deep game mechanics or strategy but if you looking for filler game, this game is a pretty good choice with its fun theme and simple gameplay.

Overview

Ready for some cha cha cha?

Chicken Cha Cha Cha is a game for up to 4 players. It is basically a memory game but the designer, Klaus Zoch has design a really fun theme base on this simple concept. Each player has a chicken with a feather. Players will race their chickens in a track, trying to overtake their opponents' chicken and steal their feathers. The first player to steal all the feathers will be the winner!

Game Components

The main game componets are of course the 4 wooden chickens and I like these wooden game pieces. They just have a timeless feel to it.

The rest of the components include oval pieces with matching hexagaonal pieces of different pictures. The artwork is simple but vibrant which really goes well with the theme.

Game Play

This game is a simple memory game. A track is formed using the oval shape pieces and each player chicken are placed on it at roughly the same distance apart.

The chickens will race around this track.

To race your chicken around the track, you need find the hexagonal piece that matches the picture shown in the step in front of you.

If you manage to find the matching picture, your chicken will get to move one step forward and you get another chance to open a hexagonal piece. So as long as you can find the matching pictures, you get to keep moving your chicken and this is where put your memory skills to the test.

If you are fast enough, you (the green chicken in this case) can catch up to other players' chicken. This is where the fun part begin.

If you open the matching picture, you get to leap past your opponent's chicken...

and steal its feathers. However players can always take their revenge and steal back the feathers by overtaking each other. This ritual of lossing your feathers and stealing other chicken's feathers will continue until the winning chicken emerges with all the feathers on its back.

Game Theme

The theme is where I think the game really shines. Although the game play is simple and many would have played similar memory game, the theme of having chicken racing around the track and stealing each other feathers is a fun and interesting one.

Conclusion

On the first look, Chicken Cha Cha Cha would seem like a game just for kids but if you give it a try you could see that it is a pretty enjoyable filler for all. The game is simple but the racing theme and stealing of the feathers can make the gameplay really enjoyable.

The pace of the game can also get pretty intense as players try to gain the lead after stealing the feathers while the trailing player try to catch up. Since the stealer reveals the path ahead, it is easy for the trailing player to catch up. This helps to level the game and makes it more enjoyable for all players.

Chicken Cha Cha Cha is not a deep strategy game for most Eurogame lovers but if you are looking a simple filler game with a fun theme to start off your gaming session, do give this game a try!

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April 20, 2009

Game Review on Scotland Yard

This is a game review of Scotland Yard, one of the oldest board games in the cafe. I got this game as a gift when I was in primary school back in 1988. So this game is almost 21 years old!

Overview

Scotland Yard is a very interesting deductive and cooperative game for up to 6 players. One player will play as Mr X the bad guy who is at a secret location on the map. The rest of the players will be detectives working together to deduce the location of Mr X.

Game Components

The components for the game are of pretty good quality and perhaps that explain why it survive the last 20 years. The game board depicting the map of London is beautifully illustrated. The player pieces are simple but functional.

Game Play

Scotland Yard has very interesting game play mechanics. It is a cooperative game that involves both deduction and strategy. Players acting as detectives will cooperate to beat one player acting as the villain. The game starts with detectives placed at various locations on the map.

Each player acting as a detective will have a number corresponding to a location on the map.

The player acting as a villian has a location as well but nobody know exactly where he is. For the detectives to win the game, they have to catch him at his current location.

Where the heck is Mr X?

To try to capture Mr X, detectives have to move to different locations on the map, hoping that they will land on the location of Mr X. To move around the city, detectives can take different modes of transport such as taxi, bus or train by using the tickets allocated to them.

Run out of tickets and you are stuck!

Different locations have different modes of transport available (indicated by color) and detectives can only travel one stop to another location using an available mode of transport. For example, the detective below can take a taxi and only travel from the current taxi stand to the next immediate taxi stand.

Only taxi are available at location 158 as represented by the yellow semi circle

Different mode of transport enable players to travel different distance as the stops may be further apart. Effective use of the transport system is the key to winning this game.

Trains allow you to travel further since the train stations (red marking) are further apart

Mr X, like the detectives, get to travel around the map too. Transport tickets used by the detectives are given to Mr X. As Mr X moves, the only clue that detectives get is the mode of transport that he uses.

There he is!

At various intervals, he will have to reveal his location. Using this location and mode of transport that he subsequently takes, detectives will have to deduce his location and land at his location.

Mr X is going to reveal himself soon!

Detectives have to catch him before the end of 24 rounds before he escapes. If that happens, the detectives have lots of explanation to do. "You mean that 5 detectives can't catch a single fugitive!?"

Theme

Scotland Yard has a great theme. Players engage one another trying to hunt down Mr X. There are lots of interactions as players strategize on how they plan to corner the villian.

One of the strategy is to spread out initially and close in once Mr X reveals himself

When Mr X reveal himself in the location and provide clue on his next mode of transport, it is really fun to try and deduce where he plans to go. Playing the villian is exciting as well as the player will have to try and shake off the detectives that are hot on his heels.

Conclusion

I think Scotland Yard is a real classic. The game mechanics are interesting and it is a pretty easy game to pick up. There are lots of interactions as well as excitement as detectives anticipate the revealing of the location of Mr X. There are many interesting strategies that both sides can use such as Mr X giving a glance at a particular location of the board to mislead detectives about his current location.

The only drawback of the game is that the game experience is heavily dependent on the players themselves. The player that acts as Mr X got to be good enough to give the detective team a good challenge. Similary the detective team has to be good enough to make the hunt exciting and rewarding. A off balance in either side can make the game experience less than ideal.

The experience of playing as a detective or Mr X is also very different. In the role of detective, the emphasis is more on coooperation and deduction while playing Mr X involves more of planning your movement so that you don't get trap into corners.

Scotland Yard is a great game with great game mechanics. Perhaps it is a bit old which is why most people would not have noticed it. That is a pity considering that Scotland Yard is the recipient of the 1983 Spiel des Jahres game of year award. If deduction and cooperation game is your cup of tea, you definitely do not want to give Scotland Yard a miss!

P.S On the side note, I think someone should come out with a Singapore version for this game considering we have a great theme for it....

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March 16, 2009

Monopoly National Championship 2009

Monopoly isn't really my favourite game especially once you have experience Euro games. Nevertheless for fans of this game, you would definitely like to take part in the upcoming Monopoly National Championship.

Registration cost only $4 per participant and you get a goodie bag as well. Winner gets an all expense paid trip for 2 person to Las Vegas! Aint too bad right!

Event Information

Venue: Plaza Singapura Open Plaza Level 1

Date: Saturday 4th April (Heats) and Sunday 5th April (Quarter, Semi & Finals)

Registration: Register by 29th March

Do note that there are also some changes to the game play to make it more strategic compared to the normal version. For more details, visit http://www.monopoly2009.com.sg

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March 1, 2009

Game review on Pandemic

This is a review on a pretty recent game called Pandemic. The fact that this is a cooperative game makes it worth the effort to check it out. After all you don't get to find many board games in this genre.

Overview

Pandemic is a game by Matt Leacock. In this game, players cooperate to find the cure for 4 different diseases that is currently infecting the world. It is challenging as players have to find the cure and at the same time prevent the diseases from spreading out of control.

It is a pure cooperative game in the sense that either the whole team wins or they lose which makes for an interesting gaming experience compared to most games where you are competing with each other.

Game Components

The components are pretty nice and I like the artwork for the cards and the game board. The rulebook is nicely formatted with clear examples which makes it easy to learn the game.

The individual action guide is useful and certainly makes it easier when you are teaching the game to first time players. My only gripe is the game board is rather small. It is not that it makes it difficult to play but I would definitely prefer a bigger game board.

Game Play

The thing about Pandemic that catches my attention is the game mechanics. It is well-designed and elegant design in the game play. The game is simple to learn and at the same time it provides an intense gaming experience.

Like most cooperative games, it adopts the "bad guy good guy" approach. Players get to do something good during their turn. The board then gets it turn and throws in some chaos into the game.

Pandemic is a game for 4 players where each player assumes one of the five possible roles (scientist, medic, operations, dispatcher and researcher). Each role gives the player an advantage when performing certain actions.

Players starting their adventure from the research center in Atlanta

Players have to work together to find the cures for 4 different diseases to win the game. This is done through the collection of player cards. To find a cure for a disease, a player need to collect 5 cards that have the same symbol as the disease.

However, if a player is a scientist, only 4 cards is needed. Hence you can see that an important aspect of the the game is to be able to effectively make use of the different abilities provided by players with different roles.

Apart from using these cards to find a cure, they are also allow you to travel to different parts of the world. This makes the gameplay interesting because players have to decide between using the cards to travel or keeping them to find the cure, not to mention that players only get to keep up to 7 cards in their hand.

In the process of finding the cures for the diseases, players would still need to treat regions that are currently infected with different diseases.

At the end of every turn, a number of new regions will be infected as players draw a certain number of infection cards from the infection cards deck.

The first type of card you learn to hate

Now you might be wondering what is the big deal? After all, you can go to these regions and treat the diseases. This is where the importance of making effective decisions as a team comes into play. If you are not able to treat the diseases fast enough, a region can get over infected causing an outbreak and spreading the disease to other regions.

Not to forget that the outbreak in one region can cascade into multiple outbreaks!

To many outbreaks and your whole team loses the game. The team also loses the game by running out of player cards or the disease cubes. This means that to win the game, the players got to act fast and efficient!

Before you think that the challenge can get any worse, let me introduce to you another set of cards that you will hate. They are the epidemic cards. They appear every now and then throughout the game, creating more chaos.

When this a card is drawn, a new region will become super infected (with 3 disease cubes). At the same time regions that were previously infected get a higher chance of getting infected again as the infection cards are shuffled and put back to the top of the infection deck.

The second type of card that you hate.

The infection rate also gets a notch higer which means that from now onwards, more regions will be infected at the end of every player turn. Hence the intensity of the game can escalate quickly as things get out of control and more regions become infected.

That basically sum up the game play. The game is pretty easy to learn once players become familar with the importance of the various roles. The challenge would then be how to cooperate as a team and beat the game.

Theme

I think the theme is perfect. With the epidemic and outbreak mechanism, players can really get into the game as they try to control the diseases from spreading further. The theme is that good and it is also the reason why it make me gripe on the size of the board. Finding cures and treating diseases around the globe makes for a grand experience. Yet all the intense actions are squeezed into one small board! A bigger board definitely makes the adventure grander and provides a better gaming experience.

Won't you have prefer a bigger board too?

Conclusion

Pandemic is a really good game with simple yet well-designed mechanics. The game starts slow but become more and more intense as the epidemic cards and increase in infection rate starts to impact the game.

Players can also set the level of difficulty by playing with different number of epidemic cards which make this game good for beginning players as well as more experience players. However I am disappointed that this game is only for 4 players. It would definitely be more exciting if it can play up to 6 players.

Some people had commented that sometimes a more "experience" player tends to be the only one making the decisions while others follow. I think it is not a common issue and happens only when some players have yet to grasp the concept of the game. As the game progress and players become more familiar with the game play, the interaction between the players also increases.

One key problem that I would foresee is that the game might lack replayabilty. Though the use of different number of epidemic cards can increase the challenge of the game, the game play can feel repetitive after a couple of plays.

My suggestion to this issue is not to be too focus on beating the game but rather enjoy the intense game experience that Pandemic provides. After all, it isn't everyday that you get to work together with your friends to save the world from horrible diseases and that alone make Pandemic one of best cooperative games around.

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February 15, 2009

Space Game Review

This review is about an pretty interesting game that likely nobody has played or heard before. The game is called Space game by Peter Robinson and it is made in Cape province in South Africa.

Peter is really an interesting guy. He thought about this game since he was a kid and after years of working on it part time, he finally produced the game. Travelling with a suitcase filled with the games, he met up with me at the cafe and introduced me to the game. He is so passionate about it that I ended up grabbing a few sets from him.

So is the game any good? Read on for the full review.

Game Components

The game set is very nicely packaged in the translucent plastic casing held together with a carrying string. Everything is waterproof which makes it an excellent game to play in indoors as well as outdoors.

As the casing are held together nicely, there is no worries about misplacing the lids.

The game pieces are made of plastic foam material and brightly colored making it really attractive. Though the pieces work perfectly fine in the game I feel that the pieces were a bit too light and would have preferred something slighly heavier. Plastic chips would have been better in my opinion.

The rulebook is only a page long and nicely laminated. Some board games have rulesbooks that are so thin that they got torn after awhile which is not an issue for this game. My only gripe is that the layout of the rules could have been better formatted. The rulebook looks too complicated considering that this game is really easy to learn.

Game Play

If you have played tic-tac-toe before, you know that there are 8 different ways of alignment. With the additional 2 layers, the number of different ways increases drastically to 49 which make for some interesting game play.

On the first look, the game looks very similar to a 3D version of tic-tac-toe but after playing the game, it is definitely much deeper than that. Instead of trying to be the first to form a sequence, the winner is actually the player that forms the most number of sequences when all the pieces are placed.

It might seem to be a minor variation but it actually open up various interesting strategies for the game. Should you focus on making sequences early in the game or should you strategize and lay out the pieces so that they can create multiple sequences? Try playing it with 4 teams and it can get really exciting as teammates try to support each other with the best strategy to win the game.

In additional, the designer actually came up with 14 different variations of game play at different level of difficulty which really give your brain a good workout.

Theme

In the Space game, the theme is about trying to align the planets together in space. The theme concept isn’t too bad. Sliver dust is mixed into its blue acrylic game board, trying to create a feel of space. It is a pity that the game pieces did not further build on this by using sphere pieces instead of flat round pieces.

Nevertheless, the theme isn’t a big issue as I personally don’t think that the theme is an important aspect for games in this genre.

Conclusion

The Space game is an abstract puzzle game. It is one of those game that is easy to pick up but really tough to master. The game is well made and designed. I also like the fact that the designer actually came up with many variations which makes the game highly replayable.

Where the Space game shines is in the team play mode where players cooperate to become the winner team. There are lots of interactions and the competition can be pretty intense if you have really good players playing this game. For those who enjoy the game sequence, the Space game is definitely more challenging and involves deeper thinking.

This game is really new. Currently Peter is still trying to market this game on his own through the http://www.spacegame.com. Hopefully some game publishers would pick up this game as I think that it really has the potential of becoming popular in the mass market.

I am so aspired with people with the passion to realise their dreams. Hopefully some day I will understand more about myself and be able to do that as well.

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January 28, 2009

My game of the year, Stone Age

There had been lots of really great games in the year 2008. Yet if i were to choose the game of the year, I would definitely award it to the game Stone Age by Michael Tummelhofer and Bernd Brunnhofer. In my opinion, it has got to be the best produced game I have seen to date. To me, the best board game isn't just about the game mechanics but rather the whole game play experience. Let me share with you why I think it is the best showcase of the joy of board gaming.

The cover box for Stone Age

Game Components

This game definitely has the best game components that I ever seen. The artwork for the whole game is simply awesome. The little bits and pieces are of really high quality. The attention to detail to every part of the game is amazing. Rio Grande did a fabulous job. To better appreciate the quality, you just need to compare it with crappy production standards by Hasbro (look at what they did to Acquire).

The rulebook is clearly illustrated. Never under estimate the importance of good rulebook. Some good games are under rated due to incomprehensible rules that no one bothers to find out how to go about playing them.

Great illustration. If I am not wrong, it must be done by the same artist who work on the game Pillars of the Earth.

I simply love the effort put into the artwork for board. Some board gamers do not really value the importance of good components. To me, great components really add to the whole gaming experience.

Game Play

When it comes to game play, Stone Age does not disappoint me at all. I would admit that that the game play isn't as deep as games like Agricola and Caylus but it is just as fun and exciting. There are various approaches to victory though the game tends to be more of about tactics rather than strategy. The idea behind the game play is simple. Every player starts with 5 workers that can be assigned to work at different part of the board.

By playing your workers at different areas, you get different resources.

There are wood, brick, stone and gold that can be collected. Again look at the quality of the components used for the various resources. One interesting aspect of the game is how the resources are collected.

Players need to throw dice to determine the amount of resources that you get. Most gamers would notice that Euro board games seldom use dice but there seem to be a new trend of Eurogames incorporating the use of dice even in strategy games. Some gamers might dislike the use of dice in games as it result in the game becoming more luck based. For me, Stone Age shines in its approach. The idea is simple. By assigning more workers to gather a resource, you get to roll more dice which gets you more points. Players can collect tools that help them add more points to their dice throw. Different resource required different points. For example, wood requires 3 points per piece while gold requires 6.

Though there is still a certain degree of luck, the extent of it impact is greatly reduced. This adds excitment to game by incorporating some level of randomness but at the same time it never gets too luck based compared to games like Settlers of Catan.

Notice the amount detail that was put into the design of something as simple as the food token.

It may sound simple but players need to balance the size of their family (start with 5) and their food. Growing your family allows you to have more workers to collect the resources but at the same time it also means another mouth to feed. The penalty for not being able to feed your family is a whooping 10 points deduction! Players need to manage their workers and resources effective so as to collect the various resources to build buildings or collect the different cards that will give them the victory points.

Theme

Last but not least, I cover a bit about the theme. For stone age, the theme matches very well with the gameplay. It doesn't feel like the theme was an after thought. From the hunting of the food, to the use of the tools, everything gel pretty nicely with the theme.

The starting player marker. Most games you just get a simple cylinder wood piece as an indicator.

You can get your worker to work in the field. This will help you increase your food production level so that you can be assured of certain amount food so you do not to have to depend totally on hunting for your food supply.

The love hut is definitely the most memorable aspect of the game. Simply place 2 workers at the love hut. At the end of the turn, you get another new addition to your family. Remember though, this also means that you need more food. Get horny too early in the game and you might end up with a family that is too big for you too cope!

Conclusion

From purely a game play perspective, i would still prefer Agricola for the deeper mechanics. However from a board gaming experience, Stone Age really stands out. It is not just about a single aspect of the game but how the various aspects of the game work so well together that make Stone Age so enjoyable. Thought it is not difficult to play, I would not consider it as a gateway game for newbies. They might enjoy it but it is a pity not to be able to appreciate it. Stone Age is just like wine, some enjoy it while others appreciate it.

To me, it deserves to be the game of the year.

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January 25, 2009

Bonding through Board Games

After the reunion dinner, my partners and I decided to meet up for some board gaming fun.

Tonight session was really good as we brought along one of best games in the year of 2008, Agricola. We seldom have the time to sit down and play games together and Agricola did not disappoint as we engage in an intense battle of wits for over 2 hours. It was really tough trying to manage all the different elements of the game. You need to plant crops, rearing animals, grow your family and at the same time ensuring that all your family members are adequately fed.

Evelyn won with a whopping 48 points while the rest of us are barely over 20 points!

It was simply one of the best gaming session that I had for a long time. Everyone of us had been busy with our own stuffs that we did not really get together for a long time. The past year had also not been easy for the business and working together with each other when we are both good friends and business partners can be challenging at times.

Despite the ups and downs, nothing can be happier than the fact that the team is still togeher, enjoying the simple joys of board gaming. Like what I always say,

"Folks that play together, stay together."

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