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Avalon Hill, 3M Parker Bros. Business European Mystery Politics Space/Fantasy |
EXCERPTS FROM THE SPRING 2001 GA REPORT SAN MARCO (Ravensburger; $35) Alan Moon has found a
great deal of success in revisiting games, giving them a twist , and
making them his own. Inspired by Sid Sackson's Acquire,
Moon came up with Airlines which he then
again reworked into Union Pacific. Wolfgang
(and Ursula) Kramer's Wildlife Adventure
served to inspire Moon's Santa Fe. He
reworked his own Elfenroads to emerge with
Game of San Marco centers on power politics in Venice... Three to four players represent powerful families vying for a seat on the city's council. Gain the highest esteem and you win the game. The game comes boxed with a mounted game board of Venice divided into six districts and high quality components including 100 aristocrats (wooden cubes divided equally into four colors), prestige stones (used as markers), 12 bridges, 62 Action cards, 28 Limit cards, a Doge piece and a die. The clear and concise rulebook contains rules in five languages including English. This is a game of low to moderate complexity with a playing time of about an hour. All players begin with 25 aristocrats (in their own color), two prestige stones (used to track prestige and other functions) and a bridge. Players "seed" the board by rolling the die. the number rolled indicates the district that the player will place two of his aristocrats. Each player does this, in turn, four times. Then, each player puts his bridge on the board so that it links two adjacent districts. (An aristocrat is placed on the bridge to indicate ownership.) San Marco is played in three passages or turns. Each passage consists of a variable number of rounds. The player who being each round...takes each player's prestige stone and randomly draws them one at a time. This determines the players who will be the "distributors" and those who will be the "decision-makers". The two distributors each draw 5 Action and 3 Limit cards. Separately and secretly, each distributor then divides the cards into two piles. Then, the first distributor exposes both piles and it is up to the first decision-maker to decide while pile to take. This is a variation of you cutting the cake and having your guest take the first piece! (This procedure is then repeated with the remaining two players.) This division of cards is the key to the game. Action Cards allow players to do certain things. A district card allows the placement of an aristocrat in the named district (and then, if so desired, allows the aristocrat to move to one neighboring district if linked by a bridge). A bridge card allows a player to place a bridge between two districts. A transfer card replaces an enemy aristocrat in any district with one of yours while banishment removes a die roll's worth of aristocrats from any named district. The Doge card causes scoring to occur in any area that the Doge piece is placed. The Limit Cards, however, force you to pay a penalty. Limit cards come in denominations of 1, 2 and 3. If a player amasses a total of 10 or more limit points, than that passage is over for him! Each district shows two values. These values indicate the number of prestige points won by the player with the most and second most amount of aristocrats in the area when the Doge is present. The Doge may enter (or remain in a district if he starts the turn there) upon play of the Doge card. If remaining in the district, that district is scored. If the player decides to move the Doge, the Doge piece may cross over bridges owned by that player for free. Otherwise, crossing a bridge owned by an opponent earns one prestige point for the bridge owner. A Doge may also "skip" over to a district not connected by a bridge. However, this costs the player two prestige points. This ability to "skip" cuts two ways. In the beginning of the game, "skipping" help players without bridges in strategic places to score since bridge "networks" have not really been built yet. On the other hand, "skipping" certainly makes the game more "forgiving"; you can still score even if you have painted yourself into a corner. In aiming for a general, "family game", audience, you can understand the purpose of "skipping". From a gamer point of view, however, it minimizes the worth of the bridges (which unbalances card values) and devalues the rewards for careful planning. A passage approaches its end when one or more players reach or exceed 10 limit points. Upon reaching or exceeding 10, a player may finish playing his action cards but then he is finished for this segment of play. If, at this point, two or three players have less than 10, one more round is played and then, the passage is over... At this point, the limit points of all players are compared. Anyone with less than 10 receives bonus points equal t the highest held total of limit points minus that player's points. (If Player A, for example, went out with 15 limit points and player B finished with 9, player B earns a bonus of 6 prestige points.) Finally, the player with the fewest limit points is allowed to perform a "banishment" as if he had another banishment action card. With the completion of the third passage, every district in the game is scored. The player with the highest total of prestige points wins! Like El Grande, nobles are moved from their holdings onto different provinces or districts. Scoring is done at the location of the king (doge). All areas get scored in the end with the most influence gaining the most prestige/points. But in San Marco, these actions are streamlined. Plus the King Solomon-esque division of the cards force players to search for the elusive "Threshold of Pain", the point at which you tempt your opponent to take cards - and the highest penalty you can inflict upon him - without making the penalty so severe that he passes them by and YOU are left with them! San Marco is a game of tough decisions and planning but planning that can be upset by the draw of the cards. Recommended. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Herb Levy
FROM "POINT OF VIEW": IVANHOE (GMT Games; $20) Reiner
Knizia continues to plagiarize his own work quite successfully with the
new GMT release of Ivanhoe, a card game for
2-5 players. Ivanhoe
is based on Attacke, which was published by Germany's FX Schmid in 1993. Knizia has done the same with two prior GMT entries: Galaxy:
the Dark Ages, which was based on Titan:
the Arena and Battle Line, which was
based on Schotten-Totten -
both featured and recommended last issue. Again,
Knizia has found a winning formula by enhancing an older and less
sophisticated game simply with the addition of special cards capable of
turning the game around by providing the element of surprise. Ivanhoe is comprised of a series of tournaments (tricks) fought by the players with suits in six colors. Five represent various skills, such as the Joust (purple) and Sword (red). The white suit represents supporters of the combatants and these cards may be played to any color tournament.
The player to the left of the dealer begins the first tournament
and thereafter, tournaments are always begun by the player who won the
prior tournament. The object in the four or five player game is to collect four
chips of different colors, each corresponding to one "flavor"
of battle. With two or
three players, five different color chips must be obtained. Each player is dealt eight cards to begin the game. Play begins by drawing a card and then the player either plays a card (or cards) or withdraws from the current tournament. Played cards must be the same color as the tournament and the total value played by the player must be higher than any player still in the tournament. Thus, if Robert starts a yellow tournament with a 3, Henry must play cards with a value of more than 3 to remain in the tournament. If John later plays cards totaling 7 to the table, when the play returns to Robert, he will have to play an additional 5 points or more to remain in the combat. Remember, white represents supporters and supporters can be played to any tournament. Green tournaments represent hand-to-hand combat and ALL cards in green tournaments are valued at "1," even those already played and including supporters! There are quite a few tricks Knizia has pulled in Ivanhoe, all of which lend interest. The Maidens are supporters and at a value of 6 are extremely powerful, but are played at some risk. If the player later must withdraw from the tournament, he must lose one of his chips.
The special cards lend much to the atmosphere of the contest and offer
some great surprises as well. For
instance? With the
"Counter-Charge," all cards of the highest value must be
discarded from their "displays."
Thus, a player might be able to boost his lowly display to the
best in view by forcing the other combatants to discard their 5s, if
they were all the highest already on display.
Using "Riposte." the player may take the last card of
any opponent's display and add it to his own!
"Ivanhoe" counters any special card and
"Outwit" allows the player to trade any card in his display
for a card in an opponents display. The
game seems to very much take on the characteristics of a tournament as
players battle back and forth between the various skills.
Sooner or later, players exhaust their hands and must sit and
just draw new cards to recoup lost power.
Even here, the character of the contest is accurately put forth.
Sooner or later, the active combatants cannot increase the value
of their displays and one by one fall to the wayside, leaving only the
victor. The victor takes a chip of the same color as the tournament
and begins another, with only one limitation - a player who has won a
purple tournament may not start another purple tournament. The reason for this rule is that the winner of a purple
tournament may take ANY color chip.
A lucky deal and two consecutive purple wins might be too easy a
victory. I heartily recommend Ivanhoe. Reiner can plagiarize himself anytime and come out a winner. In fact, the card play is very reminiscent of the main phase in Knizia's Taj Mahal (Spring 2000 GA REPORT), a Spiele des Jahres (Game of the Year) nominee last year. My only gripe is that GMT appears determined to gimp out on the card stock. Although the cards are thicker than those presented in Battle Line, they do not shuffle well. In attempting to meet their marketing price point, GMT must understand that their audience is comprised of hobbyists who will gladly pay for quality. Otherwise, GMT has done it up quite nicely. The artwork by Rodger B. MacGowen (probably best known for his art hat decorated many a wargame box) depicts the medieval theme quite nicely and is top notch. The rules are written well and, in our testing, the game has played well with 3, 4 or 5. Thank you, GMT! - - - - - - - - - Al Newman
FROM "K-BAN'S KORNER":BIG SHOT (Ravensburger,
about $40)
Veteran game author Alex
Randolph is known for designs that are usually simple to explain and
grasp, seem familiar and yet have enough neat twists to make them
unique. Even though we’ve seen games that, at their core, revolve
around placement of cubes on a territorial map and also seen games that
utilize auctions to determine placement of said cubes, Big
Shot manages to use these basic mechanics to great effect.
Big
Shot’s board consists of a downtown area, divided into 13
parcels of land or lots. Eleven of them have values (in millions of $
from 9-21) plus 2 parks that each border 3 of the lower valued lots. The
graphic design is reminiscent of Ravensburger’s classic Scotland
Yard and it’s recent updated version, New
York Chase.
The
board’s perimeter consists of 18 round spaces with dollar signs. 72
wooden cubes ( 18 each of 4 colors) are randomly distributed 4 to a
space, subject to the constraint that there be at least 2 colors on each
space. Players are randomly dealt a rectangular cardboard chip
Each
turn, the start player rolls a 6-sided die to move the wooden pawn
clockwise, skipping over any empty spaces along the way. The 4 colored
cubes where the pawn lands are auctioned off as a group. Start player
makes the opening bid with each succeeding player, in turn, either
raising the bid or passing and dropping out. The high bidder pays the
bank in coins and can then place the cubes on any available lots on the
board. The only restriction to placement is that no individual lot can
have more than 7 cubes. Once a parcel of land has exactly 7 cubes it is
scored, with the player that has an undisputed majority receiving the
points. If 2 or more players tie for most cubes on a lot, then the
player with the remaining cube claims the lot. The acquiring player
places a rectangular “sold” marker and one of his cubes on the lot
to indicate final ownership. The remaining cubes of all players on the
parcel scored are retired from play.
The
lots adjoining the 2 parks range in value from $9-11 million
but can be doubled if a player
controls the park as well. The remaining lots have values ranging from
$16-21 million.
What
makes Big Shot especially nasty is the very
costly system of loans. Once per auction round a player can request a
single $10 million loan from the bank. The first loan nets proceeds of
$9 million, with each succeeding loan resulting in the proceeds
decreasing by an additional $1 million. The bank, however, expects $10
million at game’s end for each loan taken. This usurious system
severely penalizes those
prone to overbidding and can result in large negative scores for those
lacking fiscal restraint.
As
in most auction games, there is a ‘point of pain’, beyond which a
purchase just doesn’t make economic sense.
After
the 18th (and final) auction, any lot not already sold is
declared to the player with the most cubes on that parcel. Ties, again
cancel. Players add up their cash on hand to the value of the lots they
control. Loans are then repaid and the player with the most net funds
wins. A player is not eligible to win unless he controls at least two
parcels of land.
The
crucial points in Big Shot occur when a
given lot has 3 or 4 cubes previously placed. The very next auction will
usually result in a bidding war for control of that parcel. Making sure
that opponents don’t win auctions too cheaply, whole not overpaying
for the cubes you really want usually determine the outcome. The
strategic tension is in the bidding and in the placement of the cubes.
One breathes a sigh of relief when gaining control of your second
property.
Big
Shot is meant to be played by 4 but can accommodate 3 easily by
designating one color as neutral (but getting it’s cubes placed
nonetheless). The 2 player version seems convoluted, with each player
having 2 colors and keeping funds separate. Big Shot is that elusive blend between a family game and a gamers game that would have fit very nicely into the now defunct FX Schmid line, had Ravensburger not retired that venerable brand as part of a recent merger. The components are what we’ve come to expect from Ravensburger – quality that’s built to last. The rules and are in 5 languages including English, a trend we hope Ravensburger will continue to follow. - - - - - - Steve Kurzban
FROM "K-BAN'S KORNER": MORISI
(Cwali, about $30)
In 1999, Dutch designer Corne’ van Moorsel home-produced a
delightful 2-player abstract game called Isi.
It was packaged in a cylindrical cardboard tube and sold as a limited
numbered edition of 200 at the Essen Fair. Positive buzz on Isi
spread quickly over the Internet (thanks to Mik Svellov’s Brett &
Board web-site) with many requests for the game to be expanded into a
multi-player game. Thus van Moorsel created Morisi,
which shares the same core mechanism as its predecessor but adds several
key elements that allow it to scale beautifully for 3 and 4 players.
Morisi’s
components have a professional appearance, as the 39 tiles that form the
board are very nicely produced cardboard hexes with colorful landscapes.
There are 9 gray city tiles and 30 land tiles ( 6 each of 5 different
colors). The colored hexes represent farmland, pastures, forests,
fisheries and vineyards – but that is the extent of the rather thin
attempt to add theme to an abstract game. The 39 hexes are arranged printed side down to form the land of Morisi. Each hex must touch 3 or more other tiles, with the entire landmass having a maximum surface area of 22 tiles. Tiles are then turned over, with minor adjustments made to keep city tiles from being adjacent to each other. The author highly recommends leaving 2 or 3 gaps in the layout, creating a more challenging set-up and we heartily agree.
Each colored land tiles receives either 1 or 3 wooden resource cubes of
matching color. The cubes represent the experience a player has received
for visiting that land tile. Morisi scales
well from 2-4 players as fewer tiles and/or cubes are used for the 2 and
3 player versions.
Each
player is given a cylindrical wooden pawn and 20 roads (wooden sticks)
in their color along with a supply of markers that are used to count
connections by each player among the gray city hexes. On a turn, a player MUST move his pawn one space in any direction but can’t land on a tile occupied by an opponent. Opponents' pawns can, however, be jumped if in a straight line. Landing on a colored land tile is rewarded, with the player receiving a colored cube of matching color (if available). Cubes get placed behind a cardboard privacy screen. Players can then, optionally, spend some or all of their cubes to construct connecting roads from the center of one hex to at least one other hex.
All roads constructed on a given turn must either link two cities or
branch off a previously constructed road to a city and must match the
color of at least one of the land hexes. As a result, players tend to
accumulate cubes for future builds, staking out key routes that make
branching for future moves easier.
Scoring markers are paced on the cities connected, some receiving
an initial one and others being upgraded to indicate multiple
connections. A player cannot build a road segment unless it creates one
or more connections. If an opponent has already taken a route you
desire, you must pay the bank an additional cube to build a parallel
route.
Play
continues until the last cube of one color has been taken. Scoring
commences, with each player earning 4 points for each city he has
connected with his network of roads. Bonuses are earned for having
scoring markers on any of the 3 largest cities (largest being defined as
having the most value of markers for all players combined) on the board.
Morisi
plays quickly, usually in 30-60 minutes. The pawn movement and resulting
collection of colored cubes is surprisingly pleasing. Planning an
efficient network of roads that connect cities and staking out fertile
areas of the board for your pawn to gain ‘experience’ efficiently
are crucial to securing victory.
If
you place too much emphasis on earning the bonuses for largest cities,
you’ll likely lose sight of where most of your points come from –
connecting as many cities as possible. Connections accomplished via
branching are the most cost effective way to conserve your cubes,
especially when the board starts becoming congested. Morisi’s reasonable playing time (for a multi-player abstract) and the pleasant nature of collecting and spending resource cubes ensure that it will get pulled off our game shelf for frequent play. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Steve Kurzban
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the Year winner Elfenland. You
can't argue with success. This time around, Moon, teaming up with Aaron
Weissblum, tweak El Grande, the great game
by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and come up with San
Marco, a more accessible El Grande
with enough originality to make it worthy of a spot on your game
shelf. 
indicating which color they’ll be playing. A wooden pawn is placed
arbitrarily on one of the spaces. Each player receives $10 in coins as
his starting capital and can take out one $10 loan from the bank per
turn.