Steffan Dorra's Amazonas.
The game is set in the lush jungles of the Amazon, and players are
scientists charged with the task of setting up camps and collecting specimens at
various villages scattered throughout the region. AMAZONAS (Kosmos/Mayfair
Games, 3-4 players, ages 10 and up, about 60 minutes; $49.99)
I’ve had the
great fortune to have traveled quite extensively throughout Europe and the
United States. However, I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting South
America, and I’ve always been fascinated by pictures of the rain forest and
surrounding Amazon region. One day,
I hope to visit the area.
In the
meantime, I guess I’ll have to content myself with playing games such as
Steffan Dorra's Amazonas.
The game is set in the lush jungles of the Amazon, and players are
scientists charged with the task of setting up camps and collecting specimens at
various villages scattered throughout the region.
The board
depicts a section of the jungles surrounding the mighty Amazon River.
Scattered throughout the region are villages, all connected by a series
of land and river pathways. Each
village can accommodate from 1 – 3 explorer’s huts, with the cost increasing
for each hut constructed at a particular location.
Beside each village is artwork depicting the type of specimen that can be
collected at that location. There
are five types of specimens: butterflies,
flowers, fish, parrots and reptiles.
Each player
receives an initial supply of twelve huts and 3 gold coins.
Beware the coins! Why?
Well, I’ll get back to that later.
Players also receive seven cards with values ranging from 0 – 6, and
each with art depicting a specimen(s) or native. Finally, each player receives a secret destination card that
depicts four villages. Players
should try to construct huts in each of these villages, as failure to do so will
cost the player victory points at the end of the game.
Play begins by
each player constructing a hut in a village of his choice, and receiving the
corresponding specimen token. When
constructing a hut, the village must have an available space and the player must
pay the cost depicted on the construction site IN
GOLD COINS. Again, more on this
in a bit.
After this
initial construction, the game begins. The
top card of the event deck is revealed, and its consequence affects play for the
current round. Event cards have a
variety of effects, including blocking jungle or sea paths, increasing or
reducing income, or even causing players to lose some of their existing funds.
This deck is not recycled and the game ends once all 18 cards have been
revealed.
Players then
simultaneously play one of their income cards.
The number depicted on the cards is the amount of income IN
SILVER COINS a player receives, supplemented by one for each specimen token
the player possesses which matches the picture depicted on the income card.
Players will take their turn in order of most income to least, with ties
being broken by unique numbers depicted on the cards.
I stress again
that income is received in SILVER COINS. Three silver coins equals ONE
GOLD COIN. Remember, when
players construct huts at village locations, the cost is depicted in GOLD
COINS. Thus, a site that depicts three nuggets requires the
expenditure of THREE GOLD COINS … NOT
three silver coins … in order to erect a hut.
This rather simple rule is easy to misunderstand, as we did in our first
game. The result was a game
overflowing with money, which is directly contrary to the actual intent of the
game system. So, take heed and play
this rule correctly.
Once a player
receives his income, he may construct one or more huts or pass. If he opts to
construct a hut, it must be at a location that is connected via a path to one of
his previously constructed huts. Thus,
the presence of an event card that blocks
jungle or sea paths for the turn can force a player to alter his plans for the
round. When a player constructs a
hut in a village, he receives a matching specimen token.
Each player
takes his turn in a similar fashion, after which a new event card is revealed
and the process is repeated. Thus,
the turn order will likely change from turn-to-turn.
Since the construction sites are limited at each village, it is quite
likely that some paths will be filled, thereby blocking the progress of other
players. This can make turn order
an important consideration, so players must carefully consider which card they
bid on each turn.
A further
consideration is that players receive additional income based on their specimen
tokens which match the specimen depicted on their income card.
Thus, wise players will carefully plan the play of their card so as to
maximize their income. However,
players will not retrieve played income cards until they have played through all
seven of their cards.
As mentioned,
the event cards provide some unexpected obstacles.
However, since all of the 18 cards will eventually surface, players can
plan for their appearance. Four of
the event cards depict a native. When
this surfaces, players have the option of foregoing income for that turn and
taking the native token instead. Once
one player takes the token, however, this option is no longer available for the
other players. The native token
acts as a “wild” token and is immediately assigned to a particular specimen. It also supplements a player’s income whenever the card
depicting the native is played. These
native tokens are extremely valuable, so it is best not to let a player have it
too cheaply.
The first
player to collect all five types of specimens receives a bonus token worth 5
points at the end of the game. All
other players can also earn bonus tokens, but the value of each decreases by
one. This is yet another choice the player must make during the
game; that is, pursue the bonus token, concentrate on reaching all four villages
depicted on your destination card, or insure you collect at least three tokens
of a specimen so that they will score at game’s end.
The game ends
after 18 rounds, which corresponds to the number of event cards in the deck.
Players then tally their points. A
player must have at least 3 of a specimen in order for it to be tallied.
If they have accomplished this, then each token of that specimen is worth
1 point. If a player has less than
three of a particular specimen, then they do not score.
To this total is added the value of any bonus token the player may have
earned. Finally, a player loses
three points for each village depicted on his destination card at which he did NOT
construct a hut. The player with
the most points is victorious.
After an initial playing wherein we confused the gold/silver coin issue, I’ve since played numerous games correctly. I find the game to be enjoyable, and requires players to make some interesting decisions throughout. Aside from the easy-to-confuse gold/silver rules, the game is easy to understand and teach. It should be one of those games that will have considerable appeal in the family market, while at the same time having just enough there to entice gamers. It certainly doesn’t fall into the deep-end of the Amazon in terms of strategy or depth, but it also isn’t too light so as to be tossed aside by gamers. Rather, it occupies that central location wherein there is enough here to entice gamers, but not too much so as to be a detriment to entice family and friends. Looks like I’ll be making more return trips to the jungles of South America. - - - - Greg J. Schloesser
