PICKOMINO/HECKMECK (Zoch Verlag/Rio Grande Games, 2-6 players, ages 8 and up, 20 minutes; $24.95)
Dice
don’t have a very good reputation in gaming these days, primarily because a
lot of us grew mighty sick of them due to our childhood exposure to designs like
Monopoly and Risk. But I think that
true dice games, where the gameplay revolves around judging probabilities and
pressing your luck, are far too rare a commodity.
The superstar in this category is Sid Sackson’s wonderful Can’t
Stop (Winter 1997 GA REPORT), which combines simple rules, quick play, and more than a little strategy into
one luscious whole. But until
recently, there was virtually nothing to compete with it.
That may be changing thanks to the efforts of one man.
In addition to his other talents, Reiner Knizia has established himself
as the leading promoter and designer of dice games.
He has written a book called “Dice Games Properly Explained”, which I
feel is the
definitive work on the subject; it contains over 100 dice games, many of which
you’ve probably never encountered before and quite a few of which are of his
own design. In addition, he’s
also responsible for several published dice games, including the light-hearted
Exxtra and last year’s Easy Come, Easy Go
(featured last issue). His latest effort is Pickomino, which I think is easily the best of the
lot. In fact, it’s the first dice
game I’ve played which I think can seriously give Can’t Stop a run for the
money, and that’s pretty high praise coming from me.
One small warning before I begin. Pickomino
is themed around chickens eating barbequed worms.
This bizarre notion comes from Zoch’s desire to follow up their earlier
chicken-themed hit, Pick Picknic. (By
the way, these are the Rio Grande titles. For those more familiar with the
original Zoch titles, Pickomino’s original name
was Heckmeck am Bratwurmeck and Pick
Picknic was originally called Hick Hack in
Gackelwack. Now you know why I’ve been using the Rio Grande
names!)
In
fact, the illustrative style is very similar in the two games.
All this is fine, but you should be warned that you’ll be hearing a lot
about worms in this review. My
apologies ahead of time to the squeamish.
Pickomino is played with eight special dice and 16 tiles.
The dice are regular six-siders except that the 6’s are replaced with a
picture of a worm. The tiles
resemble Mah Jongg tiles, a little smaller than those usually found in the
Oriental classic, and each shows a different number from 21 to 36.
In addition, each tile has from one to four worms on it, with the higher
numbered tiles having the larger worm totals.
At the beginning of the game, all 16 tiles are placed face up in the center of
the table. The start player rolls
all eight dice. He then must lock
in one of the values shown. Those
dice are set aside and he then rolls the remaining dice.
For example, if Herb rolls 1-3-4-4-4-5-5-worm, he could lock in the
single 1, the single 3, the three 4’s, the two 5’s, or the single worm.
He couldn’t lock in just one or two 4’s – he has to use all the
dice which 
show
that value. On a player’s
subsequent rolls, he must again lock in some dice, but these can’t be of any
value he’s locked in previously. So
if Herb decided to lock in his two 5’s, on his next roll, he’d have to lock
in some value other than 5’s.
This continues until the player is satisfied with the total of his locked-in
dice or he is forced to stop. If a
player decides to stop, he totals up the values of his locked-in dice (worms
count as 5). If the tile with that
sum is still in the center of the table, he can take it.
However, in order to do that, at least one of the player’s locked-in
dice must show a worm. In
subsequent rounds, if he takes another tile and still has the first one he took,
he stacks the second tile on top of the first.
There is no limit to how high this stack can go, so the only exposed tile
each player has is the last one he took.
If the locked-in total is equal to the value on an opponent’s exposed tile,
the player can take that tile and add it to his own stack.
Tiles which are covered are protected, so players never have more than
one vulnerable tile at any one time.
Finally, if the tile that corresponds to the locked-in total isn’t in the
center display and isn’t on top of an opponent’s stack, the player can still
take the highest tile in the display which is less than his total.
Note that this only applies to the central tiles; in order to steal a
tile, the player must match the value exactly.
There are a few ways in which a player can have an unsuccessful turn by failing
to take a tile. First, if all the
dice he rolls show values he’s already locked in, he unable to lock in any
dice, so he has to end his turn. If
all eight dice are locked in and none of the dice show a worm, his turn is over. Finally, if he’s locked in all the dice, or all six values
are locked in, and there is no available tile for him to take (meaning the tile
matching the sum is covered and none of the lower valued tiles are in the
display), he ends his turn unsuccessfully.
On an unsuccessful turn, the player must return the tile on top of his stack to
the central display. In addition,
he turns over the highest valued tile still in the display; this tile is now out
of play.
After a player takes a tile or has an unsuccessful turn, the turn passes to the
player on his left. Players
continue taking turns until there are no available tiles in the display.
Each player then adds up the worms on all the tiles in their stack.
The player with the most worms wins the game (and I bet you never thought
you’d see that sentence in your lifetime!).
Pickomino fits all of the prerequisites for a good dice game.
The rules are pretty straightforward, it plays quickly, there’s a good
deal of potential screwage, and there’s the excitement of meeting and missing
goals. But what raises it up to the
Can’t Stop level for me is that there’s some real decision making necessary.
Best of all, many of these decisions are not particularly obvious.
Take a look at the sample roll I gave out earlier (1-3-4-4-4-5-5-worm) to see
something of what I’m talking about. Which
dice should I freeze in that roll? Well,
I could freeze the worm, since I’ll need at least one to take a tile.
But worms and 5’s are the highest values I can roll, so I’d prefer to
have more than one in my final total. Freezing
the two 5’s definitely seems preferable.
I’d also consider the three 4’s, although that would only leave five
dice left and now rolling a worm becomes a little more of an issue.
With a mediocre roll, you sometimes think about freezing a single low
value (the 3 or even the 1), because giving up on multiple copies of that number
isn’t much of a sacrifice and you can now reroll a large number of dice,
trying to get some high values. So
as you can see, the process definitely entails more than just freezing the
highest values you roll.
Another decision is how high a valued tile to go after early on.
Usually, you don’t want to take too big a risk when your locked in dice
already allow you to take a lower valued tile.
But if you can get a juicy tile early on and then protect it by getting
it covered, that can be a nice nest egg. Another
strategy is to get one or more lower valued tiles and then cover them with a
high valued one, figuring that it will be hard for your opponents to steal it
and thereby protect the whole stack. Of course, all of these decisions are dictated to a certain
extent by the dice you roll and what your opponents are doing.
The decisions get much more interesting with missing values in the display and
particularly when you’re trying to steal tiles.
Trying to work the probabilities in your favor makes for a nice mental
workout. It’s not rocket science,
but it’s not simplistic either, and the correct choice is often not the
obvious one.
What’s so nice about Pickomino, just as with Can’t
Stop, is that if you’d
rather not fret over these choices, the game can still be a lot of fun.
Just freeze some dice each turn, roll away, and hope for the best.
Families should appreciate this aspect, and since you’re still dealing
with dice, there’s enough luck to let every family member win a reasonable
amount of the time.
The rule that lets you cover older tiles with newly won ones is excellent, since
it keeps the game from being a swipefest while still giving players a clear goal
to go after, particularly if they wish to steal from the leader. Another fine rule is flipping the highest tile in the display
following an unsuccessful turn, as it ensures the game won’t overstay its
welcome.
Actually, this leads me to the one valid complaint I’ve heard about the game. With more than five players, Pickomino can last an hour or
more, since there’s so many more chances to steal opponents’ tiles, and
these actions don’t move the game toward a conclusion.
My one seven player game did indeed last about an hour and even though I
enjoyed it immensely, in the long run the game is much better if the duration is
30 minutes or less. The simple cure
for this is to limit the number of players to five or less.
Depending on how the dice fall, six or seven player games can be short,
but you should realize if you play with that number that there’s a chance that
the game can last a long time. So
my full recommendation would be to play this with from three to five players,
while appreciating the fact that the game can accommodate up to seven.
The components for Pickomino are considerably nicer than was strictly necessary
and this adds quite a bit to the playing experience.
The dice are designed well and are appropriately sized so that you can
easily roll eight of them at a time. But
the tiles are the stars of the show. These
are big and chunky, with a pleasing tactile sense.
They’re cool to the touch and look very attractive, which is more than
you can say about most items that include drawings of worms.
Doris Matthaus is responsible for the physical design, so this kind of
quality is hardly surprising. Her
distinctive cover art (featuring those crazy Zoch chickens) also adds to the
game’s appealing look.
The rules do a reasonably good job of explaining the play, but be aware that
chickens grilling, plating, and eating worms is mentioned in practically every
line. It’s theming gone mad and
normally I wouldn’t mind, except that due to the subject matter, a thorough
read of the rules leads to a slight feeling of nausea.
Less of a case of the worm being turned than my stomach being turned.
Fortunately, the game is easily learned, so that you should rarely have
to refer to the rules and their worm-drenched text.
Of all the games that have appeared in the first half of 2005, Pickomino has been the biggest and most pleasant surprise to me. I love dice games and this is now one of my favorites. Play is highly interactive and rollicking good fun, but there’s plenty to think about as well. The game can be enjoyed by ten-year olds, as well as by sophisticated gamers. I honestly think this is Knizia’s best design since Amun-Re (Summer 2003 GA REPORT), which is pretty high praise given the man’s usual prolific release schedule. So roll over to your local game store and pick up Pickomino – this should be one purchase you won’t feel the need to worm out of! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Larry Levy
