Post by Gilvan Blight on Feb 16, 2009 10:57:44 GMT -5
Quickly: Seems simple but there's a ton of strategy.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]This one isn't going to be easy to describe.
The board consists of 12 regions that are made up of four different types of land. There are Grasslands, Forests, Plains and Mountains. Regions are separated by rivers or lakes. At the start of the game you randomly distribute wooden huts in 5 different colours in each of these regions so there is one hut per region. Each colour represents a different tribe.
Players then secretly draw a tile which tells them which tribe they are. Once colours are determined the game begins. There is only one move in this game. That is moving all of the huts from one land to an adjacent land. Movement can cross rivers but not lakes. Any group of 7 or more huts cannot be moved, and you can't move huts into an empty land. What this means is that player take turns grouping the various separate tribes of clans into larger groups.
These larger groups become villages when they are surrounded by empty lands. When a village is formed scoring occurs. The player who formed the village gets a victory token, which also moves the epoch chart down one (more on this later). Next the players check for strife (which occurs when all 5 clans are together and any single huts are removed). Then you compare the type of land the village was founded on to an Epoch chart on the side of the board. If the village was founded on an unfavorable type of land it is wiped out and removed from the board. If on neutral land each clan present scores points equal to the number of huts present. If on Favorable ground each clan also gets a set number of bonus points.
This continues until 12 villages are formed at which point the players reveal their colours and score their clans one additional point per victory point token the players have. The player with the most points wins.
The Epoch Chart: this is divided into 5 different eras. In each era the number of bonus points for being in favorable land increases and the lands that are favorable and unfavorable change.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Rather quick to learn and quick to set up, and even quick to play. Sounds rather simple but once you get playing this game is a real thinker. The mechanic of not knowing what colour each player is, is what makes this game. You spend a lot of time trying to figure out who is what and then working to screw them without giving away who you are so you don't in turn get screwed.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]Only so so with two players. It seemed quite easy to figure out what colours your opponent isn't which made it easy to figure out which they were. I expect this would be much better with 3 or 4 players as there would be a lot more to keep track of.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]Definitely not for everyone. This involves a lot of thinking, especially near the end of the game. This also means that turns can get rather long and boring while waiting for another player to figure out their move. I suggest a time limit if this becomes a problem.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]I rather liked this one, unfortunately my wife didn't. It's definitely not a quick pick up and play fun game, this is one plays more like a game of chess or Go with lots of planning ahead and anticipating your opponents moves. Due to this I don't think it would be for everyone. I did enjoy it myself and would love to get a few more games in.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]This one isn't going to be easy to describe.
The board consists of 12 regions that are made up of four different types of land. There are Grasslands, Forests, Plains and Mountains. Regions are separated by rivers or lakes. At the start of the game you randomly distribute wooden huts in 5 different colours in each of these regions so there is one hut per region. Each colour represents a different tribe.
Players then secretly draw a tile which tells them which tribe they are. Once colours are determined the game begins. There is only one move in this game. That is moving all of the huts from one land to an adjacent land. Movement can cross rivers but not lakes. Any group of 7 or more huts cannot be moved, and you can't move huts into an empty land. What this means is that player take turns grouping the various separate tribes of clans into larger groups.
These larger groups become villages when they are surrounded by empty lands. When a village is formed scoring occurs. The player who formed the village gets a victory token, which also moves the epoch chart down one (more on this later). Next the players check for strife (which occurs when all 5 clans are together and any single huts are removed). Then you compare the type of land the village was founded on to an Epoch chart on the side of the board. If the village was founded on an unfavorable type of land it is wiped out and removed from the board. If on neutral land each clan present scores points equal to the number of huts present. If on Favorable ground each clan also gets a set number of bonus points.
This continues until 12 villages are formed at which point the players reveal their colours and score their clans one additional point per victory point token the players have. The player with the most points wins.
The Epoch Chart: this is divided into 5 different eras. In each era the number of bonus points for being in favorable land increases and the lands that are favorable and unfavorable change.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Rather quick to learn and quick to set up, and even quick to play. Sounds rather simple but once you get playing this game is a real thinker. The mechanic of not knowing what colour each player is, is what makes this game. You spend a lot of time trying to figure out who is what and then working to screw them without giving away who you are so you don't in turn get screwed.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]Only so so with two players. It seemed quite easy to figure out what colours your opponent isn't which made it easy to figure out which they were. I expect this would be much better with 3 or 4 players as there would be a lot more to keep track of.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]Definitely not for everyone. This involves a lot of thinking, especially near the end of the game. This also means that turns can get rather long and boring while waiting for another player to figure out their move. I suggest a time limit if this becomes a problem.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]I rather liked this one, unfortunately my wife didn't. It's definitely not a quick pick up and play fun game, this is one plays more like a game of chess or Go with lots of planning ahead and anticipating your opponents moves. Due to this I don't think it would be for everyone. I did enjoy it myself and would love to get a few more games in.