Pro LudoPro Ludo had their various new games on display, including the belated Tempus, which we originally expected last year. The new Ave Caesar was there too. The playing pieces are the same as – and just as nice as – the original game, but the jury’s out on the new race tracks on the board in this edition. Spiel der Türme (The Game of Towers, but Ramparts in the English language edition from Café Games) is another re-release, this time of a clever multi-player abstract game from Rudi Hoffman. The new edition retains the use of solid wooden pieces, which gives the game a nice tactile quality. The aim is to stack up blocks with the same symbol and get them into the best scoring positions. Queen GamesShogun is a re-working by Dirk Henn of his earlier game, Wallenstein, for Japan rather than medieval Germany. Both are published by Queen Games. I rather enjoyed Wallenstein, so I expect this to be good too – particularly as the designer has apparently taken the opportunity to tweak the game system a bit. 
R&D GamesFowl Play! is Richard Breese’s new game and is much simpler than his games usually are, but is still published by R&D Games in a limited edition. Players first get to move some of the fowl around the board and then move their fox. As you’d expect, it’s all over for the bird if a fox catches one. As well as the different types of bird, each counter is a different colour and shape. Apart from just catching birds, players are looking for sets and score points for survivors with particular characteristics. The scoring is complicated, which makes players have a bit of a job working out just what they are after. Unusually for Richard’s games, this feels very abstract: it’s all about working out the positions and the moves of the pieces. It’s clever, but it didn’t grab me on first playing. A provisional 6/10 on my chicken-eating scale. Richard also had an expansion set for Reef Encounter – Reef Encounters of the Second Kind. It adds some extra creatures, which give players more tactical options. A must for any fan of the game – that means me! Schmidt SpieleDie Schatztaucher (The Treasure Divers) is an interesting little Reiner Knizia game published by Schmidt. Players are looking for undersea treasure – tiles laid out on the board. The twist is that the players have the use of an ultra-violet light to illuminate one tile at a turn. This reveals a design that indicates what is on the other side of the tile. As players are looking for specific sets, this is a good indication of what they want to pick up – though the UV picture doesn’t tell the whole story. With the usual clever scoring system, this is another neat game from Reiner, despite being aimed at children (6+). For gamers it makes a decent filler: 7/10 on my highly innovative scale. Singlish MoppingSinglish Mopping is the bizarre name (their logo is an ‘English’ muffin, so it may be some sort of pun…) of a new German publisher, whose first game is Paaren (Couples in English). The large cards show nice pastel caricatures of men and women, whose faces you will probably recognise – though not under those names! Other cards are places and all three have icons to show their affinities. There are also influence cards that affect game play. The aim is to match up couples in appropriate places while preventing the other players from doing so. First to a set number of couples wins. Nice stuff, good looking game: I give it a provisional 8/10 on my match-making scale. Sphinx SpieleverlagAnother entertaining game is Sport ist Mord (Sport is Murder) from Sphinx Spieleverlag and designed by Henning Poehl. This is another card game, but the theme is getting fit by playing sport. Players compete with each other to do best by practising, hiring trainers and taking drugs! But they are also running risks and the question is whether they’ll stay fit enough. It looks fun, but I haven’t played it yet, so I have to reserve judgement on it for the time being. 
Spiel-ou-FaceMetromania gave me a bit of a headache. Players use triangular tiles with a track along one edge to build a network of tram lines across the town represented on the board. The aim is to connect different buildings with a minimum of stations along the way. As players are responsible for placing most of the buildings on the board, there are lots of tactical options. Plus the need to get your head round what the triangular tiles let you do. Clever and challenging, this is an excellent start for designer Jean-Michel Maman and first time publisher, Spiel-ou-Face. I give it 9/10 on my headachingly subjective scale. Sunriver Games24/7 - The Game is something of an oddity from Sunriver Games and Carey Grayson. Players lay number tiles on the board, aiming to make sets, runs or totals of 7 or 24 in different directions – without exceeding 24 in any direction. Squares that can’t be played on any more are filled with glass stones. It’s neat enough, but doesn’t interest me. The game is nicely produced with domino-style tiles: 5/10 on my highly subjective scale. 
Surprised Stare GamesSurprised Stare Games is a British publisher that has produced some quirky card games. Their first strategy board game is Tara – Seat of Kings, designed by Alan Paull. This is played over a map of ancient Ireland, divided into four kingdoms. To become High King – and win the game – players have to be King of two kingdoms. This is achieved by getting a piece on the top of the triangle of positions in each kingdom. Pieces get onto the board by playing cards that show 1 or 2 positions in the triangle and there’s a neat mechanism that can see control ripple up the triangle. Added to this, some of the actions cost money, so players also need to establish positions to maximise their income. Clever stuff and a provisional 8/10 on my Kelly green scale. Valley GamesIf you’re a fan of cynical games about politics, then Die Macher is the game for you. Designed by Karl-Heinz Schmiel, the veteran game is back in a new edition from Canadian publisher Valley Games. Players manipulate the public and their policies to gain income and win elections in the German regions with the ultimate aim of dominating the national Parliament. The party that can get the most money tends to win – just like real life!? It’s a deep (and lengthy) game that I heartily recommend: 10/10 on my highly bribable scale. WarfrogMartin Wallace’s new game for Warfrog (now published by Esdevium Games in an interesting move for a distributor) is Perikles. This is something of a wargame, but with the Wallace twist. The players compete for political influence in Ancient Greek city states. The winner gets to be leader and has command of the city’s forces in the battles of the Peloponnesian war. Winning a battle gets the player victory points. Losing a battle reduces the points the player will get (at the end of the game) for being leader. The game lasts just three turns, so it’s highly contained. And being frozen out of the elections doesn’t put a player out of the battles: they get control of the Persian forces. It’s a nicely balanced game that gives players tough decisions to make and plenty of tactical options. 9/10 on my Ancient Greek scale. 
Ystari GamesThe new game from Ystari is Yspahan (published in English by Rio Grande). Designed by Sébastien Pauchon, this is a dice-based game that is lighter than Caylus and more on a par with Ys to my mind. The theme is camel caravans in the medieval capital of Persia. The game is limited to 21 turns (grouped into three weeks), which gives the players a bit of time pressure. The actions – and the value of the actions – available to players each turn are governed by rolling a set of dice. Players use the actions to establish points-scoring positions on the various sections of the board or to develop their own special abilities. Points are scored at the end of each week and the main board is cleared. My first impression is an ingenious, tactical game that provides lots of opportunities and, thus, decisions. An initial 8/10 on my camel scale. ConclusionAs always Spiel was great fun, with more games than anyone can look at in four days. Plus all the other things around – I particularly like all the live role-playing accessories: weapons, armour and costumes. My thanks to Friedhelm Merz Verlag for another highly successful feat of organisation. I look forward to Spiel ’07 on 18th-21st October 2007. Top of page / Page 1 /Page 2 / Reviews index Page created 24th November 2006. This website produced by Paul Evans. © Copyright Paul Evans, 2006. All trademarks acknowledged. Problems, comments and feedback to Webmaster@pevans.co.uk. |
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