This is a game about connecting German post offices. You build continuously bigger routes, to connect post offices, to control regions. The game gives you freedom with a lot of options, but, without question, it most rewards efficiency.
Author: Tom Sorenson
Tzaar Preview
Tzaar is a 2-player tile-hunting game. Create stacks to hunt 1 type of your opponent’s tiles to extinction, but be careful because they are doing the same to you. Even though the rules are simple, avoiding bigger stacks, setting traps, and balancing stacking/hunting makes this a high-intensity game.
Baseball Highlights 2045 Preview
Baseball Highlights: 2045 is a series of baseball mini-games broken up by team upgrades. Each card offers varying offensive and defensive capabilities, and the goal is to build a team that outperforms your opponent’s. Countering your opponent’s upgrades and outmaneuvering them in mini-games is exhilarating.
Camel Up Review
Foreword
This is a low-strategy game, and it’s fun. Frequently, my favorite part of gaming is testing new strategies. So, I generally prefer games with a lot of strategic choice or games with unique strategies. This game offers neither, but I enjoy playing it anyway. I can play this game with most groups and have a great time.
Object
Each player is trying to make the most money by betting on a camel race.
How to Play
Setup
Roll all 5 dice, each die color matches the color of a camel. Put each camel onto the starting space dictated by its corresponding die. All camels with the same starting space must be placed on top of each other to form a “camel stack” (even a single camel is considered a camel stack). In setup, it does not matter which camel is on top. During the game, the camel on top of a stack is farther ahead then the camel(s) below it.
Each player selects a character and takes the matching set of 5 cards, matching obstacle tile, and 3 Egyptian Pounds (Victory Points).
Race Legs
The overall camel race is divided into multiple legs. A leg ends when every camel’s die has been rolled.
Player Actions
On a player’s turn, they must take 1 of 4 actions:
- Advance the camels
To advance the camels, the current player takes a pyramid tile worth 1 Egyptian pound. Then, they pick up the pyramid, shake it, place it face down on the board, push the insert so one die comes out, and then set that die aside. Finally, move the camel that matches the color of the die that many spaces forward. (Every die can roll a 1, 2, or 3 with a 1/3 chance of each.)
Any camels on top of that camel stay on top as it moves; this is a camel stack. If the camel stack ends its move in a space with another camel stack, put the stack that just moved on top. They are now a single camel stack.
Once all 5 dice have been rolled, the leg ends. Leg bets (explained below) are resolved, and then all 5 dice are put back in the pyramid for the next leg.
As soon as a camel stack crosses the finish line, the game immediately wraps up.
- Place your Obstacle
Each player has an obstacle tile that shows an oasis on one side and a mirage on the other. A player may place, move, and/or flip this tile as an action. An obstacle tile may not be immediately adjacent to another obstacle tile. Whenever a camel stack ends its movement on a tile, the tile’s owner gains 1 Egyptian Pound, and the camel stack moves.
If a camel stack ends its movement on an oasis side-up tile, that camel stack moves one more space forward. The camel stack would go on top of any camel stack in that space.
If a camel stack ends its movement on a mirage side-up tile, that camel stack moves one space backward. The camel stack would go underneath any camel stack already in that space.
- Take a Leg Bet
Bet which camel will be in first at the end of the leg by taking a tile of the matching color. The first bet for each color rewards 5 Egyptian Pounds, if that camel is in first at the end of the leg. The second bet rewards 3, and the third bet rewards 2. If that camel comes in second for the leg, that tile is worth only 1 Egyptian Pound. If it comes in third or worse, that tile loses you 1 Egyptian Pound. Once the leg is over, take your won Egyptian Pounds and then return the tiles for the next leg.
With regard to camel stacks, the camel on top is farther ahead than the camels below it.
- Place an Overall Race Bet
Place one of your cards representing a camel into one of two piles. If you think that camel will win the overall race, put it in the left pile. If you think that camel will lose the overall race, put it in the right pile. Each wrong bet will cost you 1 Egyptian Pound. However, the earliest correct bet rewards the most.
End of Game
As soon as a camel stack crosses the finish line, the game immediately wraps up. The current leg betting tiles are resolved. Then the race bets are resolved. Finally, the player with the most Egyptian Pounds is declared the winner.
Conclusions
This is a high-luck game; it is a betting game after all. Early, high-risk bets have the most potential gain. Later low-risk bets are less valuable but more guaranteed. The ideal bets in the game are when you can take a 5 on a color with a greater then 2/3 probability of success. For example, only the blue and orange camels have yet to move in this leg. Blue will win unless orange is rolled first, and it is a 3. So, you should generally pick blue to win (even if only the blue 3 and 2 bets are left.) I, on the other hand, would much rather pick orange, especially if the orange 5 bet is available.
I am a very competitive person. Also, I haven’t always been the best winner/loser. (I have gotten much better recently though.) Because of these things, Camel Up is perfect for me. I place those high-risk high-reward bets, and I really ham it up. I put a lot of effort into building the excitement and anticipation. (Admittedly I did have to force it a bit at first, but it comes naturally now.) So, if the fates align and I win the bet, it feels great for me. If I lose the bet, it feels really great for everyone else, and it doesn’t bother me much since it was a long shot anyways. In addition, not doing great in one leg doesn’t knock you out of the game. I am able to play to win, enhance the fun for myself and everyone else, and don’t really care if I lose.
The pyramid for rolling the dice works really well for this game, and the pyramid is pretty cool too. The art is great, and I really enjoy playing as essentially Nigel Thornberry from the old Thornberry cartoon. In addition, the camels stacking on top of each other is excellent. Gameplay wise, the camel stacks make for a lot of really interesting situations. One camel could be 6 spaces ahead of the last camel. Then, that last camel hops onto a stack. That stack then moves that camel twice, and now that last place camel is on top of the first place camel. Crazy stuff like that happens frequently.
If you are looking for a high-strategy game, this is not that game. It is, however, a really fun, high-luck experience that works with most groups and ages. This is actually the favorite game of my friend’s 8-year-old brother, and it is one of my dad’s favorite games as well. For me, it is one of the games I frequently break out with people new to gaming. I do recommend trying this game, but don’t expect rich strategy. (Obstacle placing can be pretty interesting though.)
Smash Up Preview
In this light card game, players combine factions such as Dinosaurs and Robots to fight other paired factions. Unique factions cards, random common cards, and free-for-all conflict lead to big plays yet frequently close games. Rules are simple, but for a fairly quick game the combos and strategy are satisfying .
Alhambra Preview
In this game, each player competes to build the Alhambra. 4 currencies facilitate the purchase of 6 types of structures, and paying exact change lets you act again. The premise is simple. Turns are quick. Structure placement/scoring is satisfying. And, the exact change mechanism creates a lot of excitement.
Takenoko Preview
Build a garden, grow bamboo, and send a panda to eat it in Takenoko. And, since everyone is working toward different goals, players will frequently be eating the bamboo grown by another. This is a fairly quick and light-hearted game that looks great as you play it.
Seasons Preview
Seasons is a dice-rolling card game with drafting. You define your strategy with your cards, and you execute it 1 die choice at a time. There are no bad rolls, so the winner is generally the player who makes the best choices. While not too difficult, high variability allows for multiple interesting strategies, and randomization makes them fun to execute.
Epic Card by Card Analysis (Drafting) Wild Update
My Epic Card by Card Analysis (Drafting) article has just been updated to include analysis for all of the Wild faction cards. Click the article title in the previous sentence to be directed there.
My analysis of all of the factions against each other will be completed by end of day 2/22/16. I’ll explain why I like certain factions over others and my general drafting philosophy.
Kahuna Preview
Kahuna is a 2-player game that exemplifies the importance of timing and card advantage. Balancing expansion and over-extension is critical. Move too early and you become vulnerable. Move too late and you miss opportunities. However, it feels fantastic when you make that big play after saving cards and scheming for multiple turns.
