Iron Valley Gamers - Tongiaki, Hoity Toity, Linx, More - Session Report
LINX
Linx, published by Enginuity and designed by Andy and Sara Ellen Daniel, hit the table first as Tom, Beth and I sneaked in a game while Dana did some shopping. The goal in Linx is to earn scoring cards by building chains using the cards in your hand to connect two of the four shared "anchor cards" on the table. A chain is a series in which each card is linked to both of its neighbors by either a matching number or a matching color/symbol.
The cards range from 1 to 9 in number; there also are nine different colors/symbols (each color corresponds to a symbol). Three scoring cards are always available, and they dictate how long a chain must be and how valuable it is. For example, a chain of five (the smallest possible) is worth 10 points; a chair of 12 (the largest) is worth 100 points. you must create a chain that matches an available scoring card in order to earn points.
After playing a chain, you're likely to spend a few turns refreshing your hand with cards. The basic game ends when the 81-card deck is exhausted; with match play, players can continue to any agreed-upon score. We played once through the deck. Linx is a challenging game, requiring players to build chains as large as possible but not spend too much time doing so since the anchor cards are removed when someone uses them.
Scores: Erik, 110; Beth, 60; Tom, 45
MARRY, DATE OR DUMP?
Next up was Marry, Date or Dump?, a new party game which has been published independently but which Hasbro has picked up for wider release later this year. The goal here is to predict which of three well-known personalities one of the players would marry, which they would date, and which they would dump.
For example, Beth had to choose whether she would marry, date or dump Eminem, P. Diddy and Kid Rock. To her chagrin, you absolutely must choose one of the personalities for each category. Common sense prevents me from revealing which category Beth put these three gentlemen into, but it was an agonizing decision for her. Tom had a tough decision to make with Dr. Joyce Brothers, Dr. Ruth and Dr. Laura.
The gameplay is very simple. Using Tom as an example, he read all three names on one of the cards -- in this case, Drs. Joyce, Ruth and Laura -- and then Beth, Dana and I all wrote down our prediction of whom he would choose to marry, whom he would date, and whom he would dump. Tom revealed his choices (I still can't believe he would marry Dr. Laura!), and we received one point for each match.
In the end, Beth knew just a bit more about the rest of us than we did about her: Beth, 15; Dana, 14; Erik, 14; Tom, 7.
HOITY TOITY
Hoity Toity, Uberplay Entertainment's brand new republication of By Hook or Crook, aka Adel Verpflichtet, hit the table next. This is an excellent light strategy game that's sold more than 1 million copies in Germany and won the 1990 Spiel des Jahres, Germany's award for Family Game of the Year. It was designed by Klaus Teuber, who also designed Settlers of Catan.
In Hoity Toity, players try to gather the most impressive collection of antiques by purchasing them at an auction hall and stealing them from other players.
Each turn involves two choices, each of which is made simultaneously by all players. First, you choose whether to go to the Auction Hall or the Castle on the turn. Once that's decided, you choose what action to take.
In the Auction Hall, a player can choose to play a cash card or a thief card. If you play a cash card and it's the highest value cash card played, you purchase one of two face-up antiques. If you play a thief card and are the only player to do so, you take the highest value cash card played that round into your hand.
In the Castle, you can choose to play an exhibit card, a thief or a detective. Playing an exhibit card allows you to show off some of your antiques and is the most common way to move forward on the game track. If more than one player shows an exhibit, the best exhibit moves forward farther than the second best exhibit. Lower-ranked exhibits don't move forward at all. A thief card allows you to take one antique from every player who exhibits on the current turn. A detective sends the thief to jail -- but does not prevent a theft from happening. If a detective is successful in jailing a thief, the player who played the detective moves forward on the game track.
Antiques come in six categories, labeled A through F. Each also has a date, and older antiques are more valuable than newer ones. To put on an exhibit, you need at least three grouped antiques. A legal group is one that's connected by at least one of a letter. For example, three antique cards with the letters AAB would be legal, as would ABC or DEF. AABCC is legal, as is CDEEE. Examples of illegal exhibits include AAC and BBEFF.
Players work their way around the track until someone reaches the final area. When that happens, every player puts on one last exhibit, the best they can muster with the antiques they've collected. The owner of the best exhibit moves forward eight spaces, and the second-best exhibitor moves forward four. Then, the player who has moved the farthest along the track is the winner.
Tom and I are clearly not as good at antique collecting as our wives -- we were schooled. Beth won, with Dana just five squares behind her. (It came down to the final exhibit.) I was 13 squares back, and Tom was 21 positions behind.
OH, PHARAOH!
Oh, Pharaoh! was next, another new game from Uberplay Entertainment (this one was designed by Thilo Hutzler). Here, players compete to build the best pyramids.
The game's cards are divided into values of 1 through 9, with many more 1 value cards than there are 9. Players begin with a hand of seven cards, and try to play them on the table, building pyramids subject to a few restrictions: each level may only have cards of one value; a level sitting on top of a lower level must have fewer cards than the lower level, and those cards must be a value of exactly one less than the lower level.
For example, the simplest and least valuable pyramid would have two 1 value cards on the bottom level, with one 2 value card on the higher level.
At the beginning of a turn, players must decide whether or not to score a pyramid if they have any on the table. If they score one, all the cards in that pyramid are discarded. If not, they have the option of building onto it, increasing its size. The score of a pyramid is calculated by multiplying the number of levels and the sum of one card from each level. For example, a four-level pyramid that begins with "2" cards and ends with a "5" card would be worth 56 points (2+3+4+5=14, 14 times 4=56).
After making that decision, players must draw one card, either one of three face-up cards or the top face-down card from the draw pile. Then they can, in any order they choose, trade cards with other players, build a pyramid or enlarge an existing one, and/or play a thief or tax collector card.
The thief card allows you to try to steal a card from another player's pyramid. The larger the pyramid is, the harder it is to steal from it. (A six-sided die is rolled to determine success or failure.) The tax collector allows you to take one card, sight unseen, from each opponents' hand. The thief and tax collector add just enough flavor to the game to prevent it from being dry. And if you don't like the random element they bring, it's simple enough to remove these cards from the deck and play without them.
As pyramids are scored, a pawn moves across the game board. After the third pyramid is scored, players may start building two pyramids at a time. After the sixth pyramid is scored, only pyramids of at least three levels may be built. After the tenth pyramid is scored, a "game end" card is shuffled in with all of the cards not currently in players' hands or being used in pyramids. Play then continues until that card is revealed, at which time any legal pyramids are scored and the game ends.
I took an early lead by building a small pyramid with "8" and "9" cards, but even large cards like that aren't worth much in a two-level pyramid (8+9=17, 17 times 2=34). Tom scored the largest single pyramid, worth 125 points, and Dana scored the most pyramids, a total of five, but Beth had the best balance (3 pyramids built, worth 18, 104 and 27 points). Oh, Pharaoh! packs a lot of game into a small box -- this is a game I expect to play a lot more of.
Scores: Beth, 149; Tom, 131; Dana, 117; Erik, 52
TONGIAKI
Tongiaki was our third new Uberplay game of the day. Players compete to get their boats onto as many different scoring islands as possible, traveling from island to island by sometimes dangerous sea paths. Often, you need to bring your opponents with you to make the journey safe.
The game starts on the island of Tonga, the only island in the game which doesn't score points. (Speaking of Tonga, does anyone else remember The Tonga Kid?) Players take turns placing ships on the island until each player has placed two. Then, the game really gets going.
Each island is a hexagonal tile with a series of beaches; each beach has two or more dock positions.
The first thing a player does is build new ships. You choose an island on which you have at least one ship and build as many ships as you already have there. For example, if a player with two ships on Tonga chooses to build there, he will add two more ships to Tonga. There are two limitations: You may not build more ships than there are beaches, and no more than one of the new ships can be placed on any one beach.
When a beach is full, the boats must set sail. If they're sailing into the unknown, a new tile is added to the board. The tiles are evenly split between islands and the sea. If an island tile is revealed, the boats make it safely to their destination and are spread over the beaches on the new island. If it's a sea tile, the three paths on that tile might have a number on them (from 2 to 4). The number relates to the number of different colored ships required for safe passage.
So if I'm moving two of my ships, two of Tom's and one of Beth's and we find ourselves faced with a "4" on our path, all of the boats sink and are returned to their owners (because only three different colors were in the group, and four were required for safe passage). If you make it across a sea tile safely, another tile is drawn and played.
Strategically placing ships on the islands is a key part of the game. You want your ships to be positioned so that they're likely to stay on the 4- and 5-point islands, and you want to move your opponents to the 2- and 3-point islands. If you're able to take over an island so that only your ships are found there, you can declare it to be a Royal Island and yourself to be the king. This prevents any other ships (including your own) from landing on that island.
Tongiaki takes at least one play just to understand the mechanics. It's not difficult or particularly complex, but there are subtleties that take time to sink in. I've played this game three times on the online gaming site Brettspielwelt, and now once with in-person opponents. After the first play, I wasn't sure that I liked the game. Now, with four plays under my belt, I enjoy it quite a bit. If you like tile-laying games (e.g. Carcassonne) and exploration games (e.g. Tikal), make sure you give Tongiaki a try.
Scores: Beth, 27; Erik, 24; Tom, 21; Dana, 16
COMPATIBILITY
We closed with Compatibility, a 1996 party game that has achieved classic status in some gaming circles. Beth had played before, but for the rest of us this was the first time playing.
Play is in teams of two. Each person has a deck of picture cards, and each deck is identical. There's also a separate deck of word cards. One of the words is revealed (e.g. "disappointment," "talented"), and then players choose cards which they feel best represent that word. For example, when the word "shape" came up, we all chose a card with a plain white background and a large red circle, followed by a picture of an older man on a beach -- someone not in the best of shape.
The number of cards you choose is determined by where you are on the board. Each space has a number from 2 to 5, and you choose that many cards. The cards you choose are put in order of preference, from strongest to weakest.
Teams score points for matching each other. A direct match, the same card in the same position, is worth three points. An indirect match, the same card but in different positions, is worth two points. You move forward on the scoring track by the number of points you earn, and the first team to make it to the end wins.
This game is a lot of fun. Beth and I bought the 2003 version published by Crown and Andrews; other editions are also available. The only downside is that our game only has six decks of cards, so at the most three pairs can play. We enjoyed it so much that we're considering picking up a second copy of the game so that up to six pairs can take part at the same time.
In the end, Tom and Dana were just a bit more compatible than Beth and I.
Comments
No comments yet. Leave a Comment