When I recently picked up the game "Tzaar", I finally said to myself that I might as well finally pick up a copy of "Tamsk". I'd read they were re-releasing the "Tamsk" game in 2008 with a new look and name. Then I'd read, if they couldn't fix the Egg Timer Problem, they might not release it at all.

So, with "Tamsk" being the only game from the "Gipf" series not in my collection, now seemed like a perfect time to get a copy, which I did.

When I'd read the timers could be a little off, I assumed some would be a few seconds off, more or less, than some of the other timers. Upon opening my box, you could actually visibly see the differences in the amounts of sand in the various Egg Timers. I quickly thought it would only be fair to play a series of four straight games, with each sides switching colors, to make the game a fair one.

But lets talk about the game itself.....

I took the recommendation of the instructions and played the first game without turning over the timers. Lost that one by just 1 ring. The second game I played, we turned over the timers and yet I still managed to lose by a single ring. The third game, I won by 4 or five rings and I began to wonder if I was getting the hang of this game. The game was certainly fun, even without turning over the timers, but using the timers, really created a much greater sense of tension in the game.

It's just amazing with all Kris Burn's games in the series, how such simple components and rules, still manages to crate a fairly complex game, that still manages to be fun. "Tamsk" was certainly no exception.

Everything is nicely packaged in the box and the stands, board and rings were all sturdy and nicely made.

I do hope they decide to release a new addition of the game, although I'm a bit sorry they may change the name of it, which I'm sure we've all gotten so use to.

TO SUM UP

If they ever do fix the timer problem, I'd be more than glad to get the new edition but with that up in the air apparently, I thought It best to get my hands on the original "Tamsk", while they're still around. So if you're anything like me and love perfection in your abstract strategy games, trying playing the four game series, while switching sides each turn to solve the timer problem. Just keep track of the number of rings you're left with after each game and take a total at the end of the series.

I have to imagine, the egg timers were a manufacturing problems, that might have been too costly to correct. In an e-mail I'd sent to Kris Burm a couple of years ago, I'd suggested having the timers with ends that screw off and have the game come with a bag of extra sand, so players could calibrate them to their hearts content. I still hope that's what they decide to do, if they indeed come out with a new one, because "Tamsk" is a wonderful game like no other.