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There were 63 games entered in the 2006 Mensa Mind Games. Here are a few personal comments about the winners, and the other games I played.
(Strategy games were under-represented as usual, because MMG is limited to games that can be played, or at least grasped, in 30 minutes or less.)
-- Dean Howard
Winners:
Pentago.
Elegant 5-in-a-row game. The 6x6 board is made of four 3x3 blocks that can be rotated. On each turn you place a marble in an empty hole, then rotate a block.
The rotations create unexpected winning positions, and a refreshing change from related games: The side holes in a 3x3 block may be stronger than the center, because marbles in the center don't move when rotated.
Pentago is well-designed, well-constructed, and seems to have good "staying power". I was concerned that draws would be too common, but I've seen reviews from people who have played dozens of games and are still playing frequently.
Deflexion
Chess with lasers. Looks good, and seems to play well. Most pieces have mirrors. After each move, turn on the laser light at your lower right corner of the 8x10 board. If the light stops on a piece without mirrors, or an unmirrored side of a mirrored piece, that piece is removed. The object is to hit the opponent's pharaoh.
All pieces move one space, like chess kings. The double-mirror pieces can change places with an adjacent piece.
Captures are rare at first. I wonder if it may be too easy to avoid losing by playing defensively, but even if it is, you can design starting positions different from the two given in the rules. I expect to see a website soon with ideas.
The designers are reported to be demonstrating an expansion that includes beam-splitters and one-way mirrors.
Wits & Wagers
Two-stage trivia game. By far the most played "after-hours" game, and probably a runaway winner. (Vote counts are not revealed, just the top 5 vote-getters.)
Each question has a numerical answer. Players' written answers are revealed, and place in order on a green board that resembles a casino gaming table. Players then have 30 seconds to bet on which response is closest to the correct answer without going over. The middle response returns even money. The highest or lowest could pay as much as 5 to 1.
Questions were chosen well, usually things people wouldn't know but could make reasonable guesses at. Examples: the cost of a first-class ticket on the Titanic, or the year canned food was invented.
The 7th question is an "all in" round with unlimited wagering. I think this devalues the other rounds too much, but this could easily be fixed with a house rule.
Keesdrow
Boggle on a big grid, with alternating turns.
The board is a 16x16 grid of letters, made from a random arrangement of 2x2 blocks. Each letter square has a point value and a peg hole. Words are scored by placing pegs in the holes: a green peg the first time a letter is used, then a yellow peg that scores double the point value, then a red peg that scores triple and signifies that the letter can't be used again.
I didn't play it, but I'd like to try it. With 256 letters to choose from and no limit on where to start, the available words are almost limitless - you'll probably want to enforce the 2-minute time limit. (A house rule requiring your word to start within one block of your opponents last letter might lead to a less head-swimming number of choices and add a bit of strategy.)
One small quibble: The options for how to end the game are also almost limitless. You can choose whether to play a fixed number of turns ("7-20 each"), to a point goal ("100-250 points"), or until no more words can be made. You can also choose "team play", which they define as adding up scores of alternating players, with no consultation. I guess it's nice to leave it up to the players, but it also makes me wonder if they bothered to play-test enough to come up with a recommendation.
Hive
Boardless game. Each player gets 11 hexagonal tiles featuring 5 insects, all with different moves. The object is to surround your opponent's queen bee.
I didn't play it, but I can recommend it sight unseen based on the good comments I heard, and the reputation it had as a limited-release import.
Other games I liked:
Codebreaker. Memory game like Concentration, with a nice extension. Turn over two cards, showing one to everyone else. If they don't match, write a "code" on the back of the card you saw, while the player to your right writes a code on the other card's back.
Codes can be almost anything - usually 1-3 letters - that will help you find the card later.
There's no need for an overall system, so maybe the codes should be called "mnemonics", but that would confuse those in the lower end of the "7+" age range.
The cards have cartoonish illustrations of space aliens, part of a "Cogno" series of board games and books.
Cosmic Cows
Alien spaceships compete to abduct cows? Actually an enjoyable lightweight Yahtzee variation.
Tiny rubber cows start at the center of 9 columns. Roll 5 dice up to 3 times and move cows toward you. Move cows in columns 1-6 when you roll at least two of that number. There are also columns for straights, "chance", and five of a kind. Winner is the first player to pull three cows into the "win zone" spaces near his or her end of the board.
Darter
Four "darter" missiles move through a checkerboard field. Try to destroy your opponent's base by placing tiles that redirect the darters. Tiles can make the darters change direction, move faster, pull them closer, remove other tiles, etc. A game can easily be finished in 5 minutes or less.
The rules are very poorly thought out, but it still plays well, and you can choose from several optional rules, or make up your own. Officially both players place a tile before each darter-movement phase, with the same player always going first - I don't know which player this favors, but it can't be balanced.
Also, the game could probably be improved if the board was larger, shaped differently, and/or had deflectors or barriers. The darters start at c3, c6, f3, and f6 (2 spaces diagonally from each corner). You choose where your base goes, but there are few sensible options. One game ended on the first move when my opponent put his base behind a darter and I played a tile to cause a U-turn. I'd like to try a variation where you have to hit a base twice to win.
I hope Darter does well enough for a second edition to come out. It looks and plays well now, and could be excellent with more work, and maybe a bigger budget for equipment.
Heximania
Take turns filling a hexagonal grid with letter tiles. Score for the new words that can be made in Boggle-style paths that use the new letter. Opponents get a chance to score for new words you didn't notice. Very interesting and challenging.
Waiting for turns could make it feel slow, although not as bad as a slow Scrabble game. Players have 2 minutes to place a tile (from a hand of 5) and write down words. If you're next in line, you can start planning your turn while the current player is writing.
Heximania won't make you forget Boggle or Scrabble, but if you like word games, it deserves a place in your collection.
Nerdy Wordy
The name seems too silly for a fairly good implementation of a strategic pencil-and-paper word game.
Two players have identical sets of 25 letter cubes. One player selects a letter then both players put it in a grid only they can see. When the grids are full, players score for completed words:
XTAPE scores for TAP, TAPE, and APE. A bonus for a ring of 5-letter words helps planning.
There are 5 cubes each with A-F, G-J, L-R, S-X, 3 with only Y and Z, and 2 blanks that can be any letter. This adds two strategic elements: You have to use Y or Z 3 times, and you can run out of a letter - your plans to use an O could be thwarted when your opponent takes the last L-R cube to use an M.
The box says it's for 2 players or teams, but teams just share a grid and cubes, which only makes the game slower while people whisper about what to do.
Pacru
Three related abstract games using the same pieces.
I played "Shacru", which is an interesting 2-4-player game that can be played in 15 minutes. Move a "chevron" to an adjacent space on a 9x9 board, and leave a round marker behind. Chevrons can only change direction by 45 degrees, and can't move into an occupied field. Winner is the player occupying the most fields when no more moves are possible.
Nice to see an abstract that more than 2 can play - this may even be best with 3, because of the asymmetrical starting position.
I didn't try the other two games. "Azacru" has the same object as Shacru, but if a chevron starts in a 3x3 region with at least one piece of its color, it can move an additional space for each piece, and jump over markers in its way, changing them to its color.
"Pacru" adds several maneuvers, including "pincers" that can remove an enemy chevron, and removing markers as payment for rotating a chevron. The object is to place a specified number of markers, or remove all opposing chevrons.
The wooden markers are nice, but not enough to justify the $49.80 list price.
Pick Two Deluxe
Build your own crossword, and do it quickly. The only equipment is 240 small plastic cards. Most have a single letter of the alphabet, some are wild.
Everyone starts with 8 letters. When someone makes crossing words using every card, he or she calls "Pick Two!" Everyone draws two more cards. When someone completes a crossword including the new cards, that person calls "Pick Two!" and everyone draws again. Repeat until all cards are gone. You can play a series of rounds and score points for unused letters.
I liked it a lot, but I had the winner's-eye view. It may be less enjoyable for players who fall behind.
Pick Two was first released in the early 1990s. The "Deluxe" version is almost identical, with 60 more tiles and "proportionately fewer wild cards".
Pickomino
Very good quick game. Roll dice, collect "worms" (high-quality dominoes numbered 21-38 and with pictures of 1-4 worms.)
Start with 8 dice. Each roll you save all dice with one number you haven't already selected. When your total gets high enough and you have at least one worm (worms replace the 6, but count as 5), you can claim a tile, or roll again for a higher-value tile, but risk getting nothing.
Probably a close runner-up in the voting. After the winners, this was the first to be "sold out" in the closing raffle.
Reiner Knizia'a Poison
Stop me if you've heard this before, but Poison is an interesting Knizia game with numbered, unevenly-distributed cards, and a theme that's just vaguely related to the card play.
In this case, you play potions of matching colors, or green poisons, into cauldrons. When your card brings the total above 13, take the cards, except the card you just added. Poisons score 2 points. Colored cards score 1 each, or zero if you have more of a color than anyone else. Lowest score wins after one round per player.
You Must Be An Idiot
Another two-stage trivia game. Each player has a 1/4 chance of being an "idiot", who must answer the question incorrectly without being caught. After answers are revealed, everyone has a chance to accuse someone whose answer was wrong. Score for correct answers, identifying idiots, and especially for being an unidentified idiot.
The questions I saw had a good medium difficulty - you didn't have to be a true idiot to be wrong, or a genius to be right.
Zeus on the Loose
Greek god adaptation of the "99" playing card game. Play cards numbered 1-10 and "gods" with special effects onto "Mount Olympus" (the discard pile). Making the total end in 0 allows you to grab the figurine of Zeus, as do some special cards.
Win a round by making the total exactly 100, going over 100 by matching the previous number, or by holding Zeus when someone else can't play without exceeding 100. Win the game by spelling Z-E-U-S, i.e. by winning four rounds.
Extremely light, as you could tell from the title, but a good quickie.
Others I played:
800: The Game of Verbal Perfection
Trivia "game" of SAT-style questions.
Baffle Gab
JabberJot
Two "use these words in a story" games.
In Baffle Gab, you have 60 seconds to write a "story" using 5 randomly-selected words. Score for using as many words as possible, with a bonus for getting them all in 1 sentence.
JabberJot adds three photographs and a theme (tragic, loneliness, e.g.) You have 90 seconds to write a story fitting the theme using all three words and elements from all 3 pictures. Each round a judge awards a point to his or her favorite. (I thought 90 seconds was nowhere near enough, especially with words like "punctuate" and "artery", but you group's skills or house rules may vary.)
Not my style, although I heard some good comments about JabberJot.
Castle Keep
Build a 3x3 castle of square tiles, following simple placement rules, or attack opponents' castles by playing identical "wall" or "keep" tiles.
Decent as an entry-level strategy game, or for children.
Good-looking tiles, with a surprising design flaw. There are straight, curvy, and zigzag walls, but all towers tiles have walls that appear straight. Not hard to get used to, but hard to believe it wasn't noticed in design reviews or play-testing.
Don't Quote Me - TIME for Kids Edition.
Educational trivia game, designed for ages 10-14. Novel 5-armed board that gets built as the game progresses.
Not strictly for kids, but doesn't stand out from other trivia games.
Eve's Quest
Trivia for girls' night out, with charades, drawing, and singing thrown in. I think they're marketing it more as a fun activity than a game.
I don't remember why not, but I wasn't impressed. The women who tried it out didn't seem any more impressed than the men. Maybe Mind Games was just the wrong forum for a game like this.
Gordian's Knot
Very difficult take-apart puzzle. Not easy to re-assemble, even with the 69-step instructions. I didn't see anybody finish it - some people probably didn't try for long because they preferred games with other players.
It-Dah-Gan
(Why wasn't the pronunciation anywhere on the box?)
Yet another get-rid-of-your-cards game in the Tichu / Frank's Zoo / Great Dalmuti family. Better than some - you score points for taking certain cards along the way, so going out first isn't the only goal. Last 2 finishers must give good cards to the first 2, but if the first player is dethroned, he goes into last place, which eases the "poor get poorer" issues.
Reasonably priced at $9.95, although you could play something similar with an ordinary deck of cards, and probably have.
Linq
4-6 players give clues to a "LINQ" word, but only two know what it is. After either of two rounds, guess which 2 players were linked. Linked players score nothing unless both guess correctly.
Not bad, but it seems like something better could have been done with the idea. One simple addition would be to give the non-linked players points for guessing the word, as well as for identifying the linked players.
Punct
Next (last?) in the GIPF series of 2-player abstracts. Connect opposite sides of a hexagonal board by placing 3-hex tiles. Each tile has a major point called the "punct". Placed pieces can be moved if the punct travels in a straight line, and can be moved on top of other pieces (some restrictions apply).
Not quite as aesthetically pleasing as others in the series. Also didn't seem as interesting to play - but I know better than to judge a GIPF game from 2 quick plays.
Quelf
Perform stunts, follow silly rules, answer trivia questions, and (almost incidentally) roll dice and move toward the final launching-pad space.
Probably a good party game with the right crowd. I heard twice that it would be good for a group that was half drunk (but not completely).
Questionary
Two teams take turns trying to identify things in 90 seconds with yes-no questions. In other words, 20 Questions in a box, with almost nothing added.
Ringgz
Good-looking simple territorial game. Play concentric rings, or solid disk "bases", on a 5x5 board. Score a point for each space where you have more rings than anyone else. Clever idea for the 3-player variant - each player gets 1/3 of the pieces of the unused color, and can play them as neutral pieces.
Doesn't seem to have enough staying power for me to buy, but I'll play it if someone else brings it.
Sketchword
More of a drawing game than a word game. The sketcher thinks of a word from 3 face-up and 1 face-down red cards, plus a hand of non-scoring blue cards, than draws a picture of that word. If someone gets it, the sketcher scores the red letters, and the guesser gets to make a word, and scores it without drawing.
The scoring system gives too much value to guessing, but I doubt this game will be played with a close eye on the scoresheet.
Top Speed
Turnless fast-play card game. Play cards with race-themed illustrations in columns without repeating pictures or colors. Score a column for playing the last card, or if your opponent makes the first mistake.
I don't usually play games in this family, but Top Speed seems like a good example.
Urban Legends
Pointless roll-and move game. Gain or lose karma points (cheap round tokens) for landing in spaces with text referring to those stories you hear on the Web.
Wordigy
Hello again, Quiddler (and Letras and others). Discard and draw cards with letters until someone can make a 4-letter word from 5 cards - the words get longer in later rounds, but in every round, only the first player to make a word receives any points.
The game is not terrible, but what's wrong is offensively bad. They had the almost-good idea to have variable letter values, but used the same range for every letter. This makes for awful distribution - approximately 5 of each letter - and both E and J could be worth between 1 and 5 points. (They didn't print the distribution, but one hand I started with a J1 and J5, and later drew a J2.)
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Posted Thu Apr 27,2006 06:21 am
