Game: Tyrus

Thread: Re: Does the election type determine which pieces can be played, or only where the election happens?

stormseeker75 — 2008-06-24T22:06:47+00:00

Awesome man. Thanks for the help. Thats what I thought, but I appreciate you confirming it.

Thread: Re: Does the election type determine which pieces can be played, or only where the election happens?

Drew1365 — 2008-06-24T21:41:50+00:00

So, it's been awhile, but if I remember right, you flip up a temple, then each player places three pieces, then you evaluate to see who has the higher influence total in your temple areas. You can play any type of piece on either side of the board at any of the three locations, but after three pieces are played, it's the temple location only you evaluate. Pieces in the temple areas only are removed, and then the game continues.

Thread: Re: Does the election type determine which pieces can be played, or only where the election happens?

Drew1365 — 2008-06-24T21:14:15+00:00

It just means that the election is in the "Market" area. You can play any type of piece at any time. (In fact, you need to, because you want to negate the value of your opponents' merchants with . . . er, . . . the soldiers? the priests? I forget which pieces influence which. And which negate them.) And you can always play pieces in other areas, setting them up for future elections.

Thread: Does the election type determine which pieces can be played, or only where the election happens?

stormseeker75 — 2008-06-24T20:51:47+00:00

If I flip an election card and it shows the market, does that mean we can only play Merchants or just that the market is where the election will take place?

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cnidius — 2008-03-16T17:56:55+00:00

during the game

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cnidius — 2008-03-16T17:56:02+00:00

election tiles

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Ternal2 — 2007-05-18T12:23:51+00:00

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Rokkr — 2007-04-28T20:53:59+00:00

General/Guildmaster/Priest tokens

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Rokkr — 2007-04-28T20:51:49+00:00

Electorate tokens

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Rokkr — 2007-04-28T20:50:29+00:00

Election cards

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pezpimp — 2007-01-24T18:17:43+00:00

http://www.boiteajeux.net/

Thread: Re: Not a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

nnf1 — 2006-09-03T10:45:54+00:00

It depends on the pieces in your hand, what's been out, what "battles" are left to be fought. Give it a few more plays and see how you go. Sure it's not the best game in the world but to me it is a clearly a bluffing game.

Thread: Re: Not a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

gt8595b — 2006-08-27T11:38:03+00:00

I've only played it once, but that didn't seem like a good tactic. You only have 3 moves per round and it seemed like a waste to play a wrong piece instead of developing a position elsewhere if you couldn't play a good piece in the current battle.
jmo

Thread: Re: Not a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

nnf1 — 2006-08-27T06:06:20+00:00

I agree with you to a point. It is quite a good tactic to play an alternate piece in the priest circle to draw out the counter piece from your opponent.

So there is an element of the bluff in this game just like RPS but this is more fun.

Thread: Not a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

gt8595b — 2006-08-27T03:48:42+00:00

/rant
I see over and over people saying that it's a rock-scissors-paper game.
It shares 1 (one) quality of RSP. And that's that one type beats another type. But that's it. The goal of RPS is to guess what type the other person picked. In this game you KNOW what type the other person picked. If you play a tile in my priest circle, I know it's gonna be a sword. Any other move would be a waste. It wastes a precious resource: One of your 3 tile plays. It's no secret that I played a priest in the priest circle, and it's no secret that you played one in yours. What we are betting/bluffing on is the value of each.
My 2 cents.
/rant off

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Red Wine Pie — 2006-05-25T13:53:01+00:00

Tyrus - pre-game negotiation

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Storm King Zero — 2006-03-02T20:58:50+00:00

Back of Box

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Storm King Zero — 2006-03-02T20:53:08+00:00

Box Front

Thread: Re: Open Elections

Chris__M — 2006-01-19T23:26:23+00:00

Hi Andy

andyl wrote:
I sometimes play a useless piece on my opponents side in the current election (if I have no chance of winning) in order to try and bluff him into playing a high value piece to counteract it.

Yep, me too.

andyl wrote:
Your variant would take that aspect of the game away - so I would suggest modifying it so that pieces played in the *current* election on *your side* of the board are face-up. Tiles for future elections, and tiles on your opponents side are played face down.

For this variant, I think I would stick with what I posted, although everyone is free to try what they think will work.

The reason why is this: I happen to think the game is fine as it is, without any changes. I like the blind bidding side of things, and the bluffing, as described above. However, many people have been quite vocal that they don't like this aspect - they compare it to "rock, paper, scissors", and consider it a brainless game of chance (I disagree, of course).

Anyway, it is for these folk that I thought of this variant, not for the likes of you and me who seem to enjoy blind bidding games. So I don't see the point in going half measures over it.

Maybe we could test out the various alternatives sometime - only think is, my copy of the game is currently in London, so feel free to bring yours over sometime.

Chris

Thread: Re: Open Elections

andyl — 2006-01-19T21:05:25+00:00
Chris,

I sometimes play a useless piece on my opponents side in the current election (if I have no chance of winning) in order to try and bluff him into playing a high value piece to counteract it.

Your variant would take that aspect of the game away - so I would suggest modifying it so that pieces played in the *current* election on *your side* of the board are face-up. Tiles for future elections, and tiles on your opponents side are played face down.

Thread: Re: First Play open

Jackal! — 2006-01-19T20:27:44+00:00
Thanks for the reply.
I want to like this game, or to change it somewhat so that it works.
I will read your article.

Thread: Re: First Play open

Chris__M — 2006-01-19T12:11:28+00:00
Jackal! wrote:
Having played this a few times there seams to be too little else apart from bluffing and guesswork, without enough information to base these decisions on.

how about playing your first piece "open?"

this will then give youu a basis for decisions.

got the idea whilst watching poker on the tv!

I actually love the original game, so was not looking for a way to change it.

However, your idea is intriguing, and I'm interested enough to give it a try next time I play.

It also led to my own idea - which is an extension of your variant - see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/772153

Chris

Thread: Open Elections

Chris__M — 2006-01-19T12:09:21+00:00
This is a development of Jackal's existing variant. It is as yet untested, and I suspect it will almost make it a different game.

When playing tiles in the *current* election, all tiles are placed face-up, visible to both players. Only when playing tiles against future elections are they placed hidden, as in the original rules. Hidden tiles remain hidden until the resolution of each election.

Thus the game will be a mixture of all-out open battles, and laying hidden traps for each other.

This can even be rationalised to the theme of the game - the open tiles in the current election represent the debate/voting in the forum, while the hidden tiles represent arranging bribes and corruption for future votes.

Chris

Thread: First Play open

Jackal! — 2005-12-29T11:47:49+00:00
Having played this a few times there seams to be too little else apart from bluffing and guesswork, without enough information to base these decisions on.

how about playing your first piece "open?"

this will then give youu a basis for decisions.

got the idea whilst watching poker on the tv!

Thread: Re: Bluff in its simplest shape...

Jackal! — 2005-09-17T09:15:42+00:00
Nice review. I think that you are essentially right in what you write.

There is something very appealing about the pieces of the game and when you get it out and set it up it promises more than it delivers.

i have played it a number of times with my girlfriend, and i think that it works better the more that you play it with the same person. As with all bluffing games you need to learn what your opponent is likely to do, what their plays mean, and how to hustle them.

we found that we ended up playing like 007:

"Sho Goldfinger, do you expect me to talk?"
"No Mr Bond i expect you to die!!"

Try this?

Thread: Bluff in its simplest shape...

o_cedar — 2005-07-15T22:24:14+00:00
Tyrus is not a game I appreciate that much but since no one has reviewed it yet, I'll make an effort to give it a decent review.

First of all: the material.

The big box for such a small and simple game contains a board and 60 very nice wooden blocks, 10 for each of the warring sides (priests, merchants, and soldiers) in both colors, black and white as well as some markers to show which elections already took place and who won them.
The blocks each have a strength varying from 1 to 10.

Apparently, some people have had issues with small color differences among the pieces in their box, but such was not the case in the box I played with (or I did not notice).

Let's now talk about the game itself.

All in all, it is just a rock paper scissors mechanism (merchants beat soldiers who beat priests who beat merchants).
Each player manages a hand of 10 blocks for each election at the end of which he will fill it back to 10.
An election takes place in one of the 3 zones: military, religious or mercantile.
Players play in turn 3 moves in any of the zones they desire, they can place a block (hidden frm the opponent) in their own zones to increase their score or in the opponent's zone with an appropriate block so as to decrease their score in the zone.

After each player has played 3 blocks anywhere on the board, the votes are shown for this zone and the person with the more points in that zone wins the election. These votes are put away while the votes remaining secret in the other zones stay there until an appropriate election takes place.

The game ends when someone wins 3 elections in a row thus claiming victory or after all 9 elections have taken place. The one who has won the most elections wins the game and if there is a draw, the winner is the one whose 3 remaining tile values' are the highest.

I am not quite enthusiastic upon this game that I find much too chaotic. You place hidden blocks and after 3 rounds you reveal and then discover if your opponent really went for it or bluffed to make you spend your best blocks and keeping strength for the end.

The game's mechanics are really quite elegant for what they are, you have to gauge how bad the opponent wants to win this or that election and if you can win quickly with 3 in a row or try to get it in the long run.

However, I need more information so as to enjoy a bluffing game (as I enjoy Shazamm! a lot more), and losing an election 18-17 is probably going to cost you the game even though it was not a mistake. And I hate that.
of course, you can minimize the risks by playing well (sacrificing elections you cannot win, placing blocks in future elections to start with an advantage and impress your opponent), but all in all, the chaotic-luck part is far too important for me.

Thread: Re: Quality...

Walt Mulder — 2005-05-31T02:42:11+00:00
Well only to hold your tiles once drawn but I see your point about once they're on the gameboard. I guess if your tiles are that marked, the only option would be to paint them. I probably couldn't remember which of my tiles are more valuable from game to game by just looking at the backs. Perhaps tokens would have been a better choice for this game since they offer better consistancy. I'm used to the imperfections in wood with the myriad of block games I have but it doesn't bother me that much.

Thread: Re: Quality...

GeoMan — 2005-05-31T02:14:03+00:00
I can use screens or racks from another game...

When you place the pieces on the gameboard?

Thread: Re: Quality...

Walt Mulder — 2005-05-31T01:49:11+00:00
I found this also to be true with a few of my pieces. My solution was to get some old Scrabble tile racks (Acquire ones would probably work also). The pieces are well hidden so it's difficult to discern any markings unless you're really intent on doing so.

An alternative I considered was to repaint or stain the light pieces but I found the stands took care of the problem. Cheers.

Thread: Quality...

GeoMan — 2005-05-31T00:50:52+00:00
Tyrus just arrived and while the Brown pieces have a uniform color the White pieces do not...

Some of them are much darker than the others (probably different wood) so it is very easy for an opponent to remember their values after a few games...

And since the central mechanic in this game is bluffing, i have a serious problem!

Anyone else with a similar problem? Any suggestions to fix it?

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2004-06-09T03:09:31+00:00
Michael was the first to arrive, so we occupied the time by playing two matches of this latest 2-player game from Euro Games. I fully described this in a previous report, so will spare the details here.

Although the game does have some hefty wooden pieces, the game itself doesn’t measure up. It is a fancied-up bluff and guessing game, both mechanisms which do not appeal to me. I was hoping to find greater depth in subsequent playings, but it simply isn’t there. With so many good 2-player games available, this one will make a quick exit from my collection.

Michael stormed through the first match, winning the first three elections and capturing control of the government. I returned the favor in the second match, winning five of the first six elections to earn the victory.

Ratings: Michael 5, Greg 4.5

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2004-05-28T17:10:43+00:00
Euro Games is back with two new titles in their line of 2-player games: Tyrus and Atlas & Zeus. Jim and I had chance to play both this night, with Tyrus being the first to the table.

In Tyrus, two players vie for political control in a Middle Eastern city. A series of elections are held in the citadels, markets and temples, with players allocating their soldiers, merchants and priests in attempts to sway the votes in their favor. They can also send these forces to help nullify the efforts of their opponent. The player winning the most elections or three elections in a row gains control of the city.

The first comment is reserved for the components, particularly the playing pieces. Each player receives 30 chunky wooden pieces representing their three forces, three sets valued at 1 – 10 each. These are solid, attractive pieces and quite impressive. The board pales in comparison, depicting the six locations where elections will be held, three on each side of the board. A track to tally the results of each election is along the right side, while two small player aids are printed directly on the corners. Overall, the board is very functional, but uninspiring.

Nine elections will be held, three in each area. Players do not know the order in which the elections will be held, the order being determined by nine “election” tiles, which are shuffled and revealed one per turn. Completing the components are nine corresponding “representative” tokens, which are earned when players win elections and placed on their side of the election track.

Players each mix their 30 tiles face-down, then choose an initial starting hand of nine, keeping their identities hidden from their opponent.

The order of play is quite simple:

1) Reveal an Election Tile. This tile indicates the location of the current election, either a citadel, market or temple.

2) Placing Electorate Tiles. One at a time, each player places three of their tiles into one or more of the six buildings on the board. Pieces are placed so that only the owner can view its identify, so a player’s opponent doesn’t know which piece was placed. Bluffing and guessing play HUGE roles in this game. For me, that’s NOT a good thing.

3) Tallying the votes. The tiles present in the two buildings of the current election are revealed and their values tallied to determine which player has captured the election. The winner places the corresponding election token on his side of the election track.

4) Discarding and choosing new Electorate Tiles. All tiles involved in the just completed election are discarded, and each player takes three more tiles from his supply. A new round is then held.

The placement of the tiles onto the board during each election is the key element of the game system. As mentioned, each player has 30 tiles divided into three sets: generals, merchants and high priests. The ten tiles in each set have values of 1 – 10 and correspond with a particular building on the board:

Generals à Citadels
Merchants à Markets
High Priests à Temples

When an election is held in a particular building, only the corresponding type of tiles are tallied to determine the results of that election. For example, if an election is being held in a market, then only the merchants present in the market buildings are tallied. Thus, when placing tiles during a round, it is important to place the appropriate tiles into the building type where an election is currently being held. That is, of course, assuming the player wishes to contest the current election.

Normally, a player will place most of his tiles onto buildings on his side of the board. However, a player can attempt to reduce the strength of his opponent’s pieces by placing certain tiles into buildings on his opponent’s side of the board. Each “force” has the ability to counteract the strength of a different force, according to the following chart:

Merchants à Generals
High Priests à Merchants
Generals à Priests

An example will illustrate this concept a bit more clearly. An election is being held in a temple. Players will play High Priests into the temple on their respective side of the board in attempts to having the most votes. However, players may also wish to place Generals in their opponent’s temple to offset some of the votes the player will get from any High Priests placed there. So, when the tiles are revealed, if Tom has 15 points of High Priests in his temple, but Keith placed a General tile with a value of ‘6’ in his temple, Tom’s total is a ‘9’.

Players are free to place tiles into any buildings during a round, even if an election is not currently being held there. These tiles remain from round-to-round until an election is actually held in their location. Using this tactic, a player can prepare for a future election. This usually means, however, that the player will not be competing strongly for the election in the current round. Making this decision will usually be based on the composition of the nine tiles a player currently has in front of him. If a player is weak in a “force” that is needed to compete in a current election, it may be wise to instead place pieces in other buildings in preparation for future elections.

Likewise, players can place tiles into an opponent’s building even if the tile is not the appropriate type that will nullify the votes of the opponent’s forces. Why would one want to do this? Bluffing. A player will get worried when you place a tile into one of his buildings, and will often commit more tiles to that building to overcome the perceived threat.

There is no way to know which tile your opponent is actually placing in a building. It is guesswork, pure and simple. As the round progresses, if a player memorizes the tiles that an opponent has already played, then the player will be able to make more educated guesses. But for me, such counting is not fun. I might try to remember if a player has played his higher valued tiles in the various categories, but not much more. As such, for me, the exercise is little more than guesswork with some bluffing.

After the results of an election are determined, the victor takes a token matching the building where the election was just completed and places it on his side of the track. The token is placed on the number matching the current election (1 – 9). If a player wins three elections in a row, he is victorious and the game ends immediately. Otherwise, the player who has won the most elections after nine rounds is victorious. If both players tie for the most elections won, each player adds the value of his remaining three tiles and the player with the greatest total claims the victory.

Wait a minute … how can players tie if there are nine elections? Well, it is possible for players to tie in a specific election. In this case, the appropriate token is placed in the middle of the scoring track, with no player receiving credit for it.

I don’t want to hammer the game too much. In fact, for what it is, I’m sure it is just fine. However, as I’ve mentioned, I am NOT a fan of games that rely heavily on guessing and bluffing, and those aspects are at the heart of Tyrus. There simply isn’t much control here. The game is pleasant enough, but there isn’t enough here to grab me or give me that “let’s play again” feeling. It’s short playing time of 20 minutes, though, means that I will give it a few more tries before passing final judgment, but the outlook isn’t promising.

Jim and I competed for control of the city. After trading wins in the first two elections, I won the next two and threatened to claim the victory. Jim knew this, however, and strongly contested the next election, winning it to prevent me from winning. He proceeded to win the next election and likewise was on the verge of victory. However, I won the subsequent election to keep the game going. In the end, we tied with 4 wins apiece, with one election resulting in a tie. The tally of our remaining three tiles earned me the victory, 15 – 7.

Ratings: Jim 5.5, Greg 5.5

Thread: Initial Report

gschloesser — 2004-05-27T20:56:24+00:00
Euro Games is back with two new titles in their line of 2-player games: Tyrus and Atlas & Zeus. Jim and I had chance to play both this night, with Tyrus being the first to the table.

In Tyrus, two players vie for political control in a Middle Eastern city. A series of elections are held in the citadels, markets and temples, with players allocating their soldiers, merchants and priests in attempts to sway the votes in their favor. They can also send these forces to help nullify the efforts of their opponent. The player winning the most elections or three elections in a row gains control of the city.

The first comment is reserved for the components, particularly the playing pieces. Each player receives 30 chunky wooden pieces representing their three forces, three sets valued at 1 – 10 each. These are solid, attractive pieces and quite impressive. The board pales in comparison, depicting the six locations where elections will be held, three on each side of the board. A track to tally the results of each election is along the right side, while two small player aids are printed directly on the corners. Overall, the board is very functional, but uninspiring.

Nine elections will be held, three in each area. Players do not know the order in which the elections will be held, the order being determined by nine “election” tiles, which are shuffled and revealed one per turn. Completing the components are nine corresponding “representative” tokens, which are earned when players win elections and placed on their side of the election track.

Players each mix their 30 tiles face-down, then choose an initial starting hand of nine, keeping their identities hidden from their opponent.

The order of play is quite simple:

1) Reveal an Election Tile. This tile indicates the location of the current election, either a citadel, market or temple.

2) Placing Electorate Tiles. One at a time, each player places three of their tiles into one or more of the six buildings on the board. Pieces are placed so that only the owner can view its identify, so a player’s opponent doesn’t know which piece was placed. Bluffing and guessing play HUGE roles in this game. For me, that’s NOT a good thing.

3) Tallying the votes. The tiles present in the two buildings of the current election are revealed and their values tallied to determine which player has captured the election. The winner places the corresponding election token on his side of the election track.

4) Discarding and choosing new Electorate Tiles. All tiles involved in the just completed election are discarded, and each player takes three more tiles from his supply. A new round is then held.

The placement of the tiles onto the board during each election is the key element of the game system. As mentioned, each player has 30 tiles divided into three sets: generals, merchants and high priests. The ten tiles in each set have values of 1 – 10 and correspond with a particular building on the board:

Generals à Citadels
Merchants à Markets
High Priests à Temples

When an election is held in a particular building, only the corresponding type of tiles are tallied to determine the results of that election. For example, if an election is being held in a market, then only the merchants present in the market buildings are tallied. Thus, when placing tiles during a round, it is important to place the appropriate tiles into the building type where an election is currently being held. That is, of course, assuming the player wishes to contest the current election.

Normally, a player will place most of his tiles onto buildings on his side of the board. However, a player can attempt to reduce the strength of his opponent’s pieces by placing certain tiles into buildings on his opponent’s side of the board. Each “force” has the ability to counteract the strength of a different force, according to the following chart:

Merchants à Generals
High Priests à Merchants
Generals à Priests

An example will illustrate this concept a bit more clearly. An election is being held in a temple. Players will play High Priests into the temple on their respective side of the board in attempts to having the most votes. However, players may also wish to place Generals in their opponent’s temple to offset some of the votes the player will get from any High Priests placed there. So, when the tiles are revealed, if Tom has 15 points of High Priests in his temple, but Keith placed a General tile with a value of ‘6’ in his temple, Tom’s total is a ‘9’.

Players are free to place tiles into any buildings during a round, even if an election is not currently being held there. These tiles remain from round-to-round until an election is actually held in their location. Using this tactic, a player can prepare for a future election. This usually means, however, that the player will not be competing strongly for the election in the current round. Making this decision will usually be based on the composition of the nine tiles a player currently has in front of him. If a player is weak in a “force” that is needed to compete in a current election, it may be wise to instead place pieces in other buildings in preparation for future elections.

Likewise, players can place tiles into an opponent’s building even if the tile is not the appropriate type that will nullify the votes of the opponent’s forces. Why would one want to do this? Bluffing. A player will get worried when you place a tile into one of his buildings, and will often commit more tiles to that building to overcome the perceived threat.

There is no way to know which tile your opponent is actually placing in a building. It is guesswork, pure and simple. As the round progresses, if a player memorizes the tiles that an opponent has already played, then the player will be able to make more educated guesses. But for me, such counting is not fun. I might try to remember if a player has played his higher valued tiles in the various categories, but not much more. As such, for me, the exercise is little more than guesswork with some bluffing.

After the results of an election are determined, the victor takes a token matching the building where the election was just completed and places it on his side of the track. The token is placed on the number matching the current election (1 – 9). If a player wins three elections in a row, he is victorious and the game ends immediately. Otherwise, the player who has won the most elections after nine rounds is victorious. If both players tie for the most elections won, each player adds the value of his remaining three tiles and the player with the greatest total claims the victory.

Wait a minute … how can players tie if there are nine elections? Well, it is possible for players to tie in a specific election. In this case, the appropriate token is placed in the middle of the scoring track, with no player receiving credit for it.

I don’t want to hammer the game too much. In fact, for what it is, I’m sure it is just fine. However, as I’ve mentioned, I am NOT a fan of games that rely heavily on guessing and bluffing, and those aspects are at the heart of Tyrus. There simply isn’t much control here. The game is pleasant enough, but there isn’t enough here to grab me or give me that “let’s play again” feeling. It’s short playing time of 20 minutes, though, means that I will give it a few more tries before passing final judgment, but the outlook isn’t promising.