Game: Message to the Czar

Thread: Re: We break in Message to the Czar

kevruth — 2008-09-09T19:47:55+00:00

Since your copy of Message didn't come with the most up-to-date rules you can pick up the lastest version at Rio Grande's website:

http://www.riograndegames.com/uploads/Game/Game_140_gameRule...

I have the game but have never played it. After reading your session I became interested. I went over to the Rio Grande website, downloaded the rules and read them. The end game listed in the new rules is much better than what was even posted in the forum threads. I may be taking this along as some filler for next game session tomorrow night.

Enjoy!

Thread: We break in Message to the Czar

Gnomekin — 2008-09-09T16:26:44+00:00

I had been aware of Message to the Czar for a while. It sounded interesting but it also sounded like the endgame problems were great enough to make me reluctant to pick it up at full price. However, when I had a chance to pick it up cheap at GenCon, I went for it.

Monday night, I go over to Bryan’s so we can test drive some new games. We start off with Oregon (an underrated, fun game, by the way. It’ll be back on the table. Oh, yes) and then tried out Message to the Czar.

For those of you who don’t know but do care, Message is a game where you play provincial governors trying to get a message to the Czar of Russia. The board consists of four layers of villages (swamp, forest, mountain, grasslands) with the Czar’s palace on the top, guarded by guards.

The first part of the game, which is actually most of the game, involves getting your message to the palace. Each player has three of four different kinds of couriers. Each village consists of series of inns that have four rooms, one for each type of courier. However, each inn can only hold three couriers so one room will always be empty.

And this is the clever bit. If you have a courier in an inn that has three couriers in it, you can move two of them up to the next village. However, you don’t get to pick which two. The empty room has an arrow on it and that arrow will determine which two will go up. If the courier with the message (which is a little wooden envelope) is one of the ones that moves up, the message moves with them.

There’s a bit more to it than that but that’s the general idea. It’s a race but you are literally pushing couriers up through the villages. It kind of reminds me of Ebbe & Flut.

However, once you get your message to the palace, you need to bribe the guards. And that’s where the game goes from an interesting abstract to a rather weak push-your-luck game. Each guard has a cost and you draw coins that either have a number or a nyet on them. As long as you don’t draw a nyet, you can keep drawing coins and stop at any time to hold onto them. Once you have enough money, you can bribe the guard and win the game.

Bryan and I had a good time with the first part of the game, jockeying for position and moving our couriers and messages up. I managed to get my letter into the hands of cheapest guard two turns before Bryan and that was enough time for me to get the money for the bribe and win the game.

We were left with mixed feeling about the game. Moving the couriers up was solid. We liked the mechanics and we liked how there was a little bit of luck with a nice amount of tactics. The end game, though, felt like it was tacked on to keep it from being a simple race game. We also agreed, though, that there needed to be some kind of endgame for just that reason.

I have since read up on the geek that later editions of the game had this optional rule: the guy whose courier is left behind when you move folks up gets to draw a coin. We both liked that idea. It gives you an incentive to not just race to the palace AND it attaches the bribing of the guard with the good part of the game. The next time Message to the Czar gets played, we’ll play it that way and I doubt we’ll play it any other way.

Thread: Re: User Review

stray_flux — 2008-08-22T13:03:15+00:00

Gola wrote:
Apparently Rio Grande has some new guard-bribing rules here:

www.riograndegames.com/rules/rule218.pdf

New website new link:
http://www.riograndegames.com/uploads/Game/Game_140_gameRule...

The revised rules give a coin to the messenger who stays behind when two messengers leave an inn. Bribing a guard now consists of showing you have enough coins in your supply to pay the man.

Thread: Re: Take a letter ... "Dear Geek, Please give it a fair try!"

ropearoni4 — 2007-09-09T05:41:27+00:00

I, for one, enjoy this game as well, but yes, only with the revised rules. It makes the whole game come together to a head, making what you do early on matter much much more. I've decided on a few changes depending on the number of players, but the same mechanics shine through in any case.

i like the whole staying behind for a little profit idea to put it in theme. Washing dishes?

Thread: Take a letter ... "Dear Geek, Please give it a fair try!"

Rew B Slippers — 2007-09-07T18:40:00+00:00

I remember seeing this game not long after I stumbled across the wider-world of board games. (Oh, happy day! ) It was in Leisure Games, Finchley, London.
At that time I hadn’t discovered the wonder that is BGG & hence made my early game choices just based on the look and description of the game from the box detail.
I liked the sound of this game that involved delivering a message to the Czar’s palace by the best use of couriers. However it was priced at £19.99, which seemed a big price for such a small-box game, so I ended up choosing something that seemed to offer more for my money.

After discovering BGG, I remembered this game & checked its rating and comments etc. It didn’t appear to go down particularly well with BGG users! The general opinion seemed to be that it was a reasonable game ruined by a totally luck-driven ending.

Over the next couple of years the game kept on the very edge of my radar but never completely dropped off. I’ve always been one to not be overly influenced by general consensus, but the UK price kept me from taking a chance on it.

Finally, after discovering that language independent games could be ordered from Germany at a fraction of the UK price, I found ‘Message to the Czar’ on sale for a mere EUR 5,90! So I took a chance on it.

Downloading the translated rules from BGG, I discovered that the random ending had been tackled by the publisher, Winning Moves, & there were various user comments pertaining to its effectiveness.

Having played it several times now, with various number of players, I have to say that I think it’s a great medium-light game that doesn’t deserve its low rating.

This review is my attempt to encourage those who disliked/dismissed the game under its original rules to try it again with the revised ones. You may be surprised to see your opinion change!

Game Overview
For 2-5 players attempting to deliver a message to the Czar using their team of couriers to travel through the countryside to the Palace, occupying inns at the villages along the way. Money must be obtained by the couriers during the journey in order to bribe the Palace guards to take their message in.

Components
Although it comes in a smaller box, the board folds out in six sections revealing a large, nicely illustrated board depicting each of the villages seperating the couriers from the Palace, and the various named inns located in each village.
There is a wooden letter and a set of sturdy cardboard tiles, representing the four types of couriers available to each player, in each of the 5 player colours. Also, cardboard coins with assorted ruble values of 3, 2, 1, & Njet (zero/nothing), and ‘closed’ signs for the inns that aren’t used when there are less than 5 players.

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Set-up
Each player shuffles their stack of available couriers & places them face down in front of them.
The coins are turned face down, mixed up, and placed on the Palace or near the board.
Depending on the number of players, the relevant inns are closed off for the game.
Starting with the youngest, each player turns over the first courier in the pile and places them in the correct room of one of the starting inns where they are entrusted with the precious message.
Only one courier allowed per inn during this initial phase.
A second courier is then turned over and placed beside each players draw pile.

Gameplay
On each turn a player may do one of three actions:
1) Introduce a new courier from their supply to one of the inns in the first village (New couriers can only ever be placed in the first village). The player can either choose the face-up courier or play ‘blind’ the top one from their stack.
2) Move the message from one courier to another of their own within the same village (for better strategic placement).
3) Move valid couriers to inns in the next village.

What makes the game interesting is the combination of where couriers can be placed, which ones can move, & how to get money to bribe the guards at the palace.

Each of the four types of courier; the lady, the gentleman, the cossack, & the soldier, will only ever stay in one particular room in each inn. For example, the lady can only ever occupy the bottom left of the four rooms.

An inn can only ever hold a maximum of three couriers (I presume the landlord/landlady needs somewhere to sleep!) and is considered full when this occurs.

Couriers at a full inn are the only ones that can make a move to the next village. A player must have a courier of their colour in that inn to be able to make this move.
The vacant room at the inn will have an arrow pointing to the next room clockwise. The first two couriers in the rooms clockwise from this arrow, regardless of player colour, are the two that can move to the next village, any carried messages going with them.
The two couriers, however, must occupy two different inns at the next village. Which inns will be at the active players choice.
As compensation for being left behind, the player whose courier did not move gets to take a coin from the face-down selection. They will look at its value (3, 2, 1, or Njet) but keep its amount secret. This is how players acquire the rubles to bribe the palace guard. I like to think of it as the remaining courier staying behind to help out at the inn & getting a little payment, maybe for washing dishes!

At the Palace there are 5 guards (not all accessible, depending on number of players) who can be bribed to take a message to the Czar. One can be bribed with a total of only 6 rubles, two with 8 rubles, & two with 10 rubles.
When the occupants of a full inn at the last village are moved on, any messages are placed with the guard directly above that inn. If the player whose message reaches a guard can, on their turn (if it wasn’t their turn when the move was made), pay the required bribe then their message is taken to the Czar & they have won! If not, then the message holds with the guard until the required bribe can be earned.

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Tactics
Although the rules/gameplay is fairly simple to learn, there are some useful tactics to bear in mind.

It’s useful to spread your couriers among different inns in a village for a couple of reasons:
1) it increases your chance of getting rubles, as you can cash-in on other peoples moving couriers on if yours is the one left behind
2) it also puts you in a good position for moving your message between couriers in a village, giving better options for moving the message on.

When moving couriers to the next village you have the choice of where to put them, even if they belong to another player. The only stipulation is that they must go in different inns. This can produce quite a nice situation called a march-through.
As each courier can only go in one designated room at an inn then, if that room is unavailable in all the inns of a village, the courier can march-through to the next village.

This, combined with the different inn rule, can set you up to march your message right through a village to the next one, or quickly move couriers up to where your message may be waiting for rooms to fill before you can move it on!

Also, when moving on an opponents courier or message you can put them in the least helpful place for them. This can be especially effective when reaching the last village as you put their message beneath the most expensive guard to bribe. Of course they can move the message to another of their couriers, if they have one, beneath a cheaper guard but this costs them another move!

It’s important to remember that the only exception to the march-through rule is when placing couriers in the first village. If a courier can not be placed from your draw pile then it is placed face-up next to the pile & your turn is over.

If a situation occurs when all the rubles have been taken from the supply (only likely with maximum players) and a player qualifies to take a ruble, they can take one at random from any player!

Conclusion
Message to the Czar is a very good, fun game that takes about 45 minutes to play. It’s simple enough to teach to most levels of game-player, and even non-players should find it easy to pick up.

It benefits from repeat plays, as you look for the tactical opportunities, but is light enough not to suffer from any analysis-paralysis.

It has elements of luck in it that keep the game fun but, with the revised rules, it is far away from the luck-driven random ending that was the major criticism aimed against it.

My advice would be to look past the negative comments/reviews and open yourself to try this game. Whether it be your first time to play, or whether you played before by the original rules & were left feeling disappointed.
Give the game a fair try/re-try by the revised rules and you may be surprised! It definitely doesn’t deserve its low rating here on the Geek.
Let’s spread the message!

Yours sincerely

Andrew B
P.S. Don't shoot the messenger!

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Rew B Slippers — 2007-08-29T18:12:54+00:00

Bribing the Guard.

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Rew B Slippers — 2007-08-29T18:11:03+00:00

Messages, Couriers, & Bribes.

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thoia — 2007-02-19T23:57:34+00:00

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thoia — 2007-02-19T23:57:24+00:00

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thoia — 2007-02-19T23:57:09+00:00

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FitisGames.be — 2007-01-05T11:42:25+00:00

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FitisGames.be — 2007-01-05T11:42:17+00:00

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

peacmyer — 2006-12-18T21:46:26+00:00

Thanks, Rob, looking forward to it.

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

robmderrick — 2006-12-18T21:35:01+00:00

Rules were uploaded today, along with a point chart that can be cut out and placed alongside the board. Look for them soon. See also GeoMan's recent upload of "deadbeat actions" player aid. Comments, suggestions and complaints are welcome.

-- rob derrick

Thread: Re: Can you play Muscat with the Czar components?

GeoMan — 2006-12-16T01:37:47+00:00

CapAp wrote:
I'm asking, because I know I like Muscat, but can't find a copy. However, I could buy Czar on the cheap. If i can play using Muscar rules, I'll buy it. Anyone know if the pieces jive?

With some minor modifications you can. See the thread about the "Message to the Czar +" rules.

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GeoMan — 2006-12-16T00:34:05+00:00

Using the Muscat rules plus some home rules

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

GeoMan — 2006-12-15T23:50:00+00:00

We tried a 3 player game using Rob's rules and the modifications i suggested above:

The game took about 45-50 minutes and had some interesting choices to make. Keeping the randomness to a minimum (coin draws) made for a good game.

Only one player managed to deliver her Message (on the 8 value guard) and she won the game, but with only 3 points more than the second player (me). I was greedy and tried to deliver my Message to the value 10 guard failing to do so just for 1 Ruble!

The scores were close 61, 58, 54

About Message value:

A player delivering his message to the 10 Guard gains (10x2 Message value - 10/2 VP from Rubles)=15 VPs.

A player unable to deliver the same message gains 5 VPs (from the Rubles he didn't spent)

The difference in that case is 10VPs (one more Courier to the Palace).

But since the Message is carried by a courier and reaches the Palace together, it is always beneficial (less actions required) to try to deliver the Message.

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

robmderrick — 2006-12-12T00:02:34+00:00

GeoMan wrote:
Asked for permission from Rob to post his original file here. If he approves it i'll post it ASAP!

BTW, I really like some of the changes proposed above. I think some should be incorporated without any doubt. I guess I am now re-energized. (in fact, my copy of Czar has been sitting next to my computer for quite a while now as a reminder that I need to finish it up. Now, with ya'll complaining , I suppose I have another string-around-the-finger.

-- rob derrick

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

robmderrick — 2006-12-11T23:47:13+00:00

GeoMan wrote:
cymric wrote:
This doesn't help us BGG'ers one bit, because the Spielfrieks group is members only and not open to the general public. Please consider posting the +-rules here on BGG, if necessary by transcription. Otherwise this message is really not of much use to interested parties.

Asked for permission from Rob to post his original file here. If he approves it i'll post it ASAP!
Hey, sorry, I've been really slack about finishing up my new ruleset for Czar+. Did a lot of re-editing, re-organizing, and re-modifying after a few playtest games, and finally got hung up on the player-aids, and I haven't been back to it for a while. So, I'll upload the ruleset as it exists now, and leave the play-aid for another day. Look for it in a couple of days.

I didn't even realize that they'd finally put Czar on its own page, separated from Muscat. How long ago did that happen :^) ?

-- rob derrick

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

GeoMan — 2006-12-11T23:33:14+00:00

cymric wrote:
This doesn't help us BGG'ers one bit, because the Spielfrieks group is members only and not open to the general public. Please consider posting the +-rules here on BGG, if necessary by transcription. Otherwise this message is really not of much use to interested parties.

Asked for permission from Rob to post his original file here. If he approves it i'll post it ASAP!

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

cymric — 2006-12-11T23:18:49+00:00

This doesn't help us BGG'ers one bit, because the Spielfrieks group is members only and not open to the general public. Please consider posting the +-rules here on BGG, if necessary by transcription. Otherwise this message is really not of much use to interested parties.

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

GeoMan — 2006-12-11T23:12:27+00:00

sbszine wrote:
GeoMan wrote:
While i was reading the "Message to the Czar +" rules by Rob Derrick[...]
Are these rules available anywhere? I can't seem to find them on BGG.

You can get these from the Spielfrieks Yahoo Group under the File section.

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

GeoMan — 2006-12-11T23:10:52+00:00

Sexy Amy wrote:
This game really needed fixing. I haven't tried your recommendations yet, but I am very hopeful.

In reality the "Message to the Czar+" rules and the above modifications turn the game into "Muscat" with some money and Message management added.

Since "Muscat" is a very good game and sadly out of print, "Message to the Czar" with the Plus ruleset and the above modifications is the closest thing you can try.

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

sbszine — 2006-12-11T23:10:26+00:00

GeoMan wrote:
While i was reading the "Message to the Czar +" rules by Rob Derrick[...]
Are these rules available anywhere? I can't seem to find them on BGG.

Thread: Re: Message to the Czar ++

Sexy Amy — 2006-12-11T22:59:31+00:00

This game really needed fixing. I haven't tried your recommendations yet, but I am very hopeful.

Thread: Message to the Czar ++

GeoMan — 2006-12-11T22:48:16+00:00

Retrofitting the "Muscat" rules into "Message of the Czar" turns a bad random game into a really good one.

While i was reading the "Message to the Czar +" rules by Rob Derrick, something struck me as odd: for a thinking game the distribution of Rubles is totally random!

Using this ruleset it is possible for a player to be unable to deliver his Message (-16VPs) and gain no extra VPs at game end from Rubles, just because he was very unlucky with his random coin draws.

I propose some rule changes to lower the luck of the draw and let players manage their Rubles:

1) A courier that is left behind when the others Depart still draws a coin randomly from the bag. This is the only random element now. A courier never draws randomly a coin from another player.
(If possible, coins from 2 copies should be used, so there are enough coins in the supply).

2) A courier that decides to pay the Rent, chooses which coin(s) to pay. This balances things out: a player that draws low value coins pays low value coins for rent, while a lucky player that only draws high value coins has to pay more.
Another effect of this rule is that the Rubles get tight as the game proceeds because players return to the bag (as Rent) the lower value coins. So making money early is more important now.

3) Coins not so important at game end: At the end of the game every 2 Rubles = 1 VP.

4) Guard Bribes: No random coin draw from the player! The player that delivers his Message to a Guard has to pay the value printed on the Guard.
Also the Messages have different values depending on which Guard they are delivered to: Message Value = Guard Value x 2
So a player that delivers his Message to the Guard of value 10 will get more VPs but he needs more money (10 Rubles in this case) to be able to deliver it.
With the previous rules it was always better to deliver your Message to the rightmost Guard.

5) Departure: The player with the 1st courier places him first, then the player with the 2nd courier chooses another Inn to place his courier.

6) Multiple Jumps to Palace: A courier carrying a Message who jumps over one or more villages (bypassing one or more villages bacause all positions are occupied) always lands at the Guard above his starting Inn.
With the previous rules all Multiple Jumps to Palace ended on the leftmost Guard.
Players must be careful because they may now be forced to land in a different Guard than the one they plan to.

7) All players start the game with 1 Ruble.
The first time for a player with a courier at 3rd place that a Departure takes place, his courier is forced on the road because he has no money to pay. Giving each player 1 Ruble at game start gives the player a choice to pay or not.

8) Paying the Rent: the player first sets aside the coin(s) for the Rent, then he draws a random coin from the bag and then places his Rent coin(s) into the bag.
So it is not possible to redraw the coin you just put in the bag!

All other rules from the "Message to the Czar+" ruleset remain the same. Let me know if you try these rule modifications!

Thread: Re: Can you play Muscat with the Czar components?

RPardoe — 2006-11-11T17:57:38+00:00

I suspect the answer is no, otherwise there wouldn't have been such dismay over MttC...folks would have shifted to the old rules.

Looking at my copy of Muscat (German eBay was my friend...)

Muscat's board is 4 levels of 5 spaces each.
MttC's board appears (from photos) to have only 4 spaces in the middle two levels.

Token count also appears to be different.
Muscat has 4x4 tokens in each of 5 colours
MttC appears (from rules doc) to have only 3x4 tokens in each of 5 colours.

Thread: Can you play Muscat with the Czar components?

CapAp — 2006-11-11T17:41:49+00:00

I'm asking, because I know I like Muscat, but can't find a copy. However, I could buy Czar on the cheap. If i can play using Muscar rules, I'll buy it. Anyone know if the pieces jive?

Thread: Re: Alternate Official Ending - Where can I find it?

cymric — 2006-11-08T17:02:15+00:00

The active player gets to decide where the messages end up. You can therefore dump a message of your opponent at a '10'-guard---tough luck on that opponent, he should've treated his message with a bit more care. If there are multiple messages pending at an equal multiple of guards, then a player can only win on his turn by presenting the guard at that time with the required sum of money.

Thread: Re: Alternate Official Ending - Where can I find it?

The Horrible Dr.B — 2006-11-08T16:02:45+00:00

cymric wrote:
4. If you don't have the required sum, you put the message on the guard, indicating it is waiting to be delivered; that guard now no longer accepts new messages.

What if 2 messages go up to a guard at the same time?

Thread: Re: Alternate Official Ending - Where can I find it?

DLongo — 2006-10-01T15:23:04+00:00

Thanks! I really appreciate the quick response.

Thread: Re: Alternate Official Ending - Where can I find it?

cymric — 2006-10-01T08:44:16+00:00

The 'new' ending goes as follows:

1. Whenever you move out two couriers to the next city, give the person who remains behind a ruble from the closed heap.

2. If there are no more rubles in the heap, that person takes one ruble at random from one of his fellow players.

3. You can only enter the palace if a) it is your turn; b) you can move into the palace; and c) you have the required sum of rubles to bribe the guard.

4. If you don't have the required sum, you put the message on the guard, indicating it is waiting to be delivered; that guard now no longer accepts new messages.

5. Rubles are kept face down, but their owner may of course look at them.

Thread: Re: Alternate Official Ending - Where can I find it?

Great Dane — 2006-10-01T08:01:56+00:00

They used to be on the puiblisher's website (www.winning-moves.de) but apparently have they removed the information when they removed the game from their catalogue.

I thought I had kept a copy on my PC, but I cannot find it at the moment. I will keep searching though.

Thread: Alternate Official Ending - Where can I find it?

DLongo — 2006-10-01T01:37:00+00:00

I read here that there is a new official (alternate) ending to this game that improves it. But I cannot find it anywhere. Can someone post it here?

Please?

Thread: Re: In case you have the old rules

ropearoni4 — 2006-08-18T15:20:49+00:00

We play where at the beginning of the game we randomly choose one of the guards houses to go to(roll dice). If a courier shows up without the needed coins, that guy is moved from the board, and another must try to take the letter (the letter never leaves the guard palace gate, so just another courier must travel up to the guards after you have the correct amount). This also makes it possible for your opponent to move your couriers as per normal rules when you don't have enough coins (or as they think). moving the guy who failed off the board is helpful to use him to get back up to the top with. Consider the letter and that same guy is still at the guard gate, but you are using the tile again for mechanics reasons.

In theme this would be like the first courier shows up without the correct bribe and waits for his buddies to show up with more cash.

Thread: Re: What happens to flipped coins following a "NJET"?

cymric — 2006-08-07T07:55:05+00:00

m_r_tyler wrote:
My version of the rules says the flipped over coins are returned to the box when a "njet" coin is drawn. But does that mean the coins are out of the game or do the coins return to the box from which they are drawn? What happens to the "njet" coin? Does it return to play or is it removed?
I don't have those rules; you must have a first edition copy of the game. My guess is that simply all return to the palace.

Using the new rules, a player draws a coin and keeps it face down as a result of his courier being left behind when the other two couriers travel to the next village. If this player draws a "njet" token does he keep it face down or does it return to the pool?
Face down. It is an element of surprise to the other players, although the gig is of course up when you are knocking on the doors of the palace and don't have the money to bribe the guard.

If you play the rule which says you can draw from other players once the pool is empty, do you only draw one token?
Yes.

Thread: What happens to flipped coins following a "NJET"?

m_r_tyler — 2006-08-07T03:35:11+00:00

My version of the rules says the flipped over coins are returned to the box when a "njet" coin is drawn. But does that mean the coins are out of the game or do the coins return to the box from which they are drawn? What happens to the "njet" coin? Does it return to play or is it removed?

Using the new rules, a player draws a coin and keeps it face down as a result of his courier being left behind when the other two couriers travel to the next village. If this player draws a "njet" token does he keep it face down or does it return to the pool?

If you play the rule which says you can draw from other players once the pool is empty, do you only draw one token?

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ladawna — 2006-06-30T20:38:41+00:00

Message to the Czar - in play close up

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ladawna — 2006-06-30T20:38:34+00:00

Message to the Czar components

Thread: Re: rules clarification?

todi — 2006-04-22T14:19:03+00:00

thanks so much.

Thread: Re: rules clarification?

cymric — 2006-04-22T07:26:37+00:00

I quote: 'Wenn das Geld dort aufgebraucht ist, muss er sich woanders etwas "besorgen". Er nimmt sich dann eines der verdeckt vor seinen Mitspielern liegenden Rubelstücke.' This translates into what I wrote above: finite number of rubles in the game, and when they've gone from the palace you pinch one from one of your fellow players.

Thread: Re: rules clarification?

todi — 2006-04-22T00:08:24+00:00

Does the german edition say that u can draw coins at random from other players?

Thread: Re: rules clarification?

cymric — 2006-04-21T23:34:07+00:00

In my (german) rules, coins are limited. Since there's a bit of confusion about rules of various editions, this might very well be the cause of the discrepancy.

Thread: Re: rules clarification?

todi — 2006-04-21T22:00:16+00:00

thanks so much for the clarification.

this is the response i got from jay tummelson

1. No, he loses his turn.

2. coins are not limited, so you can add pennies if you run out of coins.

Thread: Re: rules clarification?

cymric — 2006-04-21T20:44:24+00:00

todi wrote:
1. placing a courier - in case a player decides not to place a courier that is face up in his discard pile, and instead draws the top most card. he finds that because the rooms are full and he cannot place the drawn card - can he opt to now place the originally open card that was in his discard pile if it is legally possible?
No. The newly drawn courier 'obscures' the old one; so once you have decided to chose a courier this way you either place it, or forego your turn. That was the risk you took.

2. a situation came up in a game we played. it was a 4 player game - one of the players' message had already reached the guard but he did not have enough money to bribe the guard. the stock of coins got emptied and no one else had made it to the palace with the message. only two of the players had enough coins to bribe a guard. the fourth player had only 5 coins which was not enough to bribe any guard. the player who's message is in the palace had only 9 coins while he requires 10 to bribe the guard. now technically one of the other two players can move up and win the game but there are no coins to pick. so doesw the game end at this point? is the player who's message is already in the palace declared a winner?
Don't forget it is not about the number of coins, it is about their worth. In any case, if there are no more coins in the palace, you draw one from your fellow players at random; play continues until someone can deliver the message on his turn by succesfully bribing the guard.

Thread: rules clarification?

todi — 2006-04-21T19:46:03+00:00

1. placing a courier - in case a player decides not to place a courier that is face up in his discard pile, and instead draws the top most card. he finds that because the rooms are full and he cannot place the drawn card - can he opt to now place the originally open card that was in his discard pile if it is legally possible?

2. a situation came up in a game we played. it was a 4 player game - one of the players' message had already reached the guard but he did not have enough money to bribe the guard. the stock of coins got emptied and no one else had made it to the palace with the message. only two of the players had enough coins to bribe a guard. the fourth player had only 5 coins which was not enough to bribe any guard. the player who's message is in the palace had only 9 coins while he requires 10 to bribe the guard. now technically one of the other two players can move up and win the game but there are no coins to pick. so doesw the game end at this point? is the player who's message is already in the palace declared a winner?

Thread: In case you have the old rules

todi — 2006-04-11T23:52:17+00:00

In case you have the old rules, here are the relevant changes that need to be incorporated into them.

In section 'c) - travel to the next village' add the following line after the sentence "The third courier remains behind".

The player who owns the courier left behind takes one coin from the pile
of coins in the palace, placing it face down in his play area.

The last section "d) bribe the guard" becomes

Only a player whose message is with a palace guard may bribe the
guard on his turn.
The guard only takes a message into the palace when he is given the
correct number of rubles (6, 8, or 10) or more.
The player determines if he has enough rubles to bribe the guard
by summing the face values of the coins he has collected when
his couriers were left behind. If the player has collected enough
rubles to bribe the guard, he turns them over, showing all players his
coins. If he has enough (or more) to bribe the guard, the guard takes
the message to the czar and the player wins the game!
If the player does not have enough rubles to bribe the guard, he
must choose one of the other three actions. A player may always look
at the coins he has collected to know their sum.

It is red’s turn. He needs 6 rubles to bribe the
guard. He sums the coins he has collected and
gets a total of 5 rubles (2, 2, and 1). He needs
only 1 more ruble to successfully bribe the guard
and win the game. He decides to use the “travel
to the next village” action in a village where one
of his couriers will be left behind. He collects one
coin (1 ruble), which is enough to give him 6
rubles, enough to bribe the guard and win the
game!

Thread: Re: User Review

aquoiboniste — 2005-06-15T09:55:04+00:00

Gola wrote:
Apparently Rio Grande has some new guard-bribing rules here:

www.riograndegames.com/rules/rule218.pdf

It seems that that link is now:

www.riograndegames.com/games/rule218.pdf

Thread: Re:User Review

Gola — 2005-03-18T01:42:55+00:00

Apparently Rio Grande has some new guard-bribing rules here:

www.riograndegames.com/rules/rule218.pdf

You could conceivably play three- or four-player Muscat with a copy of Message to the Czar if you divvy up the pieces of an unused color so that each player has four of each kind of tile (obviously you would have to do a little paste-up action to match colors). Don't forget to disregard one of the houses in the first and fourth rows.

Thread: User Review

TomVasel — 2005-03-14T12:01:51+00:00

When I first read over the rules for Message to the Czar (Winning Moves and Rio Grande Games, 2003 - Christiane Knepel), I thought they sounded fairly interesting. Some of the mechanics were unusual - I’m not sure I’ve seen them in games before. And the theme, delivering a letter to the Czar in ancient Russia, certainly sounded interesting - almost sort of a race theme. The rules seemed fairly simplistic, so I had an optimist attitude when bringing the game to the table for the first time.

I wasn’t quite so pleased after playing the game. The rules were solid, but the end game was so out of touch with the rest of the game, that I felt like there were two different games melded together. The first main part of the game felt like an abstract strategy game, where players jockeyed for position, but I was impressed by the interesting strategies available. All this mattered little, however, because the end of the game was that of a “push your luck” variety. I’m not opposed to these types of games, but the mixture with the nearly abstract maneuvering was jarring.

The board has four rows (villages) of inns, each with a different name - but essentially the same. The bottom and top rows have five inns each, and the middle two rows have four. Each inn is split into four different rooms, or sections. Some of the inns may be closed down, depending on number of players (up to five). Each player gets twelve courier tiles (officers, Cossacks, attachés, and diplomats). The couriers are distinguished from each other only by the fact that they can only go into one of the four specific inn sections. For example, Cossacks can only go into the top right room of an inn. Players take the couriers, shuffle them, and place them face down in a stack in front of them. Thirty coins are shuffled face down on the table, with faces showing “Njet”, nothing, “1”, “2”, or “3”. One player is chosen to go first, and each player in turn order turns over their top courier tile, placing it in the appropriate room in any empty inn. They then take the message tile in their color and place it on their courier, and flip over their next courier face up to start a discard pile. The game is ready to begin.

On a player’s turn, they have one of four options...
- Place a courier: The player may either take any of the couriers in their discard pile or the top courier from their draw pile. They then place it in any available inn, as long as they place it in the correct room, and only if the inn has two or less couriers in it. Inns are maxed out with three couriers, and a fourth may never be placed. If the player, after doing this, has no courier in their discard pile, they turn the top courier over to form a new discard pile.
- Hand off the message: The player may transfer their message from the courier who has it to any other courier in the village.
- Travel to the next village: Each “full” inn (one with three couriers) has an arrow pointing to one of the couriers. The player may move this courier, and must also move the courier who is next clockwise in the inn (the other courier gets left behind) to the next village. The player may move them in any order, placing them in two different inns. If there are no available inns (either all the specific rooms for that type of courier are full, the inns themselves are full, and/or the other courier went to the inn), then the courier may “skip” the village, going to the next one. If a courier is in the last village, they are returned to the player’s draw pile; and if they have a message, that message is given to the palace guard directly above the inn.
- Bribe the guard. This can only be done if a player has a message on a guard. Each guard has a specific number of rubles they need (6, 8, or 10). A player turns over one coin at a time, placing them face up in the palace. At any time, they may stop and keep all the coins they have collected. However, if they turn over a “njet” coin, they forfeit all the coins they’ve collected this turn.

Once a player has gotten the amount of rubles (or more) needed to bribe their guard, they win the game!

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: The game is produced with pretty good quality. Everything is clear and easy to distinguish. My favorite components were the little wooden letters - they were just a nice addition. Little cardboard “closed” signs are provided to show which inns are shut down, if playing with less than four players. The coins are small but not too small, and the numbers on them are quite clear. The tiles and inns on the board are the main components, and they do match up well. The inns have a slightly odd shape, and it’s pretty simple when glancing at a courier to see in which corner of the inn they reside. I like how each room has an arrow pointing at another room; so that if a courier is in a room, they cover up their arrows. Everything fits in a small box - same size as the popular game Transamerica, although players will probably seek to have some plastic bags to keep the components separate.

2.) Rules: The rules for the game are printed on four pages - colorfully illustrated, and very well formatted. Of course, the rules are extremely simple, and there’s not much to teach. From what I can understand, the original game, Muscat, has very different rules and is more highly acclaimed. Either way, the game is simple to teach, and even kids pick it up fairly easily.

3.) Luck: I don’t mind luck in a game, as long as the luck is balanced. The problem with Message to the Czar is that you may better place your couriers, you may better move the message up through the ranks, you may successfully outwit your opponents, yet LOSE the game because of your unlucky coin draws. That is ridiculous, and anyone who loses a game because of this (it WILL happen) will go away angry and bitter. Going into a game, knowing that it’s luck based, is one thing. Playing a game that has some fairly decent strategy then gambles it all away at the end is another.

4.) Strategy: Until you get to the end phase of the game, there are some interesting tactical decisions in the game. Knowing just what inn to place your couriers in is crucial, and knowing which courier to carry your message even more so. Should you try to keep your couriers together, or force another player to move them up along with their couriers? I liked these decisions; and although I’m not sure they really fit the theme all that well, the game play was good. The first person up to the top should win, I think. Forget the stupid endgame. I like “playing chicken” when drawing coins, but that should be in a different game, or at least not be so important.

5.) Fun Factor: For me, the game has two negatives. First of all is the moronic endgame, which I’ve already railed against. Secondly, it’s an abstract game at heart, and I’m not a big fan of those. I think I might have enjoyed this one, however, without the endgame. A game is only fun if it ends fun, and this one is really only fun in the beginning and middle. Fortuantely, the game only lasts about twenty or thirty minutes, so it’s not an excruciatingly bad thing, but long enough to where I’m not sure I’ll play it again.

I can’t really recommend this game - I’m not sure I’ve gotten my money’s worth, even with buying a used version at a discount. There’s the hint of a good game here, but the endgame positively just ruins it. Perhaps someday I’ll get a chance to play the original game, Muscat, which I hear is better. However, now all I have is Message to the Czar. Sadly, I think he’s just going to have to wait a while, as all my messengers got disgusted with the annoyances of his guards and quit. This game is going to languish on my shelf, until I can find a way around the end game. It’s sad when one rule like that can ruin the entire game.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games.”