Game: Recess!

Thread: Re: Recess! - Falling Down on the Playground

GreatAtuin — 2007-12-06T14:59:38+00:00

sisteray wrote:
Strange to hear that you don't normally end the game in a kiss. I very rarely found that the game ended any other way. Were you using the Nuns to shove your pieces for extra movement? This will both propel and protect your kids.

Were you doing much tattling? In multiplayer games, it is often in the best interest for other players to break up fights so that there aren't people collecting money every turn.

Going first gives you an extra turn for sure, but puts you in the most vulnerable position.

Bummer, that you didn't dig it, but thanks for giving it a go.

To be fair, my experience with the game is dominated by plays with children and non-gamer staff. In most games with this group (not just Recess!) there is quite a bit of "jump on the leader." I've seen the nuns, for instance, used more to hinder movement than advance and protect your own pieces. And in place of tattling, commonly the players try to break up the fight themselves (so they are in place to start fighting next turn.)

I wrote this review in a critical light because there needs to be more critical reviews on BGG (IMHO), but I actually like this game - especially because it is easy to play without being simplistic. The rules are very easy to understand and remember. It was a good buy and I would still purchase it, if I had it to do over again.

I'll take your ideas and make an effort to "show them off" during the next game at the Christmas vacation camp. Maybe we can break out of our rut.

Thread: Re: Recess! - Falling Down on the Playground

sisteray — 2007-12-06T06:59:50+00:00

Strange to hear that you don't normally end the game in a kiss. I very rarely found that the game ended any other way. Were you using the Nuns to shove your pieces for extra movement? This will both propel and protect your kids.

Were you doing much tattling? In multiplayer games, it is often in the best interest for other players to break up fights so that there aren't people collecting money every turn.

Going first gives you an extra turn for sure, but puts you in the most vulnerable position.

Bummer, that you didn't dig it, but thanks for giving it a go.

Thread: Recess! - Falling Down on the Playground

GreatAtuin — 2007-12-05T22:02:30+00:00

Recess! Is an easy game to teach, but has a few flaws that prevent it from being a great game. Let me review:

Components:
The game board comes in 4 pieces on a sturdy cardboard stock. The tokens (or steeples and neeples for students and nuns, respectively) are wood. The money used in the game is also wood. The artwork on the box and turn measuring device is similar. Colorful and appealing to younger players. The board artwork is simplistic. The components themselves are appropriate for the theme (artwork) and the pieces are sturdy – again appropriate for a game involving fights and getting shoved around by nuns.

Gameplay (as brief as possible):
The game is easy to teach, with simple rules and quick play. The game can’t last more than 30 minutes because each player’s turn is completed in “real time.” 1 minute of recess in the game (a turn length) is 1 minute for the player. Recess only lasts 30 minutes. Of course players may take less than a minute to complete their turn – then the game will be over faster than 30 minutes.
No dice, no cards needed. 3 of the player’s pieces are moved each turn (out of 4 – 2”guys” and 2 “girls”) and one nun is moved (of 2). The rules governing the movement are easily remembered by repeating “3, 2, 1, Nun” during your turn.
There is one way to win: end recess with the most lunch money. Money can be taken from other players by holding them down and stealing it AND collecting money from each player if you manage to get one of your “guy” pieces into contact with one of your “girl” pieces without any nuns seeing you (a kiss). This maneuver also ends the recess immediately, regardless of the number of turns actually left.

Problems with the game:

Logjam: The players’ pieces of the same gender start out in the same spot on the board. This creates a logjam of pieces around the starting points. What develops are two separate games of student combat – one around the girls’ entrance and one around the boys’ entrance. The problem is intensified with more players. More players also makes it nearly impossible to achieve a “kiss,” because the game remains 30 turns long regardless of the number of people playing. The game is then driven further into the “two games” scenario.

Turn Fairness: The turns are not evenly divided when 4 people play. Going first or second is a definite advantage – an extra turn.

Conclusion:

Recess! Is fun but at times can be tedious. The “kiss” goal is usually not achieved, even though it is what most players want to accomplish when they pick up the game. The game instead is diverted into two separate brawls on far corners of the board. Not that two brawls on the board is a bad thing – but this game doesn’t shine as a playground combat simulator.

Thread: Re: More Shoving ...

sisteray — 2007-10-16T02:57:36+00:00

You are able to shove a child into any adjacent playable orthogonal region.

Thread: More Shoving ...

Case — 2007-10-14T02:48:11+00:00

When a child is shoved is the direction of the shove orthogonal?

Greg

Thread: On sale for $13.45 at Funagain

cull — 2007-05-23T11:11:48+00:00

Retail is $24.95

http://www.funagain.com/control/product/~product_id=015656/~...
(you have to put it in your cart to see the discount)

Thread: Re: Shoving

Csigs — 2007-02-04T13:15:44+00:00

Children (and nuns) can 'stack' in safety squares.

Thread: Shoving

ManlyWan — 2007-02-04T11:47:48+00:00

The rules are clear that "no shoving is allowed in a saftey square."

How exactly does this work? Is it:

A: Children are not allowed to end their movement in the same saftey sqaure as another child.

B: Children can "stack" in saftey sqares (and only in saftey squares)

Image

thoia — 2006-12-15T01:44:31+00:00

Bits inside the box.

Thread: Tactical, Snack-Sized Fun!

Csigs — 2006-11-23T22:35:10+00:00

Recess! was designed by BGG's own Morgan Dontanville. I admit it was this connection that brought the game to my attention in the first place; otherwise I'm not sure I would have given it a second glance. The title and the cover art seem to suggest a kids game, but the actual game play is much more thoughtful. And it’s quick! The game is played over 30 timed one-minute turns (as long as your typical recess), so even accounting for set-up time and put-away this game will never be much more than a half-hour.

Think of it as a lengthy filler, or very quick game … and ultimately I think Recess! overcomes some component issues to be engaging, and a bit more hefty than your typical snack-sized game.

The Parts
- Four game boards printed on thin but sturdy cardboard. Each board is divided into a 6x6 grid and featuring a series of one or two square obstacles depicted as typical playground equipment and rendered in a crayon-ish, childlike style. The boards are modular, meaning that the "field of battle" can change with each game, however I'm not sure this affects the overall game play that much.

- 2 L-shaped "entrances"; one for boys, one for girls made of the same material as the boards. These are the starting points and are designed to wrap around opposite corners when the modular board is assembled.

- 2 "safety squares"; these represent the starting places for the nuns, and also a safety zone that is free of combat.

- 1 nearly useless sand timer (more on this, later)

- 50 yellow wooden "coins". These pieces are nice and perfectly usable, but when I found players starting to refer to them as "gold" or "gold pieces" I took them out of the game and replaced them with actual nickels from my coin jar. This always gets a laugh when people play and it seems to keep with the theme better. In retrospect, I'd have liked some kind of counter that actually looked similar to modern money, but this is a really minor quibble. The wooden coins are fine. I might even just spray paint them silver if I want my nickels back.

- 20 catholic schoolboy and girl meeples; ten of each in five different colors. Enough for each player to have two. The difference between the boy and girl meeples is that the schoolgirl meeples don't have a space at the bottom separating the 'legs' (they're wearing skirts ... get it?). My first impression was that this might not be enough of a visual difference and that players would get confused during the game, however this has not happened in my experience.

- 2 Nuns. These black figures are more abstract and monolith-like, somewhat similar to the Robber in Settlers of Catan than an actual nun.

- 1 turn clock, made of the same stock as the board. In addition to marking out the 30 turns, the clock depicts two rambunctious kids and an angry nun swinging a ruler, menacingly. It's this ruler that serves as the clock's hand and this thing never fails to crack me up every time I look at it. This is one of my favorite components in the game box.

- 1 set of rules written in four languages (English, German, French, Spanish). The rules are only one page long, but in a typeface so small you might go blind. Fortunately I'm already there, anyway. There are also no diagrams but for the most part they're not needed; but due to the absence of a diagram we set the board up wrong the first time we played it. I can see where non-gamers might have struggled more.

The Game
The object of the game is to maneuver your boy and girl meeples around the playground, out of sight of the nuns and to beat up other meeples for their lunch money (one coin); or to go get the nuns and tattle on opposing players, thus sending their meeples to detention (think "time out"). There's also a "push your luck" aspect; do you risk detention by continuing to extort coins? Or do you just dash and grab but get away with less?

And ... if you can get one of your boy meeples and one of your girl meeples on the same square and out of sight of the nuns, you get to steal a kiss, collect two coins from each of the other players, and end the game.

At this point (or at the end of 30 turns), the player with the most coins is the winner.

The game plays for (or up to) 30 sixty-second turns; that's it. If you have five players that means they're getting six turns each! This also means there could be an issue in a four-player game where two players get one fewer turn than the others. The game's emphasis is more on the 'fun' than on the tactical combat ... but if this is an issue for the players I'd just say extend the four-player game to 32 rounds to give everyone an even shot.

The modular board is set up with four boards connecting (in any direction) into a larger 12x12 square. The "field of combat" is different each way you face the boards, but I'm not sure this has any real impact on the game play. The two entrances are placed outside of opposite corners of the combined game board, with one safety zone placed inside the game board connecting to each entrance. The nuns start on each of the two safety zones, thus ensuring no 'combat' during the first round or two.

The brilliance and challenge of this game is in the "3, 2, 1, Nun" mechanism. Each turn a player has 60 seconds to maneuver three of his meeples (which only move orthogonally) - the first must move three spaces, the second must move two and the third can only move one. In that order. (the fourth doesn't move). Then, the player must move a nun. Nuns can move any number of spaces either diagonally or orthogonally (think of a queen in chess). What's also brilliant is the use of "3, 2, 1, Nun" as a mnemonic device, which makes this game's system fairly easy to teach.

Moving your meeple onto a square with a meeple of another player means you've knocked him (or her) down and you get to take a coin ... but you better break it off before a nun sees you (moves into line of sight), or another player tattles because then your meeple goes into detention for a round. You can also move a nun onto another meeple's space and "shove" that child in any direction (either giving your meeple an extra boost, or disrupting the plans of another player).

Line of sight is a key concept in this game. You can't steal anyone's money, nor can you sneak a kiss if you are in any nun's line of sight. Her line of sight is a straight line in any direction that she can move (orthogonally or diagonally), however it is blocked by any of the obstacles on the board. Even if it's a swing set. I thought this concept would be too foreign/complex for non-gamers, but that hasn't been the case so far.

My biggest bugaboo with the game play has to be the sand timer. We only used it in our first play, and too many times a turn would finish after 10, 15 seconds ... meaning that we then had to sit and wait and watch for the timer to catch up with us before the next player could make a move. This really disrupted the fun, rapid-fire feel of the game and before our first play was over we'd dumped the timer in favor of someone's digital watch.

Morgan addressed this in another thread http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/122079 wherein he also threw out some sensible suggestions. My suggestion; if you get this game and play it infrequently, just use somebody's digital watch. If it's something that's going to come out more often, invest in a cheap Radio Shak stopwatch (or wait for a promotional one ... they seem to be given out at all kinds of functions as giveaways) and keep that in the box.

Overall
Recess! fills a niche unlike any game I’ve come across … it’s essentially a quick, multi-player tactical combat game and without any dice-rolling or player elimination. It’s quick enough to be filler, but still very engaging and fun. It’s not just a “pass the time” kind of game. The theme is strongly supported through the components, and the movement and ‘combat’ are engaging and challenging enough to help you forget that the system is fairly abstract.

One very neat plus is that the game is tactical enough to scratch the itch of most of my combat-gaming friends, yet the theme is friendly and funny enough that their non-combat wives and girlfriends like to play, too. And guaranteed, the game will elicit a howl and a cheer from a mixed-gender group the first time a girl-meeple knocks down a boy meeple and steals his lunch money.

I do have some minor issues with the components, but they haven’t been a stumbling block to enjoying this game. And while it’s something a little bit more than filler, Recess! isn’t the kind of game that’ll provoke you into calling your buddies together specifically to play it … but I have found that when we’re looking for a quick game in between it’s one of the first they’ll suggest.

Image

eranel — 2006-11-13T08:08:58+00:00

Image

simonh — 2006-09-06T07:19:28+00:00

Coins, Girls, Nuns and Boys.

Thread: Re: Sand Timer vs Digital Timer

hseldon — 2006-09-01T23:13:17+00:00

I don't think you should get rid of the timer, being a fast play makes part of the fun. I have played it a few times now and really enjoy it. Csigs replaced all the tokens with actual nickles, which makes it more realistic! Then we play it with his 9th grade son who we try to embarass with snarky comments. Oh, we used my stop watch or my second hand on my watch, which made it much easier. Two sand timers would be fine, but I think digital is the way to go. Get a whistle and blow it when your opponents time is up! Ooooh, maybe a ruler to whack them on the hands! So many options!

Thread: Re: Real time?

sisteray — 2006-08-29T19:38:39+00:00

Originally, I had this game set to end after 30 minutes, but I was finding that people were taking long turns to run the clock down. It became too gamey.

It works fine without the timer, but I feel that it has the potential to become more like a multiplayer chess game (finaly a solution to multiplayer chess!), and no longer becomes a filler.

The reason why I included a timer was because my group tends to collude and then the game became completely entrenched in diplomacy and negotiation. I wanted to create a quick tactical diceless skirmish game that would appeal to both wargamers and eurogamers, and the timer seemed the best way to do it.

For me the results of the timer are evocotive of the frenetic mania of children on a playground.

Thread: Re: Sand Timer vs Digital Timer

BeyondMonopoly — 2006-08-25T12:52:44+00:00

AnakinOU wrote:
Yeah, the G8 timer would be perfect for this game.
If you have a copy of the game "Time is Money", use the timer from that. Those G8 timers are way too expensive, fiddly, and fragile.

Thread: Re: Sand Timer vs Digital Timer

Brain — 2006-08-22T02:22:59+00:00

I noticed the same thing. Using just one sand timer was a bit clunky. I ended up delaying my nun movement until the last moment rather than giving the other players more time to think.

Thread: Re: Sand Timer vs Digital Timer

Csigs — 2006-08-16T23:42:38+00:00

I only have one play of this so far, and that was in my notes for a possible future review. Yes, resetting the sand timer was clumsy. We started depending on one player's digital watch instead.

All-in-all a neat little game, though.

Thread: Re: Sand Timer vs Digital Timer

AnakinOU — 2006-08-16T22:27:59+00:00

Yeah, the G8 timer would be perfect for this game.

Thread: Sand Timer vs Digital Timer

sisteray — 2006-08-16T19:27:07+00:00

So, originally I designed the game to include a digital timer. Atlas, making a wise decision in bringing the price point down went with a single sand timer instead.

While you probably won't run into a problem with this often, there is a likelihood that you will need to wait for the timer to empty before the next player can go, this effects the timing of the game a bit. I would recommend using either an extra one minute sand timer to toggle back and forth between, or using a digital kitchen clock that can quickly be reset. This will eliminate a potentially awkward moment.

Or if you want to play a more thoughtful game you can just eliminate the timer entirely, but by doing that you should expect the game to last well beyond 30 minutes especially with A/Pers.

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

mateybob — 2006-08-04T04:40:21+00:00

Im not sure how he paid AUS$50 for Thurn and Taxis (probably because Melbourne has way better games stores than the rest of the country) but in Australia its standard practice to charge double the US$ in AUS$ as retail price. Often even more than that.
Recently this seems to be improving a little, specially with the more popular publishers such as FFG, but youd be extremely hard pressed to find an Atlas game in Australia for anything less than double the US RRP in Australian dollars.
It is sometimes sad to comtemplate how many more games I could own for the same amount of money had I been living in America .

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

Atlas Games — 2006-08-04T03:58:24+00:00

shawn_low wrote:
Spotted at FLGS in Melbourne last week along with another Atlas Release: Grand Tribunal.

However, I reckon the game was overpriced. For the same money, I got Thurn and Taxis (AU$50). Sorry Atlas but it's a tough market.

Wow, that *is* pricey. The game's suggested price is $25 US, which seems cheap to me. On the other hand, US$38 (which is what AU$50 is worth, more or less, these days) does seem like a lot. Be that as it may, we don't control what third parties sell our games for -- we just sell to our wholesalers at a discount off the suggested price (our current discount is 60%, so in other words out of that $38 paid in Australia, only $10 went to Atlas Games).

In the USA, Thurn and Taxis carries an MSRP of $33, I believe. I really don't know why the Australian store marks our games up so much more than that one.

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

shawn_low — 2006-07-25T06:04:27+00:00

Spotted at FLGS in Melbourne last week along with another Atlas Release: Grand Tribunal.

However, I reckon the game was overpriced. For the same money, I got Thurn and Taxis (AU$50). Sorry Atlas but it's a tough market. FYI, I also avoided picking up Winning Move's Pecking Order as it cost too much (AU$44).

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

mateybob — 2006-07-11T23:16:13+00:00

I saw this at a LGS in Australia last week so if we have it im pretty sure everyone else must also .

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

LuXo — 2006-07-11T23:13:02+00:00

sisteray wrote:
I was told that Recess is being distributed by Millenium in Spain. You can contact Millenium headquarters in France to ask for more info if you'd like.

Thanks a lot, that's what i will do

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

sisteray — 2006-07-11T22:36:57+00:00

I was told that Recess is being distributed by Millenium in Spain. You can contact Millenium headquarters in France to ask for more info if you'd like.

Thread: Re: Atlas Game rules

LuXo — 2006-07-08T08:40:53+00:00

International Gamers friendly

French: http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/RecessRulesFRENCH.pdf
German: http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/RecessRulesGERMAN.pdf
Spanish: http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/RecessRulesSPANISH.pd...

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

rynelf — 2006-07-07T21:17:46+00:00

I saw a copy in my FLGS (www.gatorgames.com) yesterday.

Thread: Re: Released or release date?

SteveK2 — 2006-07-07T21:02:09+00:00

It was released in UK this week.

Thread: Released or release date?

LuXo — 2006-07-07T20:40:24+00:00

Has this game been released? In case not, what is his release date???

Thanks in advance!

Image

Wren — 2006-07-07T17:33:08+00:00

Back of the box.

Image

Wren — 2006-07-07T17:32:35+00:00

Initial game set up.

Image

Wren — 2006-07-07T17:32:24+00:00

Boy and girl meeples.

Image

Wren — 2006-07-07T17:32:15+00:00

Nun meeples and game coins.

Image

Wren — 2006-07-07T17:32:07+00:00

Game turn counter.

Image

Wren — 2006-07-07T17:31:53+00:00

The modular board components offer variety of game play.

Image

fizzix — 2006-07-04T21:36:34+00:00

Recess Demo at Origins

Thread: Atlas Game rules

skeletodoc — 2006-07-02T09:29:23+00:00

http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/RecessRules.pdf

Thread: Re: Real time?

fizzix — 2006-06-23T15:10:04+00:00

sisteray wrote:
The egg-timer is for groups that need to constrain their turns to one minute. I tend to play very quickly, but the timer is there so that this remains a filler game.

When you explained it to me you pointed out that a kid's recess usually lasts 30 mintues hence the game is in "real time" because the game takes 30 minutes.

Thread: Re: Real time?

Linnaeus — 2006-06-18T17:41:38+00:00

Do you think the game breaks if it's played too slowly, or does it just become not fun?

Thread: Re: Real time?

sisteray — 2006-06-18T12:05:46+00:00

The egg-timer is for groups that need to constrain their turns to one minute. I tend to play very quickly, but the timer is there so that this remains a filler game.

Thread: Re: Real time?

Kalidor — 2006-06-17T09:34:18+00:00

Reading the review in Knucklebones (I think...) I got the impression that reach player had that 1 minute to decide who/where to move/what to do. If I also recall correctly, it was more of a factor later in the game and turns were tension filled because of it.
Despite the "childish" theme, this game looks like it'll be quite fun.
Just my 2c, keep the change...

Thread: Real time?

Linnaeus — 2006-06-15T16:47:03+00:00

One minute long turns, egg timer......this game is played in realtime?

If so, does everyone play simultaneously, or is it just a matter of a player only having so long to get all of their pieces moved?