Game: Graverobbers

Thread: Grave Robbers -- Review

gschloesser — 2007-06-03T22:35:03+00:00

GRAVE ROBBERS

Designer: Carlo Rossi
Publisher: Jolly Roger Games
2 – 5 Players, 30 – 45 minutes
Review by: Greg J. Schloesser

Grave robbing is a crime that is pretty much detested around the globe. Strange, however, that if enough centuries pass, grave robbing becomes an approved facet of archaeology! Well, the theme for Grave Robbers by Carlo Rossi, designer of Alchemist, does not aspire to such a noble undertaking. Rather, it is the seedier sort of grave robbing, with players attempting to defile the dead in search of bodies for scientific research. It is a very strange theme for a game.

Seven cards depicting graves are placed in a row. Each player receives 12 – 20 cards, depending upon the number of players. Cards depict either a detective, grave robber or a “London bobby”, and carry values ranging from 0 – 3. Players will alternate playing one or two cards per turn, attempting to cause a grave to be robbed or protected. These efforts will be driven by the two secret objective cards a player possesses, which will earn points if the objective is met. Objective cards generally challenge a player to keep two specified graves intact or rob them, or keep the majority of the graves protected or cause them to become desecrated.

A player’s turn is quite simple: play one or two cards alongside graves. If a player opts to play two cards, they must be played on different graves. The first card played to a grave must be face-up, with all subsequent cards alternating between face-up and face-down. Thus, players will have some clue as to the current status of a grave based on the face-up cards. Additionally, he can observe the actions of his opponents to discern what they appear to be attempting to accomplish. The “bobby” card has one alternative function: played as a “spy”, it allows a player to reveal a face-down card that is currently at the end of a row. There are times when this can be useful quite useful, both to get a better clue of a grave’s current status and to forestall having to play a card to a grave.

When the seventh card is placed next to a grave, an evaluation of that grave is conducted to determine if it has remained pure or if it has been desecrated. All face-down cards are revealed, and the cumulative value of all detectives is compared to the value of all grave robbers. “Bobbies” are added to the detective’s value, but each “bobby” must be paired with a detective in order for it to add its value. If the detectives’ value is equal to or greater than the robbers’ value, the grave remains safe. Otherwise, it is desecrated, and the grave card is inverted to reflect this status.

After the first grave is robbed, each player has one opportunity to play their “accuse” card upon a player whom they suspect has at least one secret objective that requires the player to cause the desecration of one or more graves. At the end of the game, points are gained or lost, depending upon the accuracy of one’s accusation.

The game concludes after eight rounds, or when four graves have been saved or desecrated. In either case, all remaining graves are evaluated, and the overall status of the graveyard is determined. If at least four graves have been desecrated, the graveyard is considered ransacked. Otherwise, it is secured. Victory points are then earned as follows:

• If the cemetery has been ransacked, players add the value of grave robber cards remaining in their hands, and subtract the value of all remaining detective cards.
• If the cemetery has been secured, players add the value of detective cards remaining in their hands, and subtract the value of all remaining grave robber cards.
• Players receive one point for every two “bobby” cards remaining in their hands.
• Points are earned for each objective card whose requirements have been met. The points earned are listed on the cards.
• Finally, points are earned or lost based on the success or failure of a player’s accusation.

The need to conserve cards of the appropriate type in order to score is reminiscent of the mechanism used in Reiner Knizia’s Honey Bears. However, there is much more control in Knizia’s game. In Grave Robbers, the ultimate status of the cemetery is not determined until the very end of the game, so a player may be left with a handful of cards that will cost him a considerable number of points. Only the “bobby” cards are certain to earn points, and that isn’t going to be very many. There isn’t very much control here.

At least the secret objective cards give a player something concrete to strive for, but even then the collective actions of one’s opponents as they pursue their own objectives will often result in one or more of these cards being unfulfilled, especially since they will likely be pursuing opposite goals. Achieving success in the game truly appears to be largely a matter of luck rather than strategy or skill.

The game reminds me somewhat of Bruno Faidutti’s Corruption, which was released several years ago by Atlas Games. It uses a similar mechanism wherein some cards are placed face-up, while others are placed face-down. I didn’t feel there was much control in that game, particularly in the early rounds. I get the same feel here, but to an even larger extent. Further, the actions a player can take are severely limited: play one or two cards on a turn. That’s it. There aren’t many options, much skill, or much excitement. Sadly, Grave Robbers is destined for the grave yard.

Thread: Grave Robbers - Session Report

gschloesser — 2007-05-23T00:00:13+00:00

Note: My full review of Grave Robbers is being published elsewhere. What follows is an abbreviated version.

Grave robbing is a crime that is pretty much detested around the globe. Strange, however, that if enough centuries pass, grave robbing becomes an approved facet of archaeology! Well, the theme for Grave Robbers by Carlo Rossi, designer of Alchemist, does not aspire to such a noble undertaking. Rather, it is the seedier sort of grave robbing, with players attempting to defile the dead in search of bodies for scientific research. It is a very strange theme for a game.

Seven cards depicting graves are placed in a row. Each player receives 12 – 20 cards, depending upon the number of players. Cards depict a detective, grave robber or a “London bobby”, and carry values ranging from 0 – 3. Players will alternate playing one or two cards per turn, attempting to cause a grave to be robbed or protected. These efforts will be driven by the two secret objective cards a player possesses, which will earn points if the objective is met. Objective cards generally challenge a player to either keep two specified graves intact or rob them, or either keep the majority of the graves protected or cause them to become desecrated.

A player’s turn is quite simple: play one or two cards alongside graves. If a player opts to play two cards, they must be played on different graves. The first card played to a grave must be face-up, with all subsequent cards alternating between face-up and face-down. Thus, players will have some clue as to the current status of a grave based on the face-up cards. The “bobby” card has one alternative function. Played as a “spy”, it allows a player to reveal a face-down card that is currently at the end of a row. There are times when this can be useful quite useful, both to get a better clue of a grave’s current status and to forestall having to play a card to a grave.

When the seventh card is placed next to a grave, an evaluation of that grave is conducted to determine if it has remained pure of if it has been desecrated. All face-down cards are revealed, and the cumulative value of all detectives is compared to the value of all grave robbers. “Bobbies” are added to the detective’s value, but each “bobby” must be paired with a detective in order for it to add its value. If the detectives’ value is equal to or greater than the robbers’ value, the grave remains safe. Otherwise, it is desecrated, and the grave card is inverted to reflect this status.

The game concludes after eight rounds, or when four graves have been saved or desecrated. In either case, all remaining graves are evaluated, and the overall status of the graveyard is determined. If at least four graves have been desecrated, the graveyard is considered ransacked. Otherwise, it is secured. Victory points are then earned for cards of the appropriate type (detective or grave robber) remaining in hand, met objectives, and successful accusations.

The need to conserve cards of the appropriate type in order to score is reminiscent of the mechanism used in Reiner Knizia’s Honey Bears. However, there is much more control in Knizia’s game. In Grave Robbers, the ultimate status of the cemetery is not determined until the very end of the game, so a player may be left with a handful of cards that will cost him a considerable number of points. Only the “bobby” cards are certain to earn points, and that isn’t going to be very many. There isn’t very much control here.

At least the secret objective cards give a player something concrete to strive for, but even then the collective actions of one’s opponents will often result in one or more of these cards being unfulfilled, especially since they will likely be pursuing opposite goals. Achieving success in the game truly appears to be largely a matter of luck rather than strategy or skill.

The game reminds me somewhat of Bruno Faidutti’s Corruption, which was released several years ago by Atlas Games. It uses a similar mechanism wherein some cards are placed face-up, while others are placed face-down. I didn’t feel there was much control in that game, particularly in the early rounds. I get the same feel here, but to an even larger extent. Further, the actions a player can take are severely limited: play one or two cards on a turn. That’s it. There aren’t many options, much skill, or much excitement. Sadly, Grave Robbers is destined for the grave yard.

Gail, Elena, Jim and I pursued our secret objectives, which was dominated by efforts to keep the cemetery secure. That wasn’t good news for Jim, who possessed two objective cards that required him to desecrate graves and cause the cemetery to be ransacked. Ultimately, the cemetery was secured, benefiting Gail and I the most.

Finals: Gail 7, Greg 7, Elena 3, Jim 1

Ratings: All 4’s

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:13:19+00:00

The starting player card and coffin-turn marker.

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:12:42+00:00

The graverobbers win Grave 3.

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:12:09+00:00

The different types of objective cards.

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:11:44+00:00

The six player cards.

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:11:24+00:00

The six Accuse! cards.

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:10:55+00:00

Game in progress.

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Zedsdead — 2007-04-21T18:10:29+00:00

Cops win Grave 6; graverobbers win Grave 7.

Thread: Wife robs the game.

Chemik — 2007-01-24T17:36:53+00:00

On the 3rd Friday of every month, my wife and I host another couple to play games. 1st game for January's session? My newly arrived copy of Graverobbers.

Background: Graverobbers is an excellent card game where you are trying to influence 7 graves in a graveyard. By 'influence' I mean ransack them or save them. Point cards are played face up or down and then totals are reached and voila, a grave is robbed or saved. The caveat is that you choose objective cards in the beginning that will get you extra points. However, if people think you are trying to ransack the graves and you succeed in doing so, you lose points and they gain them.

Players: Me, Kim, Rob, Jen

Ok, play starts. The objective cards I keep are to save graves 1 & 4 but also to get the majority of graves ransacked. I figure I can mask my ransacking desires by saving a few graves. Early on the action focuses on graves 2 and 5. I don't want them saved so every face down opportunity I get, I throw a high numbered ransack card. It works! Sweet, All I need are a majority of the 7 graves ransacked to win that objective and I have 2 down and 2 to go. This is where things start going wrong. A lot of action starts hitting grave 1 where I need it to be saved. It appears that not only 1 but 2 people want it ransacked. I accuse Jen, which was the WRONG person to accuse. Dang! The grave gets robbed but at the same time another gets saved. Ok, so I lose my one objective (to save graves 1&4), but I am close to getting the graveyard ransacked.
At this point, more things start going wrong and I am having to use my high numbered ransack cards to make sure the graveyard gets robbed. Sounds good except at the end of the game, whatever the majority is you have to subtract it from your other cards. For example, if the graveyard gets robbed at games end, you subtract the value of your save cards from your rob cards and get those points. Yeah, and I'm burning all of my rob cards. Not only that but I've made it pretty clear that I'm trying to ransack so here come 2 accusations to me!! I'm screwed. A turn later the graveyeard is ransacked.
Ok, so I get points for acheiving my second objective (to get the majority ransacked) but I get crushed since I have no black left in my hand worth anything, I have 2 CORRECT accusations against me (-6 pts) and my accusation was wrong. I get 1 point. My wife shows a hand chocked full of black cards, a correct accusation against me, and an incorrect accustation against her (by Rob). She wins with 23 points!

Graverobbers, is a game where you really have to think at all times. Tons of strategy and very little luck. Highly recommended.

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Sinister Dexter — 2006-09-06T17:02:44+00:00

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Sinister Dexter — 2006-09-06T17:02:12+00:00

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Sinister Dexter — 2006-09-06T17:02:03+00:00