Game: Times Square

Thread: Re: Option to discard cards

fredact — 2008-09-09T03:36:09+00:00

It may be there for the rare instance where you "can't" play (e.g. you only have Handsome Hal cards, and he's already in your establishment.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

wizardless — 2008-07-23T18:28:23+00:00

coolpapa wrote:
The rule seems to say that Deb must be between Sue and your end of the board, not your side of the board.
Hi Matt. To be honest that's how we (and prob most play it). But I must say that the clarity of some of the rules to this game, considering the simplicity, could have been better.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

coolpapa — 2008-07-22T20:10:20+00:00

The rule seems to say that Deb must be between Sue and your end of the board, not your side of the board.

Thread: Re: Auf der Reeperbahn: Terrific Knizia Game for Two

ssmooth — 2008-07-22T04:37:26+00:00

Just a postscript to say that, after more than 100 games of Auf der Reeperbahn, it turns out that our defensive skills DID get a lot better and that our games end on running through the deck twice at least five times more often than by Schampus-Charly or Brilli-Lilli making their way into anybody's nightclub.

Schampus-Charly occasionally -- Brilli-Lilli almost never. To get Brilli-Lilli in, you've first got to have the bodyguard all the way to the back of the nightclub. This telegraphs the possibility so clearly that only under exceptional circumstances (like, absolutely no cards to do anything about it) would Lilli's way be clear on the next move.

Schampus-Charly does occasionally have enough cards and board position working in one player's favor to carry the point. But not nearly as often as he did in our first dozen or two games.

We've also seen the game end more than a couple of times with Brilli-Lilli exactly on the center space and the position of Schampus-Charly to break the tie. We've even had one outright tie, with both green figures on the center square at game's end.

My rating has gone up from 8.5 to 10.

Thread: Re: Movement Question - Direction

jearles — 2008-07-13T16:53:29+00:00

Thanks for the clarification, ssmooth. I was wondering if you could move opposite, as the rules were not specific on that point.

Thread: Re: Movement Question - Direction

ssmooth — 2008-07-13T16:35:01+00:00

Right -- with a small detail to add.

You do have to get the full numerical value of a card when you play it; otherwise you can't play it. However, you don't necessarily have to move the piece toward yourself. (Note that when you play the special gray card that moves both the bodyguards back to Brilli-Lilli, you often move one of them away from you while moving the other one toward you.)

Almost all of the time, you want to move the pieces closer to yourself. But if you had, for example, a red 1 card and a red 5 card and wanted to use them as wild cards for Brilli-Lilli, you might first use the 1 card to back her up so that you could then use the 5 card without her running into a bodyguard.

Thread: Re: Movement Question - Direction

jearles — 2008-07-13T13:47:32+00:00

No, you must move the full number of spaces in your direction. There is a rule that If the card cannot be executed completely you cannot play the card, and if you could reduce a 5 by going 2 in one direction and 3 in the other you wouldn't need this rule.

Thread: Re: Moving Champagne Charlie

free_planet — 2008-07-13T08:56:46+00:00

wizardless wrote:
Rules state that dancing Deb must be between saucy Sue and YOUR side of the board.

I'm referring the pdf rules downloaded from www.riograndegames.com.
It says "Dancing Deb must be between Saucy Sue and the player's end of the board"
It says nothing about "YOUR side".

Therefore, the answer of your question should be : No.

You may also refer to the following thread :
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/108377

Thread: Movement Question - Direction

free_planet — 2008-07-13T05:38:14+00:00

If I play a "Red 5" card, can I first move Dancing Deb 2 spaces away from me and then 3 spaces towards me, so that she is moved effectively only 1 space?

This sounds tricky. But does the rule have any restriction on the direction of how the pieces are moved?

Thank you very much.

Thread: Re: Moving Champagne Charlie

wizardless — 2008-07-13T05:18:22+00:00

Zambo wrote:
No you don't. Anything in between your end of the board and the middle space (sewer cover space) is "your side". So no Champagne Charlie movement in your example.

Which then creates another question with regards to moving Saucy Sue with dancing Deb's ability. Rules state that dancing Deb must be between saucy Sue and YOUR side of the board. So my question is, does this mean Deb must be on your side to move Sue?

Thread: Re: Moving Champagne Charlie

Zambo — 2008-07-12T19:04:17+00:00

No you don't. Anything in between your end of the board and the middle space (sewer cover space) is "your side". So no Champagne Charlie movement in your example.

Thread: Moving Champagne Charlie

free_planet — 2008-07-12T18:36:52+00:00

The English rule says that Champagne Charlie should :

"move 1 space when Saucy Sue and both Bodyguards stand on his side of the board, that is, on his side of the middle space (with the sewer cover)."

I would like to know the exact meaning of "on his side". Does it include space with the sewer cover?

For example, if I have Saucy Sue and a Bodyguard totally on my side and the other Bodyguard on the space with the sewer cover. Do I get Champagne Charlie moved for 1 space?

Thank you very much.

Image

pHr0sT — 2008-07-06T23:13:49+00:00

The board and playing pieces

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pHr0sT — 2008-07-06T23:13:06+00:00

Times Square - English Box Back

Thread: Re: Option to discard cards

Gola — 2008-07-02T18:43:58+00:00

I'm pretty sure I've done it. I think it was a case when I had one clear avenue to a win and my hand was divided between all the different types of card (probably I was looking for more green lady cards).

Thread: Re: Option to discard cards

wmshub — 2008-07-01T14:23:08+00:00

Knizia often provides mechanisms in his games where players can control the end of the game, so I would say it is a Knizia-like rule to have. See T&E, Samurai, Lost Cities, etc.

I haven't played enough to know whether I ever would pitch cards for any other reason, but even if it is only to end the game it still seems like an interesting rule to have.

Thread: Option to discard cards

talitha2 — 2008-07-01T09:18:44+00:00

My wife and I are enjoying this fun game by Knizia, but so far we have never felt it would be advantageous to use the option to discard cards - except, of course, to end the game rapidly. The loss of the power to move any character seems always to far outweigh the few extra cards you get by the exchange option. Does anyone ever use the discard option except to end the game? If not, why have this option in the rules at all? We are not too happy with the current ability to suddenly end the game quickly by using it, so if that is all the option is there for, it seems a bit unKnizia like to us! Looking forward to hearing of your experience and thoughts on this option.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

wizardless — 2008-06-26T10:11:09+00:00

Just to chime in here as well. To use Dancing Deb to move Saucy Sue the rules state Dancing Deb must be between Saucy Sue and your side of the board
Does that mean that Dancing Deb must be both between Saucy Sue and literally on your half of the board as well to play cards as wilds to move Sue? Sorry to sound a bit literal but no-one else has considered this possible rule subtlety.

wiz

Thread: Re: A light review of Times Square

pHr0sT — 2008-06-26T02:22:31+00:00

I just ordered this and it's in in the process of being shipped! Depending on how it goes, I might have a review up also!

Thread: Re: A light review of Times Square

ssmooth — 2008-06-26T02:13:33+00:00

Hey, Thomas, glad you're enjoying this great game!

A couple of quick rules clarifications for you:

When you reach the bottom of the deck for the second time, you win if you have Brilli-Lilli (the GREEN lady) on your side of the board, not die Rote Lola (the red lady, or as they call her in the American edition, Dancing Deb).

And the tiebreaker if Lilli is in the exact center is the position of Shampus-Charly (the green fellow that's been marking off points for having figures in your nightclub), not the yellow accordion player.

Thread: A light review of Times Square

TMuscle — 2008-06-24T23:01:49+00:00

I really like this game because you have many ways to win and you only have so many cards and it is really fun.

Components:
game board
6 game figures(champagne charlie, saucy sue, 2 body guards, dancing deb, and handsome hal)
55 cards

Set-up:
Place saucy sue in the middle of the game board, than place 1 body guard 2 spaces away to one side, and than the other 2 spaces to the other side. Than put handsome hal and dancing deb in between one of the body guards and saucy sue. Put champagne charlie in the middle of the game board on the darker shaded area. Deal 8 cards and you are ready to play the game.

Gameplay:
Whoever has handsome hal on their side in the beginning starts the game. So with 1 of your 8 cards, you play it, and than do what it does. There is a dancing deb card that has a sewer on it. This means that you put her straight to the sewer instead of moving her a certain number of spaces. Some of the bodyguard cards have either 2 arrows pointing at eachother, 1, or 1+1. The 2 arrows pointing at eachother mean that you put the bodyguards both right next to saucy sue. The 1+1 means that you can either move 1 body guard 2 spaces, or both 1 space. you have 2 spaces that are yellow. Whenever you get someone in here, you can move champagne charlie 1 towards your side. When you get saucy sue in there, you automatically win the game. Also you have saucy sue cards. You can either play them one at a time to move her, or for every 2, you can move her whole enterage(sorry, don't know how to spell it). Handsome hal has a special power where that, when he is on your side, he can use his handsomeness to bring people straight to him without having to play a card. dancing deb also has a special power. She can play her cards to move other people instead of moving her(only when she is on your side of the board).

Game end:
The game either ends when, saucy sue gets to one of the yellow spots in your yellow area, when champagne charlie gets in your yellow area, or when you go through the whole pile of cards 2 times. In this case, the one with dancing deb on their side, wins. If she is in the middle, than it's handsome hal on their side that wins.

I really enjoy this becuase you can't do everything you want to do because you can only play one type of card at a time. Recommended for people that don't like thinking much but can still have fun. I also really enjoy the special abilities and the different cards that you can play.

I hope this review has helped you get an idea of what Times Square is like and I hope that you enjoyed it. Thanks.

Thread: Handicapping for play vs. children

wmshub — 2008-06-19T04:37:41+00:00

Just thourght I'd add - this game handicaps excellently for play vs. children. My daughter Ella (almost 6) could understand the rules, but the options for moving the characters really lost her so I was winning pretty easily.

I tried taking hands of 4 cards to her 8, and suddenly it was reversed - she won in no time at all! Her ability to play many more cards per turn than me left me no chance. Then we tried 5, and it wasn't so much a blowout, but still an easy win for her. Next time we play, I'll take 6 and we'll see.

So if you want to try this with children, go ahead! But handicap if they need it. Every time you reduce the handicap treat it as a big success for them.

Thread: Re: Auf der Reeperbahn: Terrific Knizia Game for Two

wmshub — 2008-06-16T20:00:31+00:00

Wow, I have this game and just want to say that your rules explanation is much better than what comes in the box.

I've only got a test game out (vs. my 5 year old daughter), but that was interesting and I am looking forward to when I'll be playing it for real!

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

morrigambist — 2008-02-02T04:26:35+00:00

I went back and reread that whole section of the rules, and you're right on the money. Conceptually, Red Lola's power only works if Diamond Lil is farther away from the player than she is as each card is played. So the "catapult" move is possible (under the German rules) only if the red card played to move Diamond Lil is large enough. For example, if there is a bodyguard on space 1 (nearest the player), Red Lola is on space 4, and Diamond Lil is on space 6, a single +4 red card would win the game, whereas two +2 cards could not be played in sequence, because Red Lola's "power" would be gone after the first one. I hope I have it accurately this time around. Thanks for the (really fast!) clarification.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

Fledermaushaus — 2008-01-31T14:31:46+00:00

Probably due to the confusion of the different interpretations you're now overlooking the undisputed (until now!) rule that in order to play the first card...

'Dancing Deb must be between Saucy Sue and the player's end of the board' (RGG rules)

'... muss sich die Rote Lola zwischen Brilli-Lilli und dem Spielplanrand des Spielers befinden.' (German rules)

'... Red Lola must be between Diamond Lil and your end of the board.' (My translation)

Using Red Lola to move Diamond Lil is dealt with in the rules only after establishing the basic condition for using the Red Lola cards to move another type of figure. The basic condition - quoted above - still applies.

Hope that helps!

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

morrigambist — 2008-01-31T12:18:35+00:00

I agree with everything Fledermaushaus says except the last paragraph. The German says "after each movement of Diamond Lil" and refers to "additional" cards. I take this to mean that a single red card may be used to move Diamond Lil even if she stands on the same space as Red Lola or nearer the club, but no more red cards may then be played in the same turn. This would be less restrictive than both the English rule and the consensus here.

Would someone please post the German rules? There may be some context I'm missing, since I have only the English ones. Thanks.

Thread: Un jeu rapide et agréable (French review)

Toynan — 2007-12-16T23:54:56+00:00

Voici un jeu rapide qui offre des parties qui se jouent en 5 à 15 minutes.

Le but du jeu est de déplacer vers sa zone de jeu divers pièces à l'aide de cartes correspondant à la couleur de ces pièces.

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Le placement initial peu se voir sur le photo du dessus.
Si pendant le jeu, vous arriver à amener la bouteille verte ou le personage vert dans votre cabaret (les deux cases à l'Extrémité du plateau pour chacun des joueur) vous gagner sur le champs.

Pour déplacer les pièces, vous jouer de votre mains des cartes de couleur correspondant au pièces que vous voulez déplacer.
Vous ne jouer qu'une seul couleur par tour et autant de carte de cette couleur que vous voulez.

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Si vous reussissez à apporter un ou plusieurs personnages, autre que la femme en vert, dans votre zone, la bouteille bougera d'autant de case vers vous.

Les personnages jaune et rouge ont des pouvoir particulier.
Si le personnage rouge se trouve entre la Dame verte et l'entrée de votre cabaret, vous pouvez jouer des cartes rouges pour déplacer n'importe qu'elle personnage.
Le personnage jaune, quand à lui, vous permet d'attirer un autre personnage à lui, sauf le rouge.

Aussi, la Dame verte doit toujours rester en tre ses deux gardes du corps gris et ne peu pas se trouver sur la même case que l'un d'eux.
Ce qui siginfie que si vous voulez gagner en faisant entrer la dame verte dasn votre cabaret, le garde du corps qui est de votre coté doit être sur la case cabaret la plus ptoche de vous (le cabaret est constitué de deux cases.

Si personne n'arrive a faire entrée ni la bouteille, ni la Dame verte dasn son cabaret, celui qui à la dame verte le plus pret de son cabaret après deux tours du paquet de carte gagne.

Avis :

La chance intervient beaucoup de le jeu, mais la tactique n'est pas en reste.
Le peu être très équilibré et durer deux tours de paquet de carte avec une belle tension entre les jouer, mais peut-être aussi rapide à la manière d'un blitz.

Une belle alternative pour ceux qui ont aimé Les Cités Perdues (Lost Cities) du même auteur et qui y ont beaucoup (trop ?) joué comme moi.
A noter que ce jeu est plus confrontationel que les Cités Perdues. Les joueurs jouent plus l'un contre l'autre que chacun de leur coté.

Toynan

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Meat — 2007-12-05T03:59:20+00:00

Box Front - English version

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ZiggyZambo — 2007-12-05T00:26:03+00:00

Image

Toynan — 2007-12-01T21:09:37+00:00

My Times Square first open

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kidsplinter — 2007-10-19T13:33:40+00:00

Times Square - Card Deck

Thread: Re: Is this broken?

ssmooth — 2007-08-30T00:26:32+00:00

Clearly I'm the statistical outlier on this proposition, but I think this game *IS* close to Knizia's best. I recently upgraded my rating to a 10.

For comparison's sake, I also rate Euphrat & Tigris and Royal Turf as 10. I rate Res Publica, Zirkus Flohcati, and Amun-Re as 9. I rate Trendy, Katzenjammer Blues, Money!, Schotten-Totten, Stephenson's Rocket, Tutankhamen, Modern Art, Blue Moon City, and Ra as 8. And so on.

People who think that the first player has an overwhelming advantage or that whoever gets the better starting hand of cards is going to win simply haven't played the game enough to learn better. In your first few games you do see attacks that look unstoppable, but that's usually because you haven't learned enough about defense and counter-attacks yet.

I admit it's also true that sometimes an attack IS unstoppable; after all, it's a card game! It's possible you simply don't have the resources! But most of the time you CAN put up a fight. And to better describe what I mean by "most of the time," I'd say that in my last 50 games, not counting the ones where I was playing against somebody for their first time, only about 3 or 4 have been won during the first time through the deck.

If somebody opens by getting a figure into their nightclub, you basically have two reasonable responses: get that figure back out onto the street, or get a different figure into your own nightclub. Or at the very least, make a set-up move with red or yellow so you can make a reasonable response on your next turn.

Remember that if you're going second, you start the game with the power of red as wild cards. If you don't have any red cards, you must be strong in something else. Deploy some cards. Get some power running through your hand. Don't give up the ship without firing some torpedoes.

Thread: Re: Is this broken?

qzhdad — 2007-08-06T02:17:39+00:00

We've not had a noticable difference in winning from first or second position. I've won and lost after getting one of the pieces in my end zone first and having my opponent get that advantage early.

I am not sure people that think the first player or the first player to get a piece in their end zone will always win are playing correctly.

There is a fair bit of luck in getting the cards, but I think good solid play vs. less solid play should win 60-70% of the time. If players are of equal skill, they should win each win hald the time and it will be based on who gets better cards.

Well under half of my games (I'd guess 30%) against experienced players end before the second deck is done.

It's far from Knizia's best, but it's a good, light, quick card game with some meaningful decisions.

Thread: Re: Is this broken?

jdkimble — 2007-08-06T01:47:26+00:00

I agree completely with Roy. The first player nearly always wins in our games. My wife and I sat down and tried every strategy we could think of to get the first player to lose. We couldn't come up with anything substantial. In our games the first player wins about 90% of the time, no matter what we do. The only time that the second player wins, for us, is if he/she gets two good hands in a row (lots of cards of the same color) WITH the first player playing a weak play in between these two.

I do understand the abilities of the wild pieces: Handsome Hal and Dancing Deb. They just don't seem to do enough to counter the first play in the tug of war.

Thread: Re: Auf der Reeperbahn - Title Talk

Great Dane — 2007-08-04T07:23:30+00:00

ssmooth wrote:
Unfortunately the English title "Times Square" completely fails to capture the mood of the reference to the popular 1954 movie "Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins" (in which der Blonde Hans, the street accordionist, is the signature character). The Reeperbahn, which has been the (legal) red light district in Hamburg for more than a century, is touristy but still very much the rough part of town. It is, incidentally, the location of the Star Club where the Beatles played for a few weeks in 1962 with Pete Best still in the band. Hamburg is a port city, and the Reeperbahn is named for being the place the sailors worked on their ropes in the old days, "Reep" being an old word for "rope."

The English word is "ropewalk".

I agree that "Bourbon Street" would probably have been more suitable than "Times Square", but any habour with international traffic could have been used.

The game is tied to the famous family movie (which I have seen several times as a kid) which has nothing to do with the game - except for the location: a dive at the docks of an international habour.

So any wellknown habour location would have done.

Thread: Re: Auf der Reeperbahn - Title Talk

Gola — 2007-08-03T23:05:06+00:00

The confetti, bottle and glass that are depicted on the board bring to mind a New Year's Eve celebration, but I agree that it's a lousy transplant. Anyone who's been to Times Square knows it's not some bohemian quarter with little jazz clubs.

Still, I'm glad that Rio Grande brought it across the Atlantic. I might not have tried it otherwise, and it's really a great game if you're in the mood for something of that weight.

Thread: Re: Auf der Reeperbahn - Title Talk

bnordeng — 2007-08-03T22:55:51+00:00

ssmooth wrote:
This is a great little head-to-head battle for which my rating keeps going up. I knew when I first played it that it was at least a 7, and I've nudged it up by 0.5's to where I currently have it at 9.5.
I have this game and like it a lot! My wife and I have played it a number of times and it is getting better each time. I have it rated as a 7, but I think that's because my wife would prefer to play Carcassonne or Lost Cities or Odin's Ravens if given the choice. Still, I like it a lot and she likes it too. Once I get a chance to play it with others, I think it will climb up my list.

Interesting stuff about the original German theme of the game. I agree that the Times Square theme is a bit week, but it was good enough for me. Your explanation makes it sound like a stronger tie with the German title though. It never hurts when the theme ties in well with the game and it doesn't so much with this Times Square. Nonetheless, I find this to be one of the better 2-player games out there.

Thanks for the insight.

Thread: Auf der Reeperbahn - Title Talk

ssmooth — 2007-08-03T22:10:29+00:00

This is a great little head-to-head battle for which my rating keeps going up. I knew when I first played it that it was at least a 7, and I've nudged it up by 0.5's to where I currently have it at 9.5. This seems to make me the game's biggest proponent on BGG. (I've played it more than 50 times since getting it three months ago.) So, as usual, I'll start by encouraging you to learn and play this wonderful little game -- and warn you to expect it to get better, the better you know it.

Unfortunately the English title "Times Square" completely fails to capture the mood of the reference to the popular 1954 movie "Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins" (in which der Blonde Hans, the street accordionist, is the signature character). The Reeperbahn, which has been the (legal) red light district in Hamburg for more than a century, is touristy but still very much the rough part of town. It is, incidentally, the location of the Star Club where the Beatles played for a few weeks in 1962 with Pete Best still in the band. Hamburg is a port city, and the Reeperbahn is named for being the place the sailors worked on their ropes in the old days, "Reep" being an old word for "rope."

Granted, this is not a subject I knew anything about until I investigated the name of the game, but it certainly conveys a flavor which "Times Square," best known as the site of New York City's New Year's Eve celebration, does not.

Adding to the dissonance, the game is played not in a square, but in a straight line!

Much better in tune with the idea of the Reeperbahn, which I concede is a pretty obscure reference for the American gamers audience, would have been "Bourbon Street," the New Orleans locale where street musicians and sexy storefronts compete for the tourists' attention.

Another possibility would have been to take the "Halb Zwei" part of the idea, and just call the game "After Midnight." Don't like the geographic reference? Fine, take it out.

Or they could have picked the name of an American movie for the game, "On the Waterfront," keeping the setting at a port and preserving the syllabic rhythm at the same time.

Of course none of this really has anything to do with why the game is so interesting to play. (I'm not a big believer in "theme" being something that makes or breaks a game.) But it does have to do with the game's dignity. Just like that new box cover for Cartagena that looks like a bad cartoon -- it doesn't hurt the game, but it's an affront to the way we think of the game. It's merely cringeworthy.

Thanks for reading the rant! I've got a review of the game at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/166606 if you want to learn more.

Thread: Re: Handsome Hal attraction

ssmooth — 2007-08-03T21:14:41+00:00

I've never been in a situation where I'd WANT to skip my turn, and it's difficult to imagine one. After all, you can spend your turn trading in cards if you don't have any better options. And even so, I've never spent a turn trading in cards except to make the deck run out so as to end the game. There's always something I want/need to accomplish on the board.

That being said, I agree with you that it doesn't seem in the spirit of this game's rules to allow a non-move. These rules don't even let you play a card unless you can get the full value of the card.

In our games, putting der Blond Hans (Hal) on the same space as Brilli-Lilli or one of her bodyguards is often done defensively: to keep Hans (or Dirty Harry, as my girlfriend likes to call him!) from being able to exercise his power.

Enjoy,
Stven

Thread: Re: Is Handsome Hal too good?

ssmooth — 2007-07-28T19:35:05+00:00

Another good tactic to remember is to get Der Blonde Hans on the SAME space as Brilli-Lilli or one of her bodyguards in order to keep your opponent from using the power.

Thread: Re: Is Handsome Hal too good?

aristid — 2007-07-09T05:02:40+00:00

Still, when hal gets into the nightclub, next move should be hal summons a bodyguard and immideate 2 points and a big headache for the opponent (who shouldnt allow this to happen).
He IS very powerful so players should be aware of it and act accordingly before its too late.

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photocurio — 2007-06-26T22:15:14+00:00

even the tough bodyguards can't resist the wonderful yellow persona of Handsome Hal

Thread: Auf der Reeperbahn: Terrific Knizia Game for Two

ssmooth — 2007-05-18T19:58:40+00:00

Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb zwei: The oddly lengthy German title of this game arises via the equally lengthy title of a German movie from 1954: Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins. If you know any German at all, you know that eins is one and zwei is two, and in this phrase they are numbers o'clock, referring to the wee hours in Hamburg's famous legal redlight district. I'm not sure what the variation is supposed to convey, the two instead of the one. Maybe because the game is for two players?

This review will be an enthusiastic one. Apparently only about one person in five who tries this game likes it, but some of us REALLY like it. For such a quick game, the rules are stunningly complicated, so you can easily spend more time learning how to play than actually playing your first game -- which can detract from first impressions! But I urge you to persevere. Once you know what you're doing, this is a delightful game!

The week it arrived here from Germany, I played Auf der Reeperbahn fifteen times, thirteen of those with my girlfriend. At first I, the more experienced gamester, won against her steadily, but she soon caught on and has won three of the last six. This is about the same number of games it took her to catch on to Schotten-Totten, an acknowledged classic -- but we didn't have so much enthusiasm that we played all thirteen games of Schotten-Totten in the first week.

Several times she remarked that the game is like chess. Eventually I saw her point. Obviously it's not a LOT like chess, but there are some flavorful similarities: There are several different kinds of pieces, each with its own peculiar rules for movement. You can be beaten by one final, decisive move, like a checkmate, so you try to stay on guard against possibilities a turn or two ahead.

But, surprisingly, this is also a card game! That's what makes it fascinating. You can't do more than your cards let you do. Sometimes the most powerful move you can make is not at the top of your priority list. It's important to seize and exploit the initiative, but it's essential to reply to your opponent's moves as well.

THE RULES:

It's almost too complicated to explain. In fact, I'm tempted to say: The rules are in the box. They're complicated. Go learn them.

But several people have said they've had trouble learning the game from the rules as written, so I'm going to take a stab at explaining them from a different angle. (Wish me luck.)

The board set-up:

There are six pieces in play, set up at the beginning near the center of the board as illustrated in the rules. The players take turns moving them, their choices limited by the cards they hold. It's a 17-space board marked in the middle with a manhole. The pieces only move in two directions, forwards and backwards. Generally speaking you want to attract the pieces toward your end of the board.

The cards:

Each player gets eight cards. There are four different colors of cards. On your turn you can play only one color, but you can play as many cards of this color as you wish, then refill to eight at the end of your turn. You can only play a card if you can play the full number value of it on the board. The card distribution makes it so at times you make big, dramatic moves and other times you make feeble, desperate moves.

The four colors of cards correspond to the four types of figures on the board:

Green for Brilli-Lilli (known in the American edition as "Saucy Sue," though a better translation would have been "Diamond Lil").

There's another green figure on the board, too, Schampus-Charly (translated exactly as "Champagne Charlie"), but it's not the cards that move him. More about that in a minute.

Grey for Brilli-Lilli's bodyguards. This is a good time to explain that the bodyguards always stay on opposite sides of Brilli-Lilli. Any move that would move a bodyguard onto the same space as Brilli-Lilli, or past Brilli-Lilli, or any move that would move Brilli-Lilli onto the same space as a bodyguard, or past a bodyguard, is illegal and cannot be made.

Red for die Rote Lola (which means "Red Lola," and the color association could help you remember her, but they call her "Dancing Deb" in the American edition).

Yellow for the accordion player, der Blonde Hans, which, as even a monolinguist could guess, means "Blonde Hans." (Nevertheless the American rules-writer refers to him as "Handsome Hal.") Hans and Schampus-Charly, by the way, are the central characters in the Auf der Reeperbahn movie from which the game takes its name.

The game's goal lines:

The last two spaces at each end of the board constitute each player's "nightclub." You can imagine yourselves, if you like, as having two competing nighteries across the street from each other, 13 spaces separating.

+ To achieve the "checkmate"-style win, your goal is to get one of the two GREEN figures to step into your nightclub: either Brilli-Lilli or her chum Schampus-Charly.

+ Failing that, the deadline for victory is the draw pile running out for the second time. At that moment the winner is the player who has Brilli-Lilli on their half of the board.

(If Brilli-Lilli is exactly in the middle, Schampus-Charly's position breaks the tie; so far we've only seen this come into play once. So let me emphasize the important thing: When the deck runs out the second time, it's over, and you win if Brilli-Lilli, the GREEN lady, is anywhere on your half of the board.)

Since one of your options is to spend your turn discarding as many cards as you want and refilling to eight, if you're near the bottom of the deck on the second time through and Brilli-Lilli is on your side of the board -- even just one space on your side of the board -- grab your chance to end the game!

What you do on your turn:

Okay, I've warned you this was complicated. Here, aside from discarding and refilling to eight, are your many options.

Green cards: All green cards are 1's. When you play one green card, you move Brilli-Lilli one space. But when you play a pair of green cards, you have a choice between (a) moving Brilli-Lilli two spaces and (b) moving Brilli-Lilli and her two bodyguards one space each. Remember you can play as many green cards as you wish on your turn; you can use some for (b) and some for (a) on the same turn if you wish.

Grey cards: Grey cards move just the bodyguards. There are two special cards which draw both bodyguards right next to Brilli-Lilli, wherever she is on the board. Also there are 1's and 1+1 cards, where each 1 is a single space of movement for a single bodyguard, but these can be divvied up between the two bodyguards however you like. Any or all of the three kinds of grey cards can be played on the same turn.

Yellow cards: These come in 1's, 2's, and 3's, and can only be used to move der Blonde Hans. (That's the simplest sentence I'm going to write in this entire explanation.)

Red cards: These come in numbers from 1 to 5, and there are also two special cards showing the manhole cover which are used to move die Rote Lola back to the center of the board. As with all the cards, you can play as many red cards on your turn as you wish, so you might play the manhole cover first to get Lola off your opponent's half of the board and then additional red cards to get her closer to your own nightclub.

However, the red cards may also be used as wild cards, but ONLY WHEN the red Lola is currently situated closer to you on the board than the green Brilli-Lilli. When using them as wild cards, you can play more than one of them on a turn (and you can even use the manhole cover card), but you can only use them on ONE TYPE of figure on that turn, that is, (a) on Blonde Hans, (b) on Brilli-Lilli, or (c) on one or both of the bodyguards. (They cannot be used on Schampus-Charly, who as mentioned earlier is not moved by cards. Also they cannot be used on the red Lola herself on the same turn they are being used as wild cards.) However, note that if you use a wild card to move Brilli-Lilli and that causes the board situation to change so that Brilli-Lilli is no longer farther away from you than the red Lola (even if they are now both on the same square), your power to move Brilli-Lilli with further red cards is now gone.

You also have the power, instead of playing any cards at all, to attract Brilli-Lilli or one of her bodyguards to the square where der Blonde Hans is standing. (This power does not work on Schampus-Charly and does not work on die Rote Lola, who, as the rules tell us, is "onto Hans' little game.") The rule about Brilli-Lilli always having to be bounded by the bodyguards still applies when you do this.

Finally, here's the only way Schampus-Charly moves. AFTER you have made your move with the cards or with the power of der Blonde Hans, you look at the board position and move Schampus-Charly one space closer to your end of the board for each of these situations: (a) a bodyguard is in your club, (b) die Rote Lola is in your club, (c) der Blonde Hans is in your club, (d) Brilli-Lilli and both her bodyguards are on your half of the board. Since one way to win is to get Schampus-Charly into your club, it's a strong threat to achieve any of these situations and an even stronger threat to get more than one of them at the same time, so this pretty much demands a response when it happens.

END OF RULES EXPLANATION.

Wow. I did warn you these were complicated. And all this for a game that's going to take 10-20 minutes!

But once you learn the rules and run through a few games, you'll see what a wonderful web of possibilities they weave.

The punch and counterpunch of the tactics are fascinating. Since you've got four colors and eight cards, the worst your hand can be is to have exactly two cards of every color; usually there's a color you're stronger in, and it behooves you to spend a lot of cards at once in hopes of refilling with cards of a different color so that you can keep moving from strength to strength. But sometimes your opponent will put up a threat -- getting one of the figures all the way into his nightclub so he can move Schampus-Charly, for example -- that cannot be ignored, even if your cards to get that figure back out and onto the street are few and weak. At the same time the special powers of the red cards as wild and of der Blonde Hans to move figures without even HAVING any cards are a dangerous counterpoint which demand keeping a constant eye on the positions of the red and yellow figures. Sometimes you're facing two or three threats and you have to decide which one is most important to defuse first, and without knowing what cards your opponent holds, you can easily choose the wrong one. You can try to keep track of where certain important cards are, like the two that bring the bodyguards back to Brilli-Lilli, especially on the second run through the deck, but even this is an inexact science and may cause you to neglect some other threat.

From our experience with the game so far, I'd venture to guess that the game will end on exhausting the deck a second time in about one game out of three, possibly a little more if our defensive skills improve more than I anticipate. In any case, the "checkmate" possibility is always going to be strong, giving the game a great incisive quality, but the "second deck" ending is going to happen often enough to keep the close games very interesting as well.

In conclusion, I want to say that this game is DIFFERENT from anything you've ever played before. Yes, it has features in common with chess, En Garde, cribbage, Hera and Zeus, and other games, but the overall experience is something new. If you like a tense head-to-head battle of wits, I urge you not to overlook this one!

Stven Carlberg
May 2007

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb's Sewer Cards as wilds?

Gola — 2007-05-12T21:23:52+00:00

ssmooth wrote:
I agree; the Rio Grande names are weird. They really grate on my ear. It would help if people would at least say (the red one) or (the green one) when referring to the two female figures... but I realize that's never going to happen.
I just got the game and I was thinking of calling Lola/Deb and Hans/Hal "the singer" and "the accordion player" when teaching. Making them nameless musicians might help new players keep in mind that their function is to influence the more important pieces.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb's Sewer Cards as wilds?

ssmooth — 2007-05-11T14:43:28+00:00

I agree; the Rio Grande names are weird. They really grate on my ear. It would help if people would at least say (the red one) or (the green one) when referring to the two female figures... but I realize that's never going to happen. *sigh*

Glad to hear that Kosmos confirmed you can use die Rote Lola's (the red one) manhole-cover card as a wild. That's the way we decided to play it, too, after due pondering.

Terrific game.

Thread: Re: Is Handsome Hal too good?

bnordeng — 2007-04-27T18:15:25+00:00

Handsome Hal's power cannot be used on Dancing Deb. To repeat myself, you can't use Handsome Hal to move Dancing Deb.

We were playing wrong! For some reason, we were playing so that a Body Guard or Dancing Deb can be attracted by Handsome Hal. If it is a Body Guard or Saucy Sue... that makes a lot more sense.

Thanks for the help DD!

Thread: Re: Is Handsome Hal too good?

Drinkdrawers — 2007-04-21T18:38:30+00:00

If you get Handsome Hal into your nightclub, it's very powerful, but there's no way your opponent should let that last for more than a turn. Remember, Dancing Deb cards can be used to move Handsome Hal, but Handsome Hal's power cannot be used on Dancing Deb. To repeat myself, you can't use Handsome Hal to move Dancing Deb. This could be the reason he seems so overpowered to you. The chances of one person getting enough cards to keep Handsome Hal in his/her nightclub for enough turns to pull this off (play cards to get him there, end the turn, then use his power on one or two consecutive turns) are very small.

Thread: Re: Is Handsome Hal too good?

Favre4MVP — 2007-04-20T21:18:05+00:00

Personally, I don't think he's overpowered. I've never seen a game dominated by Hal. One thing I have noticed about him though is that if a player has Hal in their nightclub, then their hand tends to fill up with un-useable Hal cards and limits their options. So, I guess that kind of balances things out a bit.

Thread: Is Handsome Hal too good?

bnordeng — 2007-04-20T20:48:38+00:00

I've played this game 4 times with my wife and we each won twice. I won the last two games and both times I won by getting Handsome Hal on my side and pulling over a Body Guard and/or Dancing Deb and getting Champagne Charlie all the way to my side.

I've heard a few complaints out there that Handsome Hal is too powerful and I wonder if it's true. In one of the games that I won, I was just lucky to get almost all of the Handsome Hal cards and she had no chance to move him. In the other game, I think she had a chance to win early and just missed it because she forgot a rule.

So, I'm not convinced of anything yet but I am wondering what others who have played this game think of Hal's ability... is it too much?

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

Fledermaushaus — 2007-04-16T06:34:24+00:00

drasher25 wrote:
Are we confident in the translation from the German rules?

The German rules definitely allow the use of a Red Lola card as a joker to move Diamond Lil (correct translation for Brilli-Lilli or Dancing Deb in RG edition) in front of Red Lola. But if that happens, you cannot then play another card since Lil is now blocking your view of Lola. My translation of the relevant section is:

'You can use the red Lola cards as jokers, in order to move one other type of figure (Diamond Lil, Blonde Hans or the bodyguards). To do this, Red Lola must be between Diamond Lil and your end of the board. Red Lola is therefore stood in your view, ahead of Diamond Lil.
...
If you use Red Lola cards to move Diamond Lil, then in order to play further cards, Red Lola must still be stood in your view, ahead of Diamond Lil, after each movement'.

If Lola and Lil (Deb) are on the same space neither player would be able to use the special joker action since Lola is not between Lil (Deb) and the end of the board.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

Aldaron — 2007-04-04T22:11:20+00:00

drasher25 wrote:
Are we confident in the translation from the German rules?
The German rules are the original. The (English) RGG rules are the (characteristically sloppy) translation.

Thread: Re: Dancing Deb Question?

drasher25 — 2007-04-04T19:53:50+00:00

Aldaron wrote:
LemonyFresh wrote:
Hmm, I can still see how there is room for a different interpretation within the German text.
In fact, it's not a matter of interpretation. The German rules actually say something that is explicitly different from the English rules.

The corresponding paragraph answers a question that the preceding paragraphs suggest: When does "must be between" apply, just at the start of the move or throughout it? The English rules answer this one way, and somewhat ambiguously: "must always be", i.e., throughout the move. The German rules answer it another: only at the start of the move.

Just to bang this issue again, I see the translation from the German rules posted here on the Geek says "If Red Lola cards are used to move Brilliant Lilly, then Red Lola must still be "in front" of Brilliant Lilly in order for more Red Lola cards to be able to be played."

If this is indeed how the game should be played, this makes Dancing Deb (Lola) much more powerful than is implied in the English rules, as Deb could then be standing outside of your club and lure Sue a considerable distance (up to 5 spaces) into your club by playing a high red card, securing the win. It actually makes a major difference in how the game is played if Deb can indeed be used to slingshot Sue into your club like this.

The sentence "Dancing Deb must always be between Saucy Sue and the player's end of the board" in the Rio Grande rules seems to disallow this. This means that Deb must be on the very end of the board (along with a bodyguard) in order to use her power to pull Sue into the club (and even then Sue could only land on the space in front of her). However, I suppose one could interpret the Rio Grande rules to mean that "...must always be at the time the card is played..." and match the German rules. In that case the English rule could be meant only to stop you from playing an additional red card to move Sue again once she passes Deb.

I think I might prefer the German translation, as this makes getting an actual club win more likely, and adds a lot more tension to the movement of Deb. This isn't just a nitpicky point - it fundamentally changes the balance of the game. Has anyone received further clarification on this? Are we confident in the translation from the German rules?

Thread: Re: hans and lola...

Great Dane — 2007-03-31T09:22:06+00:00

leandros wrote:
when Hans or Lola is at the entrance of your club,
then at the end of your turn, Charlie walks any square?
Charlie moves 1 space for each figure on one of the two restaurant entrance spaces plus 1 additional space if Lilly and the two Bodyguards are on your side of the Manhole.
So in your case will Charlie walk 2 spaces towards you.

and one more question... does Lola have to be on one of the two club squares in order to use her for mooving bodyguard,Lilly or Hans?
No she just has to be somewhere between you and Lilly. She could be on the other half of the board - as long as Lilly is even further away from you.

Thread: hans and lola...

leandros — 2007-03-31T08:46:03+00:00

when Hans or Lola is at the entrance of your club,then at the end of your turn, Charlie walks any square? and one more question... does Lola have to be on one of the two club squares in order to use her for mooving bodyguard,Lilly or Hans?

thanks i advance

Thread: Re: Ambiguities? Need help with 2 rules in Times Square.

Aldaron — 2007-03-26T01:09:07+00:00

glassairports wrote:
Remind your opponent that these rules sets are translated so wording may be a little askew.
In fact, they are seriously askew: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/895987#895987

Thread: Re: Ambiguities? Need help with 2 rules in Times Square.

glassairports — 2007-03-26T00:45:33+00:00

For your first question I agree with Brad's answer. If you ever play more than one card it must be in the same color. With that cleared then the second question is also answered. you must always play one colour. Therefore if using the red as a wild you can only play red cards, regardless whether or not you have the appropriate colour of the moving piece in hand.
Remind your opponent that these rules sets are translated so wording may be a little askew, with that said it also never states you can play two cards of varying colours- and never is this displayed in an example. I do agree with you however that this game is underrated.

Thread: Re: Ambiguities? Need help with 2 rules in Times Square.

Brad Oliver — 2007-03-25T22:08:49+00:00

familywontplay wrote:
However, my opponent insists that the distinction between one or more, and several, is significant and intentional.

I can't speak to your second question, but for this first issue, I'd say your opponent is wrong, without a doubt. In this game, "several" means "more than 1".

Several could mean 3, but it could also mean 4 or 10 and there is no mention at all in the rules of this supposed "2 and only 2 cards played can be different colors" rule your opponent believes exists.

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Legomancer — 2006-10-22T00:17:34+00:00

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aceraxon — 2006-10-11T02:16:32+00:00

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Sheylon — 2006-08-13T01:38:15+00:00

Sheylon's Times Square Birthday Cake 2006, made by my dear wife, Xtina.