Game: Hameln

Thread: Re: Any chance of a reprint?

Guantanamo — 2008-09-15T13:38:10+00:00

Shipping would probably kill the deal, but it's at a good price here:
http://www.boardsandbits.com/product_info.php?products_id=19...

Thread: Re: Any chance of a reprint?

Trev — 2008-09-15T13:33:33+00:00

Thanks for the replies guys,

Haven't found any on-line, but I see from the website that Fragor are still trying to get a larger company to pick it up.

Thread: Re: Any chance of a reprint?

Guantanamo — 2008-09-08T13:52:10+00:00

I believe I read on their site that they were not planning on it, but were looking for a publisher to do it.

Check out their website.

Well worth checking the game out.

Thread: Re: Any chance of a reprint?

cscottk — 2008-09-08T13:44:20+00:00

I still see it at online stores for resonable prices (60 and under), so you should be able to pick up.

Thread: Any chance of a reprint?

Trev — 2008-09-08T12:49:31+00:00

I was hoping this game would get reprinted and become as available as Shear Panic. Anyone know if that's a possibility?

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Kiko_Senda — 2008-08-07T09:41:55+00:00

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Rokkr — 2008-08-01T15:23:49+00:00

player aid

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Rokkr — 2008-08-01T15:21:34+00:00

the board explained

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Rokkr — 2008-08-01T15:19:57+00:00

the pieces explained

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Rokkr — 2008-08-01T15:10:35+00:00

rule book cover

Thread: Re: any chance for a 2-player affair?

duchamp — 2007-11-18T10:21:47+00:00

SInce the main mechanic is looking for marriages with different players, it`s hard to play it with two - you could only always marry into the same other family ...

Maybe one could figute out a solution with two families for each of the two players, and any colour is only allowed to marry into one of the two families of the other player - I don`t know, what would come out, though.

Thread: any chance for a 2-player affair?

ropearoni4 — 2007-11-17T08:03:35+00:00

just wondering if the game has some unofficial/official 2 player only rules set?

Thread: Re: If two men get married, who is the husband?

duchamp — 2007-10-09T07:46:16+00:00

Well, ... purchase it.

a) Go to Essen. Check the Designers` booth, if there is a copy left from last year.

b) Ask the Designers directly here on BGG (user names: diceman & dicemanjr), if they have a copy left and buy it.

c) Trade for a copy.

d) Check ebay.

e) Move from Canada to Scotland - it`s the same, but smaller and with less wood.

f) get a faster car, so "Medicine Hat" is only a one hour drive east of Calgary.

If you have purchased Hameln, you can take it as a gift to somebody you love or like or your game group ... so you save money and have it around you.

Or something like that.

P.S.: You could establish your "Fallcon Hameln" each year, so your learning curve will be a little longer ...

Thread: Re: If two men get married, who is the husband?

Norbert Chan — 2007-10-08T22:55:06+00:00

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for pointing out the strategy articles and thank you for the kind words.

I would like to play this again, but the only copy of Hamelin in these parts might be in Medicine Hat, a 2 1/2 hr drive east of Calgary. I definitely do think the game is deeper than it looks.

Thread: Re: If two men get married, who is the husband?

duchamp — 2007-10-08T20:59:03+00:00

A year ago there was quite some rant about this game and unclear rules and how flawed the whole game was - I played it with my 10-year-old and my wife, and we like it a lot from the beginning.

So, I appreciate your fair session report without the somehow usual (for this game): "Nice bits, but I just didn`t get it!" ...

Sure it seems to be lighter than it is, so for everybody who is interested in the depth of some strategies, check out these "Designers` notes" by the Lamont Brothers, exclusively here on BGG:

1. The top 10 rules played wrong:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/136722

2. The value of boys and girls:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/137735

3. The optional actions (+cat cost):
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/138999

4. Choosing a house:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/140339

They are sure worth a read (and printout and re-read before and after your next game of Hameln ).

Thread: If two men get married, who is the husband?

Norbert Chan — 2007-10-08T17:25:07+00:00

At Fallcon 2007 in Calgary, Tyler McLaughlin from Medicine Hat and I had made a plan to get together of Sunday of the convention to play some games. We were joined by Gary Baziuk and Tyler's friend, Joel, also from Medicine Hat.

Tyler had brought Hamelin with him, and said that so far, no one was interested in playing it with him. So Gary and I obliged.

Quick Synopsis: Designed by the Fragor brothers, in Hameln, players have male or female members in households. If you are the male of the household, you can produce a good (meat, cheese, bread), or if you are the female member, you produce babies. Your babies are male or female, and can get paired off with opposite sex members, but the male must pay the cost of getting into the household. (No one ever said this was a politcially correct game). Sell goods to earn income, use income to buy prestige or more households. The trick is that when households produce too often, mice can infest the house, preventing it from producing in the future. Mice can be cleaned up with the cat, or the piper, who can be bribed to go to a certain district, and also takes the children who are unmarried. It's a game that doesn't take itself seriously, especially with the rules explanations.

On a player's turn, they must do one of the following: 1) Activate all males in all their households, producing a good, 2) Activate all females in all their households to produce babies, 3) sell goods (or take a rat trap token), 4) marry off males/females in a church, move into a household, with the male owner paying the cost.

Optional actions include buying the cat to clean up a mouse infestation, buying influence, or bribing the pied piper.

The components are very nice, with big smiling rat plastic miniatures, who happen to be larger than the cat miniature. The pied piper miniature looks like the result of some gnome inbreeding experiment.

In the first round, everyone activated their males to produce meat. In the second round, Tyler and Gary sold the meat. Since I had a female baby, and Gary had a male baby, I married Gary and he was forced to pay for a 5 value house (the highest value in this game). I chose the highest value house in the northwest district. Historically, the NW parts of the city are always cleaner, than say, the SE part of the city (e.g. Forest Lawn in Calgary).

Gary said to me “You better be good in bed.”

Geez, what is this, Brokeback Hamelin? What's wrong if Spongebob Squarepants moves in with Barney the Dinosaur? So what if two of the teletubbies want to live together?

I seemed to be getting more females (it is a random pull out of a bag), so I married as many different people as I could. Gary and I were in the high rent district, generating money ,but no kids. In the high rent district, the females produce money but no kids when activated. (I'm surprised there wasn't a rule where the females spend all income on shopping or something), so we had more money than Tyler or Joel.

Tyler was mixed in with Gary and Joel in the high rent district in the SE part of Hamelin. Tyler bought the cat to clean up one of his households.

Tyler got a lucky pull near the end: he needed a female to match up with Joel. If he had pulled a male, both their males would likely be pulled away by the pied piper as the game ended. But as luck would have it, Tyler got a female, forced Joel to marry into a 5 VP district, and the game ended on Joel's turn. The pied piper visited Tyler's dominant area in the SE to earn him at least 10 VPs in that district. Tyler was also the only one to have a rat trap, good for 3 VPs.

Scores:

Tyler 20 (3 in rat traps, he was the only one with any rat trap, 1 for the cat, 16 in houses)

Norbert 18 (5 for most money, 3 for highest prestige, 8 in houses)

Joel 16 (1 for ending the game, 1 for third in prestige, 14 in houses)

Gary 13 (3 for second in money, 2 for second in prestige, 8 in houses)

The components are nice, and my first playing was okay, though I felt there can be a lot of luck, especially on what sex your babies end up being, and the rat trap mechanism tokens are a blind draw of value 1 to 3 pts. I think it will require a few more playings to understand the nuances of this game. In our game, the pied piper only attempted to snatch two children away, but I noticed the scoreboard allows for at least 10-12 children to be taken. Tyler was the only one to buy a rat trap token, and I had no opportunity to produce much goods since most of my offspring were female. Maybe in this game, they should allow same sex marriages, or even marraiges between children of the same parents? I guess that would be getting too Children of Hurinish....

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duchamp — 2007-09-04T11:16:07+00:00

The Piper at the Gates of Hameln

Thread: Re: Players Mat II

Big Bad Lex — 2007-07-30T09:50:23+00:00

Struth! You are absolutely right. This has been checked a zillion times and you are the first person to spot the mistake. Well done Joe, it should only be one point. I will change and resubmit.

Sorry folks.

Thread: Re: Players Mat II

SteadyTeddy — 2007-07-30T01:06:05+00:00

The players mat II says the victory points for the cat at the end of the game is 2 points. My rulebook that came with the game says 1 point. I would like to know which is correct. Thanks

Thread: Re: Question concerning the Pied Piper

SteadyTeddy — 2007-07-28T17:09:46+00:00

Thanks for the OFFICIAL answer to my question. I don't know why the piper confused me, but he did. I have no question on Leap Frog. Great Games!

Thread: Re: Question concerning the Pied Piper

dicemanjnr — 2007-07-28T03:12:46+00:00

SteadyTeddy wrote:
I think I've got it now. I studied the board and found only two spaces where the rat spaces overlap. 1.black/yellow. 2. red/green. CORRECT? Other than those two spaces when the Piper is clearing all rats from his current area the rats must be on his color.

This is correct.

You don't clear an entire house every time.

Don't think of it as clearing houses, think of it as clearing the area. All rats within the area are removed, this may cause some houses to be completely cleared and others partially cleared (those houses which cover two areas). This may lead to king rats being removed too.

I know clear the market place too. Six grey rat spaces. Am I on the right track?

Yes, sounds like you're good to go!

Fraser

Fraser Lamont
Fragor Games

Thread: Re: Question concerning the Pied Piper

SteadyTeddy — 2007-07-27T23:25:48+00:00

I think I've got it now. I studied the board and found only two spaces where the rat spaces overlap. 1.black/yellow. 2. red/green. CORRECT? Other than those two spaces when the Piper is clearing all rats from his current area the rats must be on his color. You don't clear an entire house every time. I know clear the market place too. Six grey rat spaces. Am I on the right track?

Thread: Re: Question concerning the Pied Piper

duchamp — 2007-07-27T20:31:17+00:00

]]>

If you look at the image, walk up the pink road up to the number 5, you see, the space is green, too.

Thread: Re: Question concerning the Pied Piper

Guantanamo — 2007-07-27T19:27:18+00:00

If you look at the board, the 'town' is divided into four sections. The pied piper is moving around in those sections. When the 'round' ends and the pied piper clears rats from the town, he only clears the rats in the section he is at then.

If you look closely some rats spaces 'straddle' two color sections. Those will be removed if he's in either section.

NOTE: all rats are removed from the town square ALSO. So those that are 'grey' will be removed also.

(Here's the rule a missed the first time playing. Whne you set up for the next round the pied piper moves to the section with the highest bride (remember he takes the bride with him at the end, so the place he was in no longer has any money. IF there isn't any brides on the board, he moves one section clockwise)

Thread: Question concerning the Pied Piper

SteadyTeddy — 2007-07-27T16:31:20+00:00

I need something clarified. Rules: Page 13 H. The Pied Piper---Some rat spaces overlap two areas. The rats on these spaces are removed if EITHER area is cleared. What areas are the referring too? Are entire houses cleared of rats are only the rats on the color of the Pied Piper?

Thread: Re: Hameln - Designers' notes no.4 - choosing a house

Big Bad Lex — 2007-07-23T23:24:31+00:00

dicemanjnr wrote:
Note - The male always pays for the house no matter who chooses it.

A little less realism in your next game please Fraser.

Thread: Re: Hameln - Designers' notes no.4 - choosing a house

dicemanjnr — 2007-07-19T13:43:43+00:00

KPrickett wrote:
I thought the female player that marries had no choice in the house. Why the 'strategy' tips for choosing a house for the female?

The player who chooses the 'marry' action chooses the house. It does not matter if their family member (or family members if they are marrying more than once) is a male or a female.

Note - The male always pays for the house no matter who chooses it.

cheers,
Fraser

Fraser Lamont
Fragor Games

Thread: Re: Hameln - Designers' notes no.4 - choosing a house

KPrickett — 2007-07-12T14:47:14+00:00

I thought the female player that marries had no choice in the house. Why the 'strategy' tips for choosing a house for the female?

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lucmoscrop — 2007-05-20T18:50:05+00:00

Hameln 2

Thread: Re: Simple house rule you may or may not enjoy

Big Bad Lex — 2007-04-09T20:35:45+00:00

sisteray wrote:
Ugh. We are in two very different camps.

Bleh! After my Shadows over Camelot crucifixtion, I realised I am in no one's camp.

Thread: Re: Simple house rule you may or may not enjoy

sisteray — 2007-04-09T19:35:58+00:00

Big Bad Lex wrote:
If a game isn't fun, then don't play

Ugh. We are in two very different camps.

Thread: Re: Easy fix

sos1 — 2007-04-09T18:55:10+00:00

Big Bad Lex wrote:
I generally dislike randomness (dice especially) in games, but if a childs sex is 100% predictable 50% of the time, surely the game starts to play itself as best moves become prescribed?
Just the opposite, actually. We've noticed that those who have parity among boy/girl babies have more interesting choices. Those who have close to all boys or all girls are the ones who find the game plays them.

Working around the uncertainty of the child distribution is surely a skill needed to win?
Of course you may be right, but we find it so hampering that we haven't yet figured out how to do it.

Hameln got a lot of stick early doors for being broken with plenty of people submitted fixes, I think it works fine as it is.
Ah, then you don't need this suggestion. It's really for those who spent a lot of money on the game and DON'T think it works fine as it is.

If a game isn't fun, then don't play
But if a small rule change can make a game fun for those who don't find it so by the rules as written, what's the harm in changing one rule so they can enjoy the game?

Thread: Re: Easy fix

Big Bad Lex — 2007-04-09T18:18:23+00:00

I generally dislike randomness (dice especially) in games, but if a childs sex is 100% predictable 50% of the time, surely the game starts to play itself as best moves become prescribed? Working around the uncertainty of the child distribution is surely a skill needed to win? Hameln got a lot of stick early doors for being broken with plenty of people submitted fixes, I think it works fine as it is.

I don't think games have to be realistic and actually believe very few of the best ones are (see the constant row over the tower in Wallenstein, etc). If a game isn't fun, then don't play

Thread: Simple house rule you may or may not enjoy

sos1 — 2007-04-09T13:48:01+00:00

The only thing I can see wrong with the game is that people who have roughly equal number of male/female babies do much better than those who have predominantly one sex or the other.

So we have a simple house rule: first, third, fifth, etc., babies are random. Second, fourth, sixth, etc., babies are the player's choice. Granted, it's not realistic, but I'd rather have a fun game than a realisitic one.

[Edit: changed subject line after reading Nick's response.]

Thread: Re: question about compulsory actions

duchamp — 2007-04-09T10:12:47+00:00

Just one. But you can activate as many men or women, marriages or sales as you want and can. For example, if you have three women in different houses with husbands of different colours you can choose how many of them (at least 1) you activate.

Thread: question about compulsory actions

larryjrice — 2007-04-09T02:16:43+00:00

For the 4 compulsory actions, are you only allowed to do ONE of the four compulsory choices (activate men, activate women, sell, marry)? Or, are you allowed to do more than just one of the four?

Thanks,

Larry

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itiswon — 2007-03-30T18:28:24+00:00

five different color wooden figures

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itiswon — 2007-03-30T18:27:39+00:00

manual book

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itiswon — 2007-03-30T18:26:59+00:00

back side of the box

Thread: Re: [Review] Hameln

TomVasel — 2007-03-12T12:08:19+00:00

You know, the previous point sums up what I feel about the game much better. More scoring rounds would have helped me quite a bit, I think...

Thread: Re: [Review] Hameln

cymric — 2007-03-11T23:41:33+00:00

gavingva wrote:
Excellent review, as usual! However... You've picked both extremes of the gaming spectrum there, Tom. What about the "middle" range? It sounds as if the game would be suited to people who've played a few of the simpler German games and are looking to move up a notch. Is that a fair assessment?
I'm going to interject my own opinion here. No, it is not a fair assessment, because it is quite hard to get a good feeling for the strength of the various game elements. Don't put this game in front of people who are looking for the next challenge beyond Ticket to Ride or Settlers.

Even with the Lamont's own strategy guides I still flounder about. I attribute this to the endgame scoring, which is the only time you score points---but by then you'll already have been playing for well over an hour. Since there is no direct correlation between score and what you've obtained already (in other words, it's how well you did with respect to other players what matters) people have to rely on their own judgement---and often do so very wrongly. I've seen people win who thought they were going to lose bigtime. Hameln must be played with the scoring in mind at all times. If you manage that, you'll face the problem of coupling scores to mechanics, which I still don't know how to do properly. Tom wouldn't be Tom if he wasn't his usual optimistic self , but even in his report you can see the signs he's having difficulties at that precise point: Strategy: With a large variety of ways to score points at the end of the game, I really haven’t figured out the best way to strategize for certain victory in the game. Getting a lot of money is certainly useful, but the largest amount of points comes from houses that are not overrun by rats. This makes the Pied Piper immensely valuable in the final round of the game, as he will clear one entire section of rats – and this will score a lot of points for the players there. The forced marriages cause players to score points along with others – which then puts an emphasis on having kids to populate these houses. Having too many kids results in them running away to Lala Land and losing massive points, so it’s interesting to see how everything works together.

The game would be friendlier if there were more incremental scoring rounds. This helps to establish who is doing well and who is not while the game is being played, instead of just at the end.

Thread: Re: [Review] Hameln

gavingva — 2007-03-11T09:41:53+00:00

TomVasel wrote:
I think that’s my main problem with Hameln; it doesn’t really seem to have a target group. The heavy gamers are going to be slightly dissatisfied with the high rate of luck in the game, and newcomers are going to be overwhelmed with the massive amount of pieces and ways to score points. It’s a bright, cheerful game that seems to hide more potential than is really there. I enjoyed the game but felt that I should have gotten a bigger “kick” out of it than I did. To those interested, I would recommend trying it out once and seeing if the theme, bits, and interesting mechanics are enough to draw you in.

Excellent review, as usual! However...

You've picked both extremes of the gaming spectrum there, Tom. What about the "middle" range? It sounds as if the game would be suited to people who've played a few of the simpler German games and are looking to move up a notch. Is that a fair assessment?

Gavin

Thread: [Review] Hameln

TomVasel — 2007-03-10T00:37:15+00:00

The Pied Piper is one of those stories that I’ve heard time and time again, in various media and styles – but with essentially the same plot each time. When I heard that the Lamont brothers were designing their yearly game about this story – I was quite interested, considering the surprise success of their first two games – Leapfrog and Shear Panic. Initial reports talked about how integrated the theme was with the game; and when I first opened the box, I was once again absolutely astounded at the incredible components included.

My thoughts on the game, however, are a bit mixed. There is no doubt in my mind that it is very thematic (with one odd exception) with great bits and unique mechanics. However, at some points it did feel a bit clunky, and I occasionally felt like my options were forced. That being said, I did enjoy the game – it just felt like it could have been polished a bit more, to avoid points where I was compelled to take an action simply to survive. The male/female aspects are often humorous, and the game certainly does put players in forced partnerships, which is rather intriguing.

The board includes a scoring track, an influence track, a turn order track, and a buying of influence track! It also shows the city of Hameln, divided into four neighborhoods – each made up of several houses. Each neighborhood has a matching “Pied Piper” space, and the Pied Piper is placed on the “yellow” neigborhood’s space. Several “King Rats” are placed on the board (four or five – depending on players), and four blue boy cubes and four pink girl cubes are placed in a cloth bag. Six of the middle houses on the board show a number “3” on them to indicate rat activity – counters are shuffled and placed on the rest of the houses randomly (ranging from “1” to “3”). Players take piles of family members (“meeples”) of their color and also receive one red “meat” cube (the rest of the cubes are placed in the market place, along with yellow cheese cubes, white ale cubes, and brown bread cubes.) A pile of rat trap tokens (ranging from “1” to “3”) is placed in piles near the board, and a cat is placed on the board. Players place tokens on each of the tracks, and then place two of their meeples on the board, in player order. Each house contains one male space and one female space, and a player can only ever have a meeple in one or the other. Finally, piles of small rat counters and florins are placed near the board. Whew! The game then begins, with one player chosen to go first.

On a player’s turn, they must do one of the following actions:
- Use male influence. The player activates one or more houses where they have a male meeple. For each of these, they gain a cube that matches the one shown on that house from the supply. Some houses show a florin and award that instead of a cube. The player who controls the female meeple of the house then either prepares one of their children to marry, or gains a florin (if the correct house).
- Use female influence. The player activates one or more houses where they have a female meeple. This allows them to prepare a child to marry, which causes them to remove a cube from the bag – placing one of their meeples on the matching half of the church hall (male or female). If the player instead activates a house with a florin, they take a coin instead. Again, the player with the matching male meeple(s) takes the corresponding male action as explained above.
- Sell goods. The player may sell as many of their produce goods as they want for money. Meat is worth four florins, ale – three, cheese – two, and bread – one. Players may alternatively take a random rat trap token per resource cube.
- Marry and move into a house: The player may marry one of their children in the church, but there must be a player’s meeple available of the opposite gender in the church also. When this happens, the two happy meeples are placed in any empty house on the board, with the cost of that house being paid with florins to the bank. Some houses give an immediate boost to the players’ influence track.
Whenever a player uses the male or female action, rat activity occurs. Rats equal to the number of rat activity on the house are placed on small white circles that border the house (many of these circles border two houses). If all the white circles are filled, the player discards the rest of the rat tokens and places a “king rat” token on the house. This house can no longer be activated until one or more of the small rats are removed, getting rid of the king rat.

After the compulsory action, a player may take one of the following optional actions:
- Buy the cat. The player can pay the bank four florins and place the cat figure in front of them, taking it from another player if necessary (that player is rewarded with one florin if this occurs). When a player buys the cat, they may remove one rat token from the board.
- Buy influence. The player looks at the influence track and pays the amount indicated, receiving the influence. The marker on this track is then moved (on a circular path), changing the pay/influence ratio for the next player.
- Bribe the Pied Piper. The player may place money on one of the four Pied Piper spaces. The Pied Piper always moves to the space that has the highest amount of money on it.

The game continues until all of the king rats have been placed on houses. At this point, the Pied Piper removes all the rat tokens from the neighborhood he is currently in, including rat tokens that may border two neighborhoods – also removing all king rats from the board. Each player who has children in the church must then either pay the Piper one to three florins for each of the children (price varies on the neighborhood the Piper is in) or place their children on the first available space on the road to Transylvania (these spaces are all worth negative points). The Pied Piper then moves to the neighborhood with the second highest amount of money, or clockwise if no other money is on a neighborhood. More king rats are prepared (the number changes for each round), and the next round begins. Player turn order is determined by the influence track.

After the third round, scoring occurs. Points are earned from a variety of things, including one point for having the cat, and one point for being the player to finish the game. The player with the highest total value of rat traps scores three points (one for second place), and the players with the most influence score three, two, or one points (top three only). Most money gets players “5”, “3”, or “1” point, and players score points for each house in which they have a family member equal to the cost of that house, but ONLY if the house is not overrun by rats. Finally, negative points are scored for the children on their way to Transylvania, and the player with the most points is the winner, with ties broken by the influence track.

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: On this account, Hameln really shines – with a box that is really brimming with wonderful components. There are piles of wooden meeples that look as if they were lifted from Carcassonne, and the rat influence markers and rat trap tokens are wooden discs with numbers printed on them. Piles of colored cubes are used for resources and the kid cubes in the bag, plastic chips are used for the money, and black wooden discs are used for the rats. I have the components split between ten bags in the box, and that doesn’t include the smaller box that holds the six king rat figures, the emperor rat (which is the same as a regular king rat – and is only used to signal the end of the game), the cat, and the hideous Pied Piper. These figures, which will be familiar to those who played Shear Panic, are wonderful, adding theme and high quality to the game – almost looking like Christmas ornaments. My only problem with the components is that it takes a while to set up the game – something that can be a bit fiddly since the game itself only takes about ninety minutes or less. The amount of components can also be slightly overwhelming to new players.

2.) Rules: The rulebook is in full color, with many illustrations, and takes fifteen pages to explain the rules (although a lot of that is simply setup time). It does a good job going over everything, although you really don’t know what’s going on until the end. I found that it takes a while to explain the game to new players, and they often have to play through an entire round before they completely understand.

3.) Theme: I really enjoy the game, and the amount of eye candy included certainly helps bring the ancient story to life. The male/female dichotomy is certainly well realized, and the cat/rat/pipers all work together in thematic harmony. One glaring problem for me, however, was the rat traps. If they kept in harmony with the rest of the game’s theme, than they should have something to do with the elimination of the rats. However, they instead have something to do with points at the end – which confuses every single person I’ve taught so far – and I question the naming of them. Other than that – I find the theme a major selling point of the game.

4.) Men and Women: The game quickly points out that its gender stereotypes are a result of the culture of the 13th century, and the reasons are quite clear. The men have to pay for new houses, while the women are the only way for a player to get new folk for population purposes. This does lead to one problem – a large influx of women can almost destroy a player, simply due to large amounts of childbearing. I almost think the game would be better if the parents could pick which gender the child was (even though that’s not at all thematic), because sometimes the random draw can be devastating. I played a game in which I had tons of daughters, which continued to have more and more children – sort of a chain reaction. This kept me from getting all of the kids married off – and sent off to follow the piper and lose quite a few points. Still, I do enjoy the marriages and the forcing of players to work in alliances. It’s an interesting mechanic – one that I haven’t seen before, and it works fairly well.

5.) Strategy: With a large variety of ways to score points at the end of the game, I really haven’t figured out the best way to strategize for certain victory in the game. Getting a lot of money is certainly useful, but the largest amount of points comes from houses that are not overrun by rats. This makes the Pied Piper immensely valuable in the final round of the game, as he will clear one entire section of rats – and this will score a lot of points for the players there. The forced marriages cause players to score points along with others – which then puts an emphasis on having kids to populate these houses. Having too many kids results in them running away to Lala Land and losing massive points, so it’s interesting to see how everything works together.

6.) Fun Factor: The colorful bits and enjoyable theme pull me right into the game – it has traces of the humor that the Lamont brothers inject into their games. Yet I do not find it to be too gripping, despite all of the nice trappings, because I occasionally feel as if the game is playing me, or that the other players (and luck) change what happens between turns so much that I can’t keep a clear strategy. This isn’t to say that tactics don’t come into play during the game – just that I felt I had less control than I wanted to. The game is fairly short (coming within seventy minutes or so) and covers up to five players, which seems to be the optimal number. We had fun talking about the marriages and the fact that I consistently had girls (like real life!), and that made the game more fun; but it was a bit overwhelming for new players, with no payoff of strategy at the end.

I think that’s my main problem with Hameln; it doesn’t really seem to have a target group. The heavy gamers are going to be slightly dissatisfied with the high rate of luck in the game, and newcomers are going to be overwhelmed with the massive amount of pieces and ways to score points. It’s a bright, cheerful game that seems to hide more potential than is really there. I enjoyed the game but felt that I should have gotten a bigger “kick” out of it than I did. To those interested, I would recommend trying it out once and seeing if the theme, bits, and interesting mechanics are enough to draw you in.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.thedicetower.com

Thread: Re: Designers' Notes no.1 - Top 10 rules commonly played wrong

garyj — 2007-01-29T21:49:28+00:00

I would second the comment that the rules are clearly laid out. However the game is a complex one, and it is easy to overlook things.

Our bete noir was identifying overrun houses, particularly those not owned by anyone. We had to do a messy undo once, as the game round had actually finished the previous turn with 2 houses being over-run without anyone noticing!

Gary

Thread: Re: Designers' notes no.3 : The optional actions (+ cat cost)

garyj — 2007-01-29T21:41:36+00:00

We were one group querying the cost of the cat, but now a 3-game 'veteran' I can more fully appreciate the relative value and agree that 4 is a reasonable value. Our discussion went off in a different direction though, that being a thematic one - once you have a cat why would it only ever eat one rat? This suggested a variant; allowing the owner of a cat as their optional action to eat a further rat. We tried this in the last game - the cat changed owners 3 times (had only been bought once in previous games) and the optional eating happened once or twice, adding a couple of turns to the game length. Seemed to add a little more to the cat option without unbalancing (at least on the strength of 1 game!). I'd be interested to hear if that was tried in playtesting, or if you saw any great risks in using that as a house rule/variant?

Thanks for an interesting game that has provoked a lot of discussion around here. With the complexities of play it is hard to 'get' on its first outing.

Cheers
Gary

Thread: Re: Players Mat II

Big Bad Lex — 2007-01-29T15:36:36+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Ever played War of the Ring? The print on those cards would drive you nuts.

The mat is in an excel format so feel free to add and adapt however you like. I got permission to use the front cover graphic so if you would like the pic without the text send me your e-mail address and I'll send it over.

The problem with expanding the VP text is that the colours below the horizon are dark so there were problems with the colours of letters and obtaining a contrast. For absolute clarity perhaps the graphic needs to be ditched so text is on a white background. Feel free to upload if you do this.

Thread: Re: Players Mat II

elmonty — 2007-01-28T17:22:32+00:00

Your action summaries are excellent, but the VP summary is so small, nobody at our table could read it. Please use the entire right side for it.

Thread: Re: Review after one play

duchamp — 2007-01-28T17:11:47+00:00

Good job for only played it once.

Don`t misunderstand me, but I think a review should rather be a real re-view and not a session report. So, one should tell somebody else something relevant about this game "looking back" on a couple of sessions.

In fact, you made clear how a first impression is, so everything is fine. Play some more times, read the postings by the designers here on strategy and how everything fits together, and have fun with Hameln, it`s a greater game as it seems at first sight.

Thread: Review after one play

elmonty — 2007-01-28T16:01:34+00:00

Hameln is a Euro-style game for 3 to 5 players. I played it for the first time at ROBA yesterday. This review is based on one play.

The object of the game is to gain the most victory points. VPs are obtained by meeting various goals, and they are only awarded at the end of the game.

From the photos here on BGG, the game bits appear to be excellent. And it is true that the rats, the cat, and the pied piper are as fantastic as they appear in the photos. However, the majority of the game bits are your standard wooden pieces such as meeples, cubes, and discs. Meeples represent the people in each player's family. Players try to increase the size of their families by birthing children and marrying them off. The board consists of houses in the village of Hameln and each house has a spot for a male meeple and a female meeple. The male and the female meeples in a house will almost always belong to different players (no inbreeding allowed!). A meeple's gender is determined by its location in a house, or in the case of a child, its location within the town's day care facility.

The wooden cubes represent goods which some houses can produce. Houses can produce meat, cheese, ale, or money. Meat, cheese, and ale are represented by wooden cubes of different colors. Money is represented by plastic tiddly-winks. When a player with a male meeple chooses to produce goods from their house, the female in the house automatically produces a child. The reverse is true as well: the female can choose to birth a child, causing the male to automatically produce a good. The gender of the child is determined by drawing a blue or pink cube from a bag, and a meeple to represent the child goes to the day care facility. At the same time, whenever goods are produced, rats are drwan to the house. The number of rats is determined by a number on the house, most of which are determined randomly at the start of the game, and the remainder are pre-printed on the board.

Contrary to what you may think from the photos, rats are represented by small black wooden discs. When a house is overrun by rats, determined by all the empty rat circles surrounding a house being occupied by black discs, the house is infested and a king rat (the cool-looking miniature in the photos) occupies the house. The house can then no longer produce goods.

A player can choose to purchase a cat. The cat will eat one and only one rat when it is purchased. There is only one cat, and players buy the cat from each other.

Players may also bribe the pied piper to their quadrant of the town.

If the day care facility contains meeples of both genders, a player may choose to marry them off. The lucky couple then occupy an empty house in town, allowing the players to produce more goods. The male child must puchase the selected house, so if the player owning the female child chooses to marry, she forces the player owning the male meeple to spend his money on the house.

Players can also purchase influence, which affects both turn order and VPs. And players can trade goods cubes for rat traps, which do nothing but count toward VPs.

When a certain number of houses are infested, the pied piper appears. He clears all the rats from the quadrant of town that had the best bribe. Any children unmarried in the day care facility will be led away by the piper; players lose either VPs or money for each child lost. This ends the current phase. After three phases, the game ends. During each phase, the number of infested houses required to end the phase increases.

VPs are earned at the end of the game:

- for having the most influence.
- for owning the cat at the end of the game.
- for being the player that ended the game.
- for any houses that are not infested.
- for having the most rat traps.

You lose VPs for any children taken by the piper.

So how is the game?

The theme of the game is terrific and really captures the flavor of the story of the pied piper. The mechanism of bearing children and marrying them off is unique and fun to role-play. It's also unique that two players share a house, so when a house produces, both players benefit (except if a male forces a female to bear a child just before the piper appears). Player turns go quickly and the game doesn't drag. It's fun to play.

That being said, there are some not-so-great things about Hameln.

There is a LOT going on all over the board and as the game progresses, the board becomes very crowded with meeples, gender cubes, rat discs, and king rats. Although the gameplay is not chaotic, the board seems to be. A player's allowed actions during their turn are fairly simple, yet there are so many choices on the board that it can become difficult to determine the best move. There is just too much going on in the game to determine either a strategy or the best short-term tactic. It's also difficult to tell at a glance the relative strength of each player.

The VPs are only awarded at the end of the game, so players must jockey for positions "now" that will benefit them only much later.

There seems to be no real advantage to buying the cat other than at the end of the game. The most expensive produced good, meat, can be sold for 4 florins (the currency), which is also what the cat costs, yet the cat only eats one rat for each purchaser. To us, it just wasn't worth it to buy the cat, except at the end.

The rat traps are misnamed. They do nothing about the rats. They only score VPs to the player with the most of them.

If a player is behind in influence, it is difficult to catch up.

In summary, Hameln has some unique and interesting game ideas, looks great, fits the theme well, and is fun to play. It also feels like the board has too much going on and that the game has a few too many ingredients.

Thread: Re: Designers' notes no.2 : The value of boys and girls

Eric Brosius — 2007-01-28T04:24:35+00:00

Just played for the first time today. Lots to think about. Two follow-up questions:

(1) Is it better to have a mixture of boys and girls rather than all one type?

(2) I found myself having all girls (about six of them) and the same family of cheapskate suitors snapped them all up. It was hard to figure out what to do about this!

Thread: Re: Designers' Notes no.1 - Top 10 rules commonly played wrong

woodnoggin — 2007-01-15T17:34:27+00:00

cymric wrote:
- when choosing to activate multiple houses, must a player stay with the same sex? In other words, can or can't he mix male with female actions?

You choose either men or women and activate 1 or more of your family members of the chosen sex. So, no you cannot mix male and female actions in the same turn.

- are the actions of both sexes carried out before Pied Piper makes his appearance? In other words, can you really annoy the female of the house by forcing the player who owns the female to produce a child which cannot be married off any more?

Yes, actions of both players involved are carried out before the Pied Piper arrives. It is permitted to use the mean tactic you mentioned above, forcing an opponent into having a child with no chance of marrying it off before the Pied Piper comes calling.

Thread: Re: Designers' Notes no.1 - Top 10 rules commonly played w

cymric — 2007-01-13T21:09:55+00:00

Played my first game of Hameln the other day, and it felt rather odd, but this can attributed to not having adjusted to the game's mechanics yet. The game has Knizia-like scoring, and I must prepare player aids with the scoring on it. Nevertheless, despite the above rule explanations I still have a few minor questions:

- when choosing to activate multiple houses, must a player stay with the same sex? In other words, can or can't he mix male with female actions?

- are the actions of both sexes carried out before Pied Piper makes his appearance? In other words, can you really annoy the female of the house by forcing the player who owns the female to produce a child which cannot be married off any more?

Thread: Hameln - Review

100%Blade — 2007-01-05T17:53:34+00:00

Hameln is the follow-up release to Shear Panic from the kilted Fragor brothers and, like their last title, sold out at Essen prior to the show starting. Also like Shear Panic, the game comes with some wonderfully cute painted figures. This time, rather than sheep, the figures are 7 large rats (including an Emperor rat complete with crown), a fat lazy cat and a Pied Piper. With a name like Hameln and these figures, there are no prizes for guessing the games theme. And what wonderfully themed game it as as well - the rats infest the town and the piper comes along to get rid of them but but you need to keep your eye on him or he'll run off with all your children. Beats Renaissance Italy hands down.

The game board depicts a number of houses centered around the market of Hameln. Each house has space for a man and his wife and will attract a certain number of rats each time the household becomes active. If a house attracts enough rats then it will become overrun and is no longer productive either in terms of conducting more actions or, importantly, at the game end for scoring purposes. Each player starts with one male and one female on the board. On their turn, they must take one of four actions - activate some or all of their males; some or all of their females; marry off one of their children or sell some of the goods they have produced. In a typical household, when males are activated they produce one of four types of good (meat, cheese, bread or ale) whilst females crank a child out, if you'll pardon the expression. Some of the posher houses in the neighbourhood are described as Influence houses and they don't indulge in the baser activities in life and instead both the man and the woman earn 1 florin for their owners. The key thing is that when a player activates a male /female then the corresponding female / male in the house is also activated so you need to be aware that by taking such an action you may be helping one of your opponents (a house can never contain a male and female of the same player).

When a new child is born it can be male or female (drawn at random) and is placed in the church waiting for a suitable member of the opposite sex to come along and marry them (there is no concept of the children growing up here - just marry them off at the earliest opportunity!). When they marry, they settle down in their own house and are able to produce their own kids and beer or, if they have plans above their station, manage to get into one of the Influence houses. The marriage action can be instigated by either party but it is always the player who owns the male who has to pay for the cost of the house (0-5 florins depending on the value of the house). This may seem that it is beneficial if you always produce females rather than males but this means you may not produce enough goods to sell for florins and the females are always producing more children which can be dangerous if they remain unmarried when the pied piper comes calling (see below). When a house is activated, between one and three small rat tokens are placed around it and when it reaches it's rat limit (between 2 and 5), one of the large rat figures is placed on the house which means it cannot be activated again until either the Pied Piper or the Cat clears at least one of the rats.

In addition to the one compulsory action, each player may also take one optional one. All involve the expenditure of florins which can be scarce so it is unlikely the optional action can be performed every turn. The first action is the Cat which a player can hire to remove one rat from a house. This costs 4 florins which is expensive so it is rare for this option to be chosen except perhaps towards the end of the game when a player wishes to free up one of their houses for scoring purposes. The second optional action is to bribe the Pied Piper to visit an area usually where you have the more interest in him being at the end of the round. Each house resides in one of four areas in town and the Pied Piper will always visit the area which has offered the highest bribe (in florins). This is potentially much more valuable than the cat because the Piper will clear a lot more rats (again, see below) and again this can be particularly important towards the end of the game as the players try to make sure their houses are not rat infested and will contribute to the score. The third action is to buy influence. As well as earning points at the end of the game, influence is important because it defines the turn order and this is a game where going first can be a benefit.

When all the large rats have arrived in town, the round immediately ends. The Pied Piper clears all the rats in the area of town in which he is currently visiting and rats are also removed from the inner market area , thereby freeing up some houses to be activated again. The large rats are removed from the board and the game continues. The area in which the Pied Piper ends also stipulates how many florins (between 1 and 3) he will demand in order to leave alone any of your children still in the church. If you can't / won't pay him then the child is whisked off to Transylvania where they will presumably suffer a life of slavery and terror but it's worse than that as it also costs you precious victory points. The game ends after three such rounds.

Scoring only occurs at game end which is a bit of a surprise as this type of game often has intermediate scoring as well (typically at the end of a round). However, victory points can come from a variety of sources which often suggests a number of strategies are available. I would say that the most points is usually going to come from non-rat infested houses (they are worth between 1 and 5 vp's each) but it will often be some of the other victory points that make the difference and determine the winner. These are available from having the most florins, the most influence, the most rat trap tokens (these are gained as alternative to selling goods for florins), for ending the game and for controlling the cat at game end. Minus, of course, points for the number of children on the road to Transylvania.

Wikipedia describes the Pied Piper of Hamelin (which is how I always thought it was spelt) as a folk tale documented by the Brothers Grimm which I guess means that it is unclear whether it is based in reality or not but it doesn't really matter because the game evokes the event wonderfully. It is heavier than Shear Panic and some would call it a "gamers" game which I take to mean as not really accessible outside the hobby and I would agree with this. The mechanisms are a little difficult to get your head round and even when you understand the process it is hard to work out how your actions can be combined into some sort of strategy. There is a feeling that the game plays you rather than the other way round and after a few games I am no further to understanding what makes a good play in any situation. I think this is probably my failing rather than the game's it does leave me with a feeling that the designers have tried a little too hard to throw too may things into the mix and the game would be better if it had been streamlined a little. The reality is while the theme and the bits are great, the game is a little convoluted and just isn't a lot of fun and if that's the case I may as well spend my time watching Chelsea on the tele. The upside is that the game doesn’t drag and we can finish it in an hour which may just mean will play it as an occasional filler which may save it from the great gaming graveyard in the sky commonly known as my loft. Rating 5/6.

Thread: Re: Hameln - Designers' notes no.4 - choosing a house

pellitieri — 2006-12-27T19:22:31+00:00

Having played several games now with a good mix of players, I have noticed a bit of a trend: Women who behave as "courtesans" or "paramours" can gain a great deal of influence quickly!

More than once, rather early in the game, a player has had a daughter marry, forcing her groom to purchase a 5 florin influence house, which moves both of them 3 steps up the influence chart. The player then uses their optional action to buy influence. It'a a quick way to "get out of the gutter", as it were

--Tom Pellitieri
Toledo, Ohio

Thread: Inspiration for the board / game?

duchamp — 2006-12-17T22:21:48+00:00

I found this map ...

www.jghreform.org/hjcc/townmap.htm

... and: oops, it has so many similarities to the board (of course! it`s Hameln, you say, but look at some other boards with "towns"!) that I wonder, if the Lamont brothers got some ideas for the mechanics and elements by some map like this or was it just coincidential, that the town fit so well into the already developed game around the story of the "pied piper"?

Even two bridges cross the river. And - of course again - down in the middle there is a "Rattenfänger"-Statue or something ...

I didn`t find a medieval map of Hameln in the internet yet ...

Thread: Hameln - Designers' notes no.4 - choosing a house

diceman — 2006-12-16T14:48:16+00:00

Hameln

Designers' notes no.4 : Choosing a house

(This is the fourth in a series of articles addressing some of the issues encountered by players. We will be posting a new article every week. Hameln is a complex game and some of the strategies and tactics may not be apparent after a first play).

When choosing a house you should have a clear idea of your reason(s) for doing so. Below are the main reasons for buying a house (and the associated tactics).

A. Choosing for Production / Children

The obvious thing to look for is the rat activity counter on a house. A house with only one rat activity and four rat spaces will be able to be activated four times before being over-run (assuming no outside interference). An ale house that can be activated 4 times is probably a better buy than a butchers' house that can only be activated once, especially for production.

On the other hand, moving into a house that is quickly over-run, can be a good way for player to limit the number of children they are forced to prepare, keeping them to a more manageable number.

Remember, when trading for rat-trap tokens a bread cube is worth as much as a meat cube. The three points available for these tokens should not be dismissed lightly.

Also, houses which border on 2 different Pied Piper areas are more likely to be cleared of some rats at the end of each phase.

B. Choosing for strategy
There are two main reasons for strategic house buying:

1) Disruption to other families houses

Getting beside other players’ more expensive houses is important for controlling other players. All the 'five florin' houses have only two free rat spaces, giving them a maximum output of two before they are over-run. Getting just one rat beside one of these houses guarantees it will be over-run if activated.

There's a double bonus for having both houses adjoining a '5 florin' house. If your occupants are either both male or both female, you will be able to over-run the house on a single turn AND you may be able to bring the phase to an end (disadvantaging another player)

2) Preparing for the end game

A cheap house that is over-run in a single turn, can be extremely useful at the end of the game, especially when occupied by male family members. This house can be used to end the game quickly, without much detriment to your points score.

Also, as mentioned above, if you can find a house like this which is bordering two different areas (the Pied Piper areas), it is also more likely to be in a cleared area at the end of the phase. This makes it more likely that the house will not be over-run at the end of the game and still be able to score points.

C. Choosing for Points

With a female it is usually better to choose a more expensive house. This gains you more points, while costing your partner a hefty part of his income. However, nearer the end of the game, be careful not to choose houses that may lead to too many unwanted children. Moving into a house with only one possible activation will help prevent the male using his influence (as this would over-run the house, preventing it from scoring at the end of the game). For this to work best the player must keep a close eye on where the Piper is likely to end up.
For males, the choice of house can depend as much on the partner. When moving into an expensive house it is better to choose a bride from a family below you in points. If marrying a player ahead of you, it may be better to choose a cheaper house, and keep the monetary advantage.

As usual, feel free to join in any debate about the topic, or to let us know if you have any questions.

There will be no article next week as it is too near Christmas and the New Year (and Hogmanay if you are Scottish ), but we will have a summing up session in January.

Best wishes,

Fraser and Gordon
Fragor Games

Thread: Re: Do Rat Traps actually Trap Rats?

woodnoggin — 2006-12-12T15:38:32+00:00

Was it ever considered that these scoring tokens should be called something other than rat-traps? It's initially a bit confusing, given that they don't affect rats in any way. You could call them almost anything else and it would be clearer. Did they affect rats at some point during playtesting, but that rule was removed? It just seems odd to me.

Thread: Re: Designers' Notes no.1 - Top 10 rules commonly played wrong

Bergbau — 2006-12-10T18:25:02+00:00

Thanks for this list. We missed the initial meat cube.

We played a three player game yesterday, and it felt that every phase was over just when things were about to happen.

Anyway, I'll give it another try.

/Strömer, from Sweden

Thread: Re: Designers' notes no.3 : The optional actions (+ cat cost

duchamp — 2006-12-10T16:13:52+00:00

Congratulations for your "clarification series". Although I find the rules quite clear, your articles show deeply how this game is constructed: Everything is connected with everything, and the players are connected to each other ...

Maybe your "mistake" was to let Hameln look so nice. With a more geometrical board, abstract figures and all dark grey and brown, with a military theme, nobody would react like some people did

Thanks again for this one!

Daniel

Thread: Designers' notes no.3 : The optional actions (+ cat cost)

diceman — 2006-12-08T15:16:44+00:00

Fragor Games Hameln

Designers' notes no.3 : optional Actions (+ cat cost)

(This is the third in a series of articles addressing some of the issues encountered by players. We will be posting a new article every week. Hameln is a complex game and some of the strategies and tactics may not be apparent after a first play).

The purchasing of optional actions can be the difference between winning and losing a game. However, money is tight and you want to get some value for your hard-earned cash. Here are our thoughts on the optional actions (including a discussion about the value of the cat). Enjoy !

1. Bribing The Pied Piper

Control of the Pied Piper has a significant impact on the flow of the game. Good placement of the Piper means that you can bring a phase to an end without any disadvantage. It can also dissuade other players from activating certain houses, preparing children or finishing the round. This is more sharply focused in the last phase when houses do not score points at the end if they are over-run.

Thinking ahead can give you more options when it comes to your turn. For instance, having the Pied Piper in an area with at least one of your extra houses (those apart from the marketplace) might give you, on your next turn, the opportunity for ending the current phase with little harm to yourself.

Moving the Pied Piper to the '3 florins per child' space, can put pressure on those with children in the Church hall, especially as the round nears its end. It can also dissuade other players from preparing children, especially if they don't have a lot of money. Likewise, the opposite is true. If you have a number of children in the hall , you may want to move the Piper to the '1 florin' space to give yourself some breathing space. This gives you a better chance of paying for them when the round ends.

Sometimes the Pied Piper can be influenced with a very small amount of money especially if money is tight as the end of the phase approaches. Do not forget that a player bringing a phase to an end does not have the opportunity of moving the Pied Piper.

2. Buying of Influence

Buying of influence is an act which benefits no-one but yourself. If you are in last place on the influence track, it is sometimes possible to have 2 turns in a row by using this action. The benefits of doing this vary, but keeping a close eye on the church hall is important for getting your timing right. Moving up to 1st can give you first pick of the Church hall (e.g. you prepare a child to marry and buy influence allowing you to take your next turn before a rival ), or allow you a chance to gain money, making you more attractive than the other potential suitors. More importantly, towards the end of a phase, it can give you more control over when the phase ends. This can increase your own points and also prevent others from having a further action before the end of the phase.

Combining this action with moving into an influence house can have a dramatic effect on your influence standing.

3. The Cat

At 4 florins, the cat should not be bought lightly. Indeed, it should be bought very sparingly (if at all) in phases one and two. Probably the only reason to purchase the cat in these phases is to free up a female (to prepare a much needed child) or to control when the end of the phase occurs by removing a King Rat. Remember, freed up males can never produce goods more than the value of the cost of the cat.

The cat really comes into its own in the third phase when scoring of the houses occurs. By removing a small rat (and therefore a King Rat) from a house you allow that house to score points at the end of the game. This may be extremely important if the Pied Piper is elsewhere. Theoretically, it could give you a 9 point swing. Also, remember when you free a house that you are also gaining the other occupant points too, so make sure that you are improving your overall standing before buying the cat.

If you don't need the cat, DONT buy it. Money is tight and scores at the end of the game (e.g. 5 points for 1st, 3 points for 2nd etc).

There has been talk of the cat being too expensive . It may seem this way on a first play but the cost is correct for gameplay purposes. Reducing the cost of the cat has a severe impact on the game. The timing mechanism of the King Rats is significantly affected. It means that players are able to purchase the cat on a much more regular basis. This causes the game to drag on in a cycle of selling goods and buying the cat. It is expensive but it represents great value in certain situations. Paying 4 florins to gain up to 9 points (a 5 and 3 florin house with an adjoining rat space + 1 for the cat) can be a much cheaper option than a Pied Piper bidding war.

The final price of the cat was developed over a large number of playtests, at various prices. We think the comments on the cat have been due to players assuming how the cat should work (thinking it should be used regularly rather than sparingly). A quick story - we entered into correspondence with one player about the value of the cat. During the course of this correspondence they realized that they would, in fact, have won the game had they bought it !

As usual, feel free to join in any debate about the topic (agree or disagree !), or let us know if you have any questions.

Next week we will be discussing the strategic buying of houses, but until then,

Best wishes,

Fraser and Gordon
Fragor Games