Game: Tiki Mountain!

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whoami — 2008-06-13T13:18:36+00:00

Thread: Re: Draw cards at the end of the turn instead of beginning?

beri — 2008-04-03T22:40:21+00:00

Generally, the whole 'reading delay' only happens once or twice per card. People get used to what the cards can do after that. I don't think drawing at the end of the turn will dramatically change the game, but I like drawing at the beginning. If I draw at the end of my turn, I'm looking at my cards, getting excited about my upcoming move, and that's fun, but it makes the other players' turns seem like forever! It's true that I can start planning out my next turn, but usually something will happen in the meantime that requires me to re-plan anyway. If I draw at the start of the turn, it's neat - it gives me a fresh handful of options. I can look at the board and say 'how am I gonna get out of this one?' then draw a bunch of cards, get a plan, and go for it right away.

Try it both ways, see what works for you!

Thread: Re: BookShelf Games Video Review

Faerun — 2007-12-23T12:25:08+00:00

Nice review. Prevented me from buying.

I really like the concept, but it seems it doesn't have a great replayability.

Thanks!

Thread: BookShelf Games Video Review

Subhuman — 2007-12-22T21:08:20+00:00

Video Review for Tiki Mountain. This video is about 8 mins long and covers the basic gameplay.

Vimeo Video

http://www.archive.org/download/BookShelfGamesBSGEp19TikiMou...

(link opens straight to media or right click and hit Save Target as...to download.)

Thread: Re: Draw cards at the end of the turn instead of beginning?

Grudunza — 2007-12-12T01:04:03+00:00

I guess I can answer my own question now that I think about it, in that being able to discard some of your hand and draw new cards at the beginning of your turn allows you to adjust to whatever happened on the other players' turns. A particular card you thought you were going to keep at the end of your last turn may not be so useful anymore considering what's happened since.

I suppose that ability to adjust your hand depending on what's happened may be important to keep the game moving forward quickly enough toward its conclusion. But then again, does it offset the delay from people reading their cards and deciding what to do at the beginning of their turn?

Thread: Draw cards at the end of the turn instead of beginning?

Grudunza — 2007-12-11T18:21:25+00:00

This is a game that sounds like fun and I've considered picking it up at some point. The only complaint that I've read from people (well, the only complaint that I care about... I don't mind randomness or leader attacking in a game like this) is that the cards have a lot of text and you draw them at the beginning of your turn and have to read them before doing anything, which can lead to significant downtime.

So I'm wondering... is there a reason why you couldn't replenish your hand and draw cards at the end of your turn? That would seem to solve that problem. But maybe there's a reason that wouldn't be feasible? If not, then that would seem to be a must to make as a rule adaptation.

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dsmeyer — 2007-12-09T22:22:09+00:00

A blank player board

Thread: 3 player game with the fam

Echo2112 — 2007-12-07T22:16:06+00:00

A fun game for any size group, Tiki mountain is a great game that may end up being "filler" for some groups, but I think it is something that can be pulled out anytime for a quick gaming fix.

Session #1, in which my son, the wife and myself attempt suicide.

It seems the game always starts the same, getting your gear in place, moving up a path and going to the next player. No taunts, no magic cards played. Pure Vanilla.

Then someone gets ahead. Not by a space or two, but by 5 or 6. I thought I was doing just fine. Then my son drops a mudslide in my face and stopping me cold. Then my wife comes along and throws a lava flow further up the path I am on, trying to force me into backtracking.

A quick glance thru my hand allows me to move thru the mudslide with the help of my items, and relocate the lava flow to just in front of my wife via the "Go over There" card. My boy is hot on my heels as I hustle up the mountain, while my wife is busy taking my sandals and walking stick by using the "Where's Tiki's stuff" cards.

At this point I am concerned. I have the lead, barley, due to some lucky draws of movement cards, and my wife is practically at the bottom of the mountain with no hope of catching up. The concern is due to the fact that she seems content with that position.

And then she hits me with it "Tiki Switcheroo".

Now she is in the lead, and I am sitting at the bottom of a mountain with almost a dozen obstacle in the way. Now, in any game kingmaking can happen, and I thought this was the case here. My son and wife team up to get me out of the way, and let my wife win a game. But on my son's turn he gets ahead and like he has been doing the whole game, is laying mudslides down behind him. I figured he was just doing what he could to slow the rest of us, but then his true purpose came to light.

He had been using items and magic cards to avoid from falling down the mountain every time the angry volcano God hit us with an earthquake. I remarked that he was the doing a great job of slowing us down, when he told me that the mudslides were more for him than to stop my wife or I.

"See dad," says he "when an earthquake hits, you fall that many spaces back. But if you hit a mudslide, you stop. So if I keep putting them right behind me, I only lose a space or two."

What a great strategy!

My son ended up leaping into the volcano first, and I was oh so pround to see him go.

Thread: Feets don't fail me now!

merb101 — 2007-11-19T13:58:34+00:00

‘Tiki Mountain’ a hilarious race to destruction

By MICHAEL ERB
Staff Writer
The Parkerburg News and Sentinel
www.newsandsentinel.com

PARKERSBURG — The great Volcano God is angry and ready to explode. The only thing that will satisfy the Volcano God’s appetite and save the everyone from destruction is the sacrifice of the island’s bravest and most fleet-footed Tiki.

That’d be you. If you get there first.

In “Tiki Mountain” by Slugfest Games players race their Tikis, little guys with large tribal masks, up the side of the mountain, using magic, items and lucky breaks to avoid obstacles and slow opponents. The goal is to be the first Tiki to reach the lip of the volcano and hurl yourself in, thereby appeasing the great Volcano God and saving the island.

Players use Climb cards to move up the mountain, and can add Climb Better cards to gain extra distance. Item and Tiki Magic cards can be played to increase movement, circumvent obstacles or throw mudslides and lava flows in the paths of the other Tikis.

Each round players also randomly receive Tiki Totems, which represent the three elements of the island: Fire (red), Water (blue) and Earth (green). Tiki Totems are used to fuel some cards and are used to make sacrifices when trying to prove a Tiki worthy of the Volcano God.

There also is an Angry Volcano God deck of cards, and one is drawn each round, affecting all players’ characters. Sometimes the God is still and nothing happens. Other times there are earthquakes that send all of the Tikis sliding back down the mountain. The cards also contain an “Are you worthy?” task for any Tiki who reaches the lip of the volcano. If the Tiki cannot perform the task, usually a sacrifice of Tiki Totems and items, then they are not worthy and must wait until the next turn to try again. A Tiki who is found worthy leaps into the volcano and wins the game. Yay!

The entire game has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek tone, and the artwork and subtext carries the feel through the different cards and tokens. For example, instead of Tikis having feet, they have Feets, and many of the cards play off the double plural, such as “Feets Don’t Fail Me Now!” which can be played to avoid certain obstacles and dangers.

The game is bright and colorful and very evocative of the tropical setting. Though some might consider the subject matter a little dark for such a light-hearted game (after all, you are racing to kill yourself to save everyone else), the rules do contain suggestions on how to make the subject matter a little more kid-friendly by having the Tikis only sacrificing Totems and items to appease the Volcano God and win the game.

One of the things I really enjoy about all Slugfest games is the very short and simple rules. In the case of “Tiki Mountain,” the rules take up only two pages (the front and back of a box-sized piece of paper). This makes learning how to play the game fairly simple, and allows a group to sit down and start playing without having to leaf through page after page of rules to find answers to their questions. In “Tiki Mountain” the rules are light and simple, the gameplay fast and fun.

This is a an excellent game and one I will bring to the table many times in the future. The fast gameplay keeps everyone involved and it moves quickly enough to play multiple games in an evening. Though there is a bit of a “screw the other player” element to the game, the light tone and numerous choices keep it on a very friendly level, and even losing players will find themselves quickly wanting to set up the board for another game.

For more information on “Tiki Mountain” and other Slugfest Games products, visit www.slugfestgames.com. For more game reviews and discussion, visit my blog at http://merb101.livejournal.com.

Contact Michael at merb101@gmail.com.

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Toynan — 2007-11-13T11:48:54+00:00

Back of the Box (in shrink)

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dsmeyer — 2007-11-07T04:38:55+00:00

Close Finish. Shandra gets the sacrifice to save the isalnd.

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dsmeyer — 2007-11-07T04:37:31+00:00

My Tiki Card decked out.

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dsmeyer — 2007-11-07T04:36:39+00:00

My wife's first game.

Thread: Review: Tiki Mountain

ckraft — 2007-10-25T18:05:08+00:00

Since there was only one review for Tiki Mountain, I thought I'd add another perspective to the mix. Context/expectations for the purchase were that the game looked like a fun game to play with the family. The artwork is appealing and the theme playful. Now, on to the review.

Theme: 4/5
The game is set on a mysterious island dominated by a massive volcano. The islanders (of which you are one) have clearly developed a respect for the volcano, controlled by the volcano God. They believe that to appease the God and thus prevent a catastrophic volcano eruption, that islanders must sacrifice themselves to the God by jumping into the volcano. This is a playful theme and appropriate for most ages. For those who find the sacrifice inappropriate, there is an alternate game ending "story" you can play.

Materials: 2/5
While the graphics themselves are very well done, there are a number of finer points that I found quite lacking for something so visually rich. In particular, the player tokens (islanders) are the typical dense cardboard stock (good quality) but the stands on which they sit are a small cross-piece of the same card stock that fits in a groove. The tokens stand up alright but are a bit top heavy and will likely wear out quickly as the groove wears out. An extra bottom piece comes with each token. Secondly, the printed cards felt, to me, a bit thin. I may be used to the typical quality of Days of Wonder and other great manufacturers but they still felt excessively thin. Lastly, each player is give 3 different colored stones that sit on the players player card. Oddly enough, each stone was a dramatically different size (e.g. green was half the size of red). None of the above materially impacted my gameplay but it was a noteable disappointment for me. The game board, character cards and obstacle markers were all of good quality.

Gameplay: 3/5
I was excited to play the game because I believed the crazy theme would carry through to fun gameplay. This proved to be true but only in part. I'll walk through the basics. The game is about running your character up a path (multiple paths to get there) to the top of the volcano and, you guessed it, jump in. So...the game is a race of sorts with the ability to micheviously set traps in front of others to foil their progress. The tools of the game include: character card, tiki cards, god cards, obstacle markers, totems (represented by a totem marker), and a spinner.

Character cards - enable you to hold/wear up to 3 items (2 hand slots, 1 foot slot) and is also used to mark how many magic (known as totem) points you have across three types - fire, earth, and water.
Tiki cards - typically 7 cards are held in a players hand, each representing available moves. The card types are: movement (e.g. move 3 spaces), movement bonus (e.g. add 1 to your movement card), magic, and items (e.g. shoe item, hand item - providing some form of bonus to gameplay). The cards are a bit dense reading for a young reader. My 10 year old was fine - my 7 year old found it complicated and required help to understand.
God cards - one played after each person has played a turn. The card, at best, has no affect on players but, at worst, wreaks havoc on your climb up the mountain (e.g. move back 4 spaces). This felt a bit like the black cards in Shadows over Camelot but on a much lower frequency.
Obstacle markers - markers indicating mudslides, lavaflow, rockfalls and some form of gurgling steam that are placed on the board by players throughout the game. Each has a special negative impact that I won't get into here other than to say they are each different and have to be understood how to interact with them throughout the game.
Totems - this is your form of currency used in combination with Tiki cards to set obstacles, perform devilish acts (such as swap positions with another player), negate God cards, negate traps, and more.
Spinner - used at the end of a player's turn to recouperate spent totems. Some options include: gain 1 earth totem, gain 1 of any totem type you chose, gain 1 of each totem type.

Okay, onto taking turns. The game is turn based and a typical player's turn involves the following:

* dumping Tiki cards you don't want.
* Replenishing back up to 7 cards your hand of cards. Note there is a special hand item card that, if worn, enables you to draw an extra card into your hand.
* From there, the player is allowed to move once and do as many other actions from his/her hand of cards that his currency (totems) allows. All of these can be done in the order of the player's choice. This can result in a bit of a long turn for those that require some time to think of the best combination of moves (or don't understand the cards and have to re-read them frequently). Other players, during the person taking their turn, can stop some of the players actions with the use of cards in their hands and with spending totems. These are cards that would read - negate other characters special magic-type cards. You can't negate a player's movement or movement bonuses during their turn. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of special magic cards and I'm not going to describe them all that make the game rich (or the flip side of the coin -- a bit complicated).
* A character completes his/her turn by spinning the wheel and replenishing the totems granted based on the spin.

Rinse and repeat until someone makes it to the top of the volcano and passes a test by drawing a God card and having to typically negate the action to prove worth to die.

My Conclusion:
While I found the game fun, at first, after the theme wore off I found the game a bit of a simplistic in its mechanics. Laying obstacles against competitors is fun but you can also really lay out a terrible sequence of cards that force you to backtrack and go another path. It is a bit of a 3 steps forward and 2 steps back type game. I had to help the younger players a lot to help them optimize their moves. This was a bit disappointing because I bought the game more as a bridge between myself and them to play. I wouldn't pull it out for adults. Too much reading and tedious movement for a gateway game. Overall, I rate this game a 5 out of 10.

Thread: Tiki Mountain Review

Echo2112 — 2007-10-21T16:27:09+00:00

My first game review, on a game that has not been reviewed at all! My lucky day indeed!

This is a game that I had wanting to play for several months now, and spent several hours yesterday playing the game in both 2 and 3 player formats to try and get a good feel for it.

Game Packaging
Like Red Dragon Inn, Tiki Mountain comes in a well printed full color box. Not made of flimsy material, it doesn't feel as if the box is going to come apart on you after a year or so of going back and forth from the shelf to the table. The plastic tray inside is compartmented to give you spaces for the cardboard counters, an area for the colored "gems", you totem spinner, cards, player mats and game board. All of the other bits stack nicely over the cardboard bits bin, so you don't have to worry about them shifting and spreading all over the box. (I bag mine anyway. Can't resist the compulsion to bag my bits.)

Game Components
Like the Packaging, the components are brightly printed and well made. I know that some gamers don't like to see games that have cardboard cut-outs for playing pieces, but each of the little Tiki's are unique with front and back art for each, I had no issue with them. You have an assortment of cardboard squares that are used to represent different obstacles that are placed during game play. I like they way the have been printed, the artwork on each is a smaller segment of the art work on the card that brought it into play, with either an icon or a number telling you how it impacts the movement of the players.

The game board is a nice arrangement that folds out into a 4 piece segmented board with great artwork and bright colors. Very sturdy and heavy, when laid out, it doesn't have uneven areas at the seams that give an unstable play surface.

The totem spinner is a fun way to increase your totem collection. I know some others have said they were not very happy with this item as it seemed flimsy, but I am not really sure how it could have been made any better. It suits the purpose quite well, and adds a nice bit of randomness to the game play. Brightly colored like the rest of the game, it has great artwork to indicate the number of totems you get at the end of your turn.

Playing Cards.
Can't say enough about them. Slugfest has put a lot into the cards, from the great artwork that is unique for each one, they sturdy cardstock, border art, and a nice coating / finish to them that seems to make them pop a bit. The game revolves around the cards and how you play them, so it makes sense that so much went into them. But the artwork adds so much to the game play. The humor of the art helps add to the fun feel of the game, and at least for our group got us more into the playing, rather than just reading off some instructions to one another.

Rule Book.
Not really a book per se. A full color sheet, printed front and back it covers the pertinent information about the game. I will say that there are a few instance in which you don't know if you can play a card against others, so a little more info couldn't hurt. But that might result in a full book being printed and it having to cover all the cards in detail.

Game Play

The meat of any game, no matter how nice to look at, is how well it plays. My initial impression of Tiki Mountain is that, the more that play, the more fun it will be. It is listed as a game for 2 to 6 players. With 2 players, it seems to have a bit of a slow start, building your collection of totems and items, as you try and move up the mountain. The two of us that were playing were a bit hesitant to start playing obstacle against each other at first, but once we moved up different paths some came into play. Once one of us got to the top, the game was over very quickly. Since neither of us had used much magic, we had a large supply of totems (you need at least one of each type to offer yourself as a sacrifice to the Volcano God)and one of us could jump right in. There was always one player that got off to a huge lead, and once that happened it was very very difficult, if not impossible to take the lead away from that player.

Three players made for much more fun. Right off the bat, items were being stolen through the use of Tiki Magic. Obstacles were being thrown about with abandon. A lot of back and forth, and everyone was very close together on the race up the mountain. Two of us reached the summit, but neither could jump in, because we had been spending our totems like crazy to try and slow down the other players.

The three player game took longer than the two player, but felt faster due to the amount of interaction. Now it is going to be about finding the "sweet spot" of players. 4 will more than likely be fun, with a good mix of back and forth amongst the player without giving up the ability to climb the mountain. 5 could be, but could turn into a huge mess of magic and obstacles being thrown about. 6 might take all night. That is just a feeling on my part, but since each player can throw out as much Tiki Magic cards as he has in his had each turn (as long as he has the totems to power them) a player that is well ahead or really behind could make life very very difficult for the rest of the players.

Final Impression

Overall, a well done game. It looks GREAT the quality of art is impressive on all the game components, not just one or two things. The game played smoothly, with no real interruptions in play except for a few times when we were not sure about a card being able to be played or not.

Otherwise this could be a game that you can play with your gamer friends, or non gamer types when they come over. It is easy to get started with, has plenty of humor to be found, and hey, how often to you get to play a game who's objective is to be the first to kill yourself?

Thread: Tiki Mountain - Impressions

gschloesser — 2007-10-13T14:24:22+00:00

I’ve been itching to play this new Slugfest game ever since Kevin Bender returned with it from GenCon. What attracted me to the game was the quirky theme: islanders racing to the top of a volcano in order to sacrifice themselves to that the island can be saved from disaster. There aren’t many games wherein the winner is the one who kills himself to a volcano god.

I don’t own the game – nor after one playing do I have the desire to – so my description here won’t be highly detailed and will come from my admittedly faulty memory. Basically, the board depicts a portion of an island, which is dominated by Tiki Mountain, an active volcano that is threatening to erupt, thereby destroying the idyllic community. Various pathways wind there way up the mountain, eventually culminating at the red-hot crater. Players begin in the village at the base of the mountain, and the first player to brave the various perils, overcome the hazards employed by their opponents, and be found worthy to toss himself into the crater is victorious. Well, sort of, since the player is consumed by the volcano, the victory is sort of Pyrrhic in nature.

Each player receives a mat wherein he tracks his earth, water and fire totems, and places up to three items that he can use in his ascent. Players begin with seven action cards, and fill their hand back to this total on each turn. A player’s turn consists of playing one climb card, coupled with as many “climb better”, items and event cards as desired. The only restriction is that no two “climb better” cards can be identical. The combination of climb and climb better cards determines how far along the pathway a player may move. Generally, the further, the better, as this is a race to the top.

Item cards can usually supplement a player’s movement rate, or confer some other benefit. Often, the items can be used to ignore certain hazards that may suddenly appear along the path. These can include gas vents, mudslides, hot lava and other nasty obstacles. Players must navigate these obstacles with the use of items or other event cards.

Many cards require the expenditure of totems to use. Totems are acquired at the end of a player’s turn, the amount and type being determined by a spinner. Ultimately, a player must expend one of each type of totem in order to attempt the god-required lava leap, but further totems may also be required. So, players are wise to be judicious in the expenditure of their totems.

After each turn, a “volcano” card is taken that usually triggers an adverse event affecting all players. Many of these are earthquakes that cause players to partially slide down the mountain. Certain items can mitigate this slide. A few volcano cards are beneficial, but we didn’t see many of those.

When a player reaches the top of the mountain, he may attempt to toss himself into the lava to appease the volcano god. As mentioned, he must expend one totem of each type, and be found worthy. A volcano card is drawn, and if the conditions on the card are met – usually the expenditure of certain totems – the player is successful, the god is appeased, and the island is saved. The player is dead, but he has won the game and the eternal gratitude of the islanders. If the player fails, he can try again on subsequent turns.

The game certainly has a “take that!” aspect, as players constantly play cards on their opponents to impede their progress. Most of these take the form of introducing hazards and obstacles, most of which are minor annoyances rather than harsh setbacks. The exception to this is the “switcharoo” cards, which allows the player to switch places with any other player on the path. This can – and usually does – cause a player to go from a leader position to the back of the pack, often losing considerable ground. There are a few “Tiki Magic” cards that can prevent this, but possessing one is a matter of chance.

The game suffers from another common problem that is pandemic to games utilizing cards with copious amounts of text. Namely, it takes a considerable amount of time to continuously read the text on the cards, which results in periods of “dead” time. “Dead” time translates into dull. Players are constantly shuffling through their cards, reading the text and deciding which cards to use. The fact that a player’s hand is not re-filled until the BEGINNING of his next turn compounds this problem, as when cards are drawn, the player must take time to read and understand each card. This causes the game to drag, and forces everyone to wait while the active player reads his cards.

The game feels like one that would be fun for families, but the theme might be a concern for those with younger children, and the “take that” aspect of the card play might be a bit harsh for some folks. I don’t think most will mind it, however. The game certainly has more to offer than most of the family games found on the shelves of most retail giants, and I’d be happy to play it in an environment that includes children. For adults, however, the game is lacking, and just fails to generate much excitement. It is passable … but that’s about it. I want the games I play to be more than just “passable”.

Thread: Re: players per space

wwondax — 2007-09-25T15:29:00+00:00

Players may share spaces.

And this is an official ruling.

Geoff Bottone
Lead Designer
SlugFest Games, Inc.

Thread: Re: players per space

futurescaper — 2007-09-23T14:33:48+00:00

We played that there could be more than one player per space, but we made this interpretation because there were no rules about what to do if you landed on the same space as another player and no rules about skipping spaces if they were occupied.

So it appears that this is perfectly legal and allowed.

But that's not an official ruling.

Thread: players per space

board_games_reno — 2007-09-23T14:18:15+00:00

The rules "tsar" in our gaming group asked one simple question that I couldn't find... Can there be more than one player on a space?

Mike S., pres.
Boardgamers of Reno

Thread: Re: What's the buzz

Jormi_Boced — 2007-09-20T12:41:31+00:00

I like it. It is a light fun racing game where everyone it trying to be the first to sacrifice themselves to the angry volcano god.

Thread: Re: What's the buzz

futurescaper — 2007-09-20T12:05:31+00:00

chockle wrote:
After one play:

and this one bogged down at times.

Well, that must be because someone kept playing the mudslide card.

We expect to try this one tonight. It looks humourous, the theme seems original, and the art is appropriately funny.

However, a race game with an obvious beat up the leader element can drag on too long for it's own good. On the hand, with the right group that beat up the leader back and forth play is exactly what they might be looking for.

Thread: Re: What's the buzz

chockle — 2007-09-20T06:43:22+00:00

After one play:

I like the graphics on this one. A take-that card-driven lots-o-luck race game with an island volcano god theme could be likeable.

There is a lot of text on most of the cards, so new players spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out what to do, especially since players draw cards to refresh to 7 at the beginning of each turn.

I like games like this (actually, most games) to really move along and this one bogged down at times. I'm not convinced (after just one playing) that playing with 5 or 6 doesn't have too much downtime.

Playing with 4 players, who already know the actions on the cards well, could be good, but not great imho.

Thread: Re: What's the buzz

TGov — 2007-09-20T04:50:58+00:00

I hope to be able to tell you soon I just ordered it and I am waiting for it to arrive along with Red Dragon Inn.

Thread: What's the buzz

Ninjabob — 2007-09-20T04:28:12+00:00

Alright 16 owners...brand new game...what's the buzz? Is this a fun one?

Thread: Re: Preorder

TGov — 2007-09-17T01:27:46+00:00

are the rules available for this?

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Jormi_Boced — 2007-09-05T01:03:49+00:00

Run Tikis!

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Jormi_Boced — 2007-09-05T01:00:11+00:00

The Angry Volcano God deck!

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Surya — 2007-08-14T09:32:10+00:00

Thread: Re: Preorder

gf_ripper — 2007-02-21T19:24:56+00:00

the store I buy my games from don't do preorders otherwise I would have, played it at gencon, lots of fun, really looking forward to it.

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rossum — 2007-02-01T06:41:04+00:00

Playtesting with the designer at Dragon*Con 2006

Thread: June 2007 release date!

Jormi_Boced — 2007-01-29T15:52:42+00:00

I am a new member to the SlugCrew, and have been told that June 2007 is when we should be able to see this game. I am sad I still have to wait a little longer, but I am glad that it sounds like the game will for sure be released then!!!

Thread: Preorder

Jormi_Boced — 2006-08-26T04:46:23+00:00

Anyone else have this one on preorder?