Game: Nexus

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louiseh — 2007-10-10T20:39:21+00:00

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ZiggyZambo — 2007-03-31T22:18:13+00:00

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TimothyP — 2007-02-21T21:21:14+00:00

A game mid way through. We were playing to 10 points. 4 players.

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staremperor — 2006-02-14T06:44:03+00:00

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terKo — 2006-01-14T12:45:00+00:00

Thread: simple yet still worth thinking about

Gnomekin — 2005-08-17T15:14:47+00:00

There feels like there is a definite difference between Cheapass Games’ older games and newer games. The older games feel sillier but weaker as games to me while the newer ones may not have the same degree of craziness but are better games. Obviously, this isn’t a hard and fast rule but that’s still the feeling I’m left with. At any rate, I enjoy both sides of the track.

Nowhere does this feel stronger to me than with their Hip Pocket line. While even smaller and cheaper than their normal games, the Hip Pocket line seems to have some of the company’s strongest games and the ones that hit the table more than any other for me, saving possibly Kill Doctor Lucky.

Nexus was one of the first of the new games Cheapass introduced through their Hip Pocket line and it is a strong example of both of these qualities. It has no theme to speak of but it plays very well.

Nexus is a simple tile laying game, composed of 48 cards, somewhat smaller than regular cards. The cards show white paths in the middle of all four sides. Inside the card, the paths can for four, three, two or one point intersections, the last being that particular path ending on the card. The intersections are round circles. The more paths that enter the intersection, the larger the circle is. The white paths and intersections are over a light blue background, creating a simple but still pleasant look.

In the terms of the game, the intersections are called nodes and networks of intersections that will be formed during game play are called nexuses.

Each player will also need about twenty tokens which can easily been told apart from the other players’ tokens.

Play starts by shuffling the deck and setting the top card in the middle of the playing area. The players then take turns drawing cards and placing them.

The cards are laid long end to short end, in a basket weave pattern. While this takes a little getting used to, it actually works very well and doesn’t look half bad. Since every card has path coming out at the same place, every card can technically be placed next to any other card.

After a player lays down a card, they see if they have closed any nexuses. If every path on a nexus comes to an end, then it has been closed. If any players have tokens on it, the nexus is then scored.

Finally, after any closed nexus is scored, players may place one of their tokens on any empty node on the board that is not a part of a closed nexus.

Every token a player places on a node is a bid to gain control of a nexus. Each node is worth as many points as paths that pass through it. A node that has only one path coming out of it is worth one point while a four-way node would be worth four points. A token on a node is worth that node’s value towards having majority control of the nexus that the node is a part of.

If a nexus is closed and players have tokens on them, that nexus is scored. Players compare the number of points that they control. If there is a tie, then no one scores. If someone has a majority, though, that player will score the nexus. Nexuses are worth the total value of their UNCLAIMED nodes.

The first player who reaches ten points is the winner.

Nexus is a neat and tidy little game that combines connections with majority control. It plays fast and plays two to four well. While luck of the draw does have some effect, the fact that tokens can be placed on any unclaimed node really helps balance strategy out with the luck.

The twist that only the unclaimed nodes are scored also lifts the game out of being a simple connection game. There are multiple ways of attacking an opponent, including simply reducing their score by lowering the value of a Nexus. There is more than one choice for every decision but not so many as to slow the game down.

I have had different results introducing this game to people, depending on whether or not the only tile laying game that they played was Carcassonne. For people whose only tile laying interest was Caracassonne, Nexus was not very interesting.

However, for other people, including many who had played Carcassonne but also played other tile games, Nexus was welcomed. There are enough good ideas in Nexus that it hits the table at least a few times a year and that’s pretty good for a game that costs only about five dollars.

Thread: play to 12

Salt-Man Z — 2005-06-27T16:53:20+00:00

In our group, we play to 12 points (instead of 10) and each player uses a pair of 6-sided dice to keep score. Games go just a little longer, but not by much (it seems that scores jumping from 8 pts up to 11 pts is a very common occurance.)

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Ravsitar — 2005-03-14T16:45:43+00:00

Simulated game play on larger scale. Dice are used to keep score.

Thread: User Review

TomVasel — 2004-12-29T17:31:56+00:00

I don’t normally enjoy abstract strategy games. I think many of them are beautiful; the strategy in many of them is quite undeniable - I just don’t find them fun. The thinking is often too “heavy”, and play becomes unenjoyable; as players seek to make the optimal move, of which there is usually only one. However, if an abstract strategy game handles more than two players and plays in a short period of time, I’m more interested. It becomes less of a “brain-burner” that way and simply more fun.

This is how I feel about Nexus (Cheapass Games, 2001 - James Ernest). Not only does the game play of this clever abstract play quickly, but there’s also some real strategy there. It makes a nice little filler, with its only drawback being the typical one of Cheapass games - you need to provide several counters. With the addition of some nice counters, this Hip Pocket game is an excellent addition to that line and certainly will provide a player with their money’s worth.

Each player takes about twenty counters of a certain color. I used little wooden cubes, but glass stones also work rather well. A deck of Nexus cards are shuffled and placed down in the middle of the table, with one card flipped up and placed in the middle of the table. One player is chosen to go first, and play passes clockwise around the table.

On a turn, a player takes the top card from the deck and plays it on the board. There are eight different Nexus cards each with a connection on all four sides. The connections end at “nodes” on the cards. Nodes either have one, two, three, or four connections. The one-connection nodes are the end of the connection, while the multi-connection nodes continue on to other connections. There are eight different combinations of nodes on the cards: one card has a four-connection node in the middle, to which all the connections trace to; while another has two connections across from each other merge into a two-connection node; while the other two connections each end in a one connection node.

When placing a card, the player must place it so that it connects to at least one other card on the table. Cards connect in a “basket-weave” pattern, where the small edge of the card touches the long edge of another card. After playing the card, the player checks to see if any Nexuses are scored. After doing any scoring, the player has the option of placing one of their counters on any unoccupied node on the board.

A completed Nexus is a set of completed nodes in which every connection ends in a one-connection node. When a Nexus is completed by a player laying a card down, it is scored. Each player checks their total power in the Nexus - the sum of the value of all their tokens on nodes in that Nexus. Each token is worth the size of the node (a token on a three-connection node is worth three points. The player who has the most power in the Nexus scores points equal to the value of all the nodes without any tokens on them. In case of a tie, or if there are no empty nodes, then no one scores the Nexus. The player who first reaches ten points is the winner!

Some comments on the game...
1.) Components: I’ll probably never enjoy a Cheapass game as much as a high-quality game, simply because the components are as simple as they come, with very little window dressing or even a complete game. But that is the motto of Cheapass, and the price reflects it. The game comes in a small plastic bag and consists solely of the rules and a deck of fairly good quality cards. The cards have only two colors: gray on one side and blue on the other, but do make a decent backdrop if one uses colorful tokens. It’s really not that difficult to find tokens, and no one should complain about the fact; since the game is extremely cheap ($5 at the time of this writing). Glass stones can easily be gotten from a craft store, or other items could be used (buttons, coins, etc.). This game doesn’t have the greatest components I’ve ever seen, but then again it doesn’t really need them.

2.) Rules: The rules are short, simple, and humorous, as with all Cheapass Games. I found it interesting that the rules stated that the edge of the table did not stop game play; players are supposed to use nails and glue to extend the table. Of course this is tongue in cheek (I hope), and it makes reading the rules fun. The rules are extremely short - two small pages, and the game can be taught in a very brief period.

3.) Strategy: The choices a player has are tantalizing. Should you claim a large node, therefore almost ensuring your win in the Nexus? But if you do that, you’re basically devaluating the Nexus, giving you little return on your investment. And should players go for larger or smaller Nexuses? Large ones will provide more points but might never get finished, or have other players try to take them over. One thing I really enjoy about the game is how simplistic it is, and how the strategies, while interesting, aren’t too difficult and don’t bog the game down to much.

4.) Players and Time: The game is for two to four players, and while a two-player game is okay, I much prefer it with three or four. It’s an excellent game for three people, incidentally, and I’ll add it to my list for when I have a group of that number. The game plays in twenty minutes or less, depending on how fast people go; but the decisions are too gut-wrenching, so analysis paralysis is not oft seen in the game.

5.) Fun Factor: Because the game doesn’t invoke the hallowed silence some other abstracts demand, I find it fairly enjoyable. Like Carcassonne, players can try to influence the active player, helping them find the best spot to place the card; but unlike Carcassonne, it’s a lot easier to figure out where to place your tokens. The game’s simplicity and enjoyment remind me of another quick-playing abstract strategy game - Blokus.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Nexus. It’s inexpensive, easy to complete (find those tokens!), and works well as a quick filler. There’s no theme to speak of, and that’s okay; because it’s over before you would have time to get immersed in a theme anyway. I don’t find everything that Cheapass produces to be fun and entertaining, but the Hip Pocket series of games are amazing - they’re cheap, fast, and most importantly, fun. Nexus is a worthy addition to this line.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games.”

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Verkisto — 2004-06-02T23:35:42+00:00

"Cover" of the game.

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jody — 2003-10-27T15:07:02+00:00

Thread: Quick Comments

db3000 — 2003-07-12T20:59:07+00:00

Nexus is a pleasant little tile(card) laying game with just enough strategy to keep your interest. The cards are fine enough but you have to supply your own cubes. Basically players lay out cards in a basket weave style as players try to close networks of lines in order to have the right to place their cube on the board. The player with the majority of cubes on a closed line will score a point for each vacant dot. The game moves along at a fine pace until some one hits 12 vps. Lately we've been playing til a player reaches 14 vps. Nexus is an enjoyable game and i'm happy to pull it out occassionally. 7/10

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DrBannow — 2002-08-13T02:35:24+00:00

Thread: User Review

Thedalek — 2002-07-29T21:42:48+00:00

Ever played the old pencil-and-paper game "Dots?" The basic idea was that you and a friend (or possibly an enemy) would place dots on a piece of graph paper, and each time you completed a square, you drew the lines for the square and scored points based on its size. It's one of those games where distraction is good, and jumping in at the last minute on a good thing is better.

When you play Nexus, you will probably find yourself reminded of Dots. It has some of the same feel, but instead of building squares, you're simply building closed shapes. As soon as a shape is closed off, it's point value goes to whoever controls the most points worth of intersections. One way intersections count for one point, two-ways for two, etc. The point value of the shape (or nexus, as the rulebook will constantly call it) is the value of all the uncontrolled intersections. That does give the game an interesting twist, in that players will build huge shapes, and trying to control a majority, while keeping enough unoccupied spaces to make it a worthwhile score.

This is a quick and easy abstract strategy game, and, like most James Ernest games, is printed on inexpensive cardstock (hence the $4.00 cost). It should only take about 20 minutes to play for two players, and up to 45 for four. The luck factor is very low, being only the draw of a card, while the strategy factor is pretty high. Overall, well worth its price.

The only real problem is just how abstract the game is. This may annoy people who feel a need for their games to have a specified theme, like space combat, civilization development, or resource trading. However, if this annoys you, just put on a theme regarding political influence in a space colony or some such thing. It fits reasonably well.

Thread: Quick Comments

iam_emperor — 2002-07-22T13:42:34+00:00

This game plays like a merge between The very clever pipe game (the way the tiles connect) and Cube Farm (occupying nodes). The whole point is strategic placement of the various cards (which contain nodes) so that when you place the next card you make a closed loop. once this is done you score the 'Nexus' of nodes. the player with the most points in occupied nodes, gets points for the nexus, and the points for the nexus are the points from the UNOCCUPIED NODES. Every nexus will be worth at least 1 point. the Goal is to play until 10 Points. A 3 Player game will last for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Thread: Mini Review

vitas — 2002-07-15T12:13:30+00:00

Nexus is a tile-laying game in which players try to claim nodes by playing a card, scoring completed nexuses, and laying a token on a node in an incomplete nexus. The highest rank via tokens scores a complete nexus. Add unoccupied nodes to the highest rankers score.

What seems surprising is that players should place a token on higher scoring nodes, which don't count for a score, but increase rank. This is an interesting balance, added to the fact that many scoring possibilities develop during the game, and a player has to choose which to pursue and which to ignore. We don't play for a high score so the score seems to slowly increment or quickly swing.

An interesting dynamic is that a tie in rank means no one scores. This means with more than two people, additional players could close off scoring opportunities for two players competing for a particular nexus.

Games last about 15 to 30 minutes.