Game: Symbotica

Thread: Re: [Review] Symbotica

ASAE — 2007-11-24T09:31:25+00:00

TomVasel wrote:
Most folks are going to find the complete lack of strategy and massive luck a hindrance in this game; few options in this case are not a good thing.

Being the creator of Symbotica I guess I do have a bit more experience of playing the game and I am aware of what it can do.

The Five Card Symbotica version of the game is the one where strategy comes into play. The strategic part of the game is that you can use the lower scoring cards to block potentially higher scoring positions. Due to their being two of each card it is possible to work out what has been played and is still to be played.

On the subject of Qwirkle, it is just one of those coincidences. When I first designed Symbotica back in 2005 I had not seen that game and have not actually seen a copy of it yet.

Thread: [Review] Symbotica

TomVasel — 2007-11-12T14:08:49+00:00

I'm always on the lookout for "gateway" games - games that will introduce people to the hobby of board games who haven't played many of them in the past. One of the big "gateway" games of 2007 was the surprise hit Qwirkle, which allowed players to match blocks with matching colors and shapes. When I received Symbotica (Andrew Sage Art & Entertainment, 2007 - Andrew Sage), I was struck by how similar the game felt; it was another one of matching colors and shapes. Symbotica, however, simply uses cards; but the shapes are colorful and clear, and it seemed that math played a role in the game, raising my interest.

Unfortunately, even with four different games included in the rules, I found Symbotica too focused on luck and simplistic for real enjoyment. More than two players causes the game to become wildly chaotic, and one's achievement is based on what cards they draw from the pile. Even the most advanced, strategic game in the box wasn't worth it for me. Symbotica might be a game I could use to teach kids about colors and shapes, but isn't interesting or different enough from other similar games for me to get that excited about it.

In "Simple Symbotica", the deck of seventy cards is shuffled (some cards are removed depending on the number of players) and is dealt evenly into draw piles in front of the players. The deck is made up of five different shapes (circle, two-sided round shape, triangle, square, pentagon) and seven colors (white, red, purple, pink, yellow, green, blue, and white). The top card is flipped face up, and the dealer scores points equal to the sides of the shape. The player next to him then starts the game.

On a player's turn, they simply turn over the top card of their stack and place it next to the squares on the board. Players are forming a grid that cannot extend beyond eight rows or eight columns. When a player places a card, they must match either the color or the shape of each card it is adjacent to. If the card cannot be placed in the grid, then the player discards the card, losing one point per side of the shape. Placing a card scores the player points equal to the sum of the number of sides of all shapes matched. If the shape being played matches more than one card, then it is scored multiple times. The game continues until all cards are gone, and then the player with the highest score wins!

In "Standard Symbotica", everything is exactly the same, except the number of sides are multiplied together rather than added. "5 Card Symbotica" has the same rules as the standard game, except that players have one draw pile and maintain a hand of five cards, playing any card they want. Finally, there are rules for a single player challenge, where they try to complete an eight-by-eight grid; it's mostly a puzzle.

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: Symbotica comes in a small square box that barely contains the square cards, although it is highly portable. The cards themselves are large white cards with a shape plastered in the middle of them, providing a stark contrast. I really don't like the red/purple/pink colors, as they are a bit easy to mix up; but the colors are fairly good. The game is perhaps a bit boring beyond that, but it's certainly functional, albeit abstract.

2.) Rules: The rules come on cards - something I am learning to hate; and this game has sixteen of them! Each game is given complete rules; even when those rules are 95% of the other rule sets. The rules are extremely simple and can be taught in a few quick moments. Kids especially will learn how to place cards - with younger ones adding and the older ones multiplying.

3.) Luck: The basic and standard games have only one difference: the type of math involved. But in reality, they are so similar that I can't really tell much difference between them other than the final scores. A tile that scores high in the basic game will simply score a bit higher in the standard game - so what's the point? But the real problem here is luck. If you draw circles from the pile, you are going to score low, period. A pentagon is the best thing to draw - and it's not like it's a little better; it's MUCH better than getting the shapes with fewer sides. The luck does not even out over the game, much; and since tile placement is rather obvious, the games simply comes down to who draws better.

4.) 5 Card: The advanced game is the only one that I find palatable, and that's because it offers more choices. Players have a hand of cards, so they likely won't fall prey to the luck that plagues the easier two games. But while the hand of cards makes things more even - including the scores, it really doesn't add that much spice to the game. Because it's fairly obvious where to place each tile (there is only a maximum of 64 allowed) - wherever the highest score may be - players aren't motivated to think much, if at all.

5.) Fun Factor: This game immediately reminded me of Qwirkle, another shape/color tile matching game that was released this year. However, Qwirkle allowed players to do a little bit of forward planning; that's completely impossible in this game, unless a player can memorize every card. And even then a player is stymied by what they draw, so I'm not really sure it matters. We finished complete games of this, but at the end of each (and thankfully they are quick - around ten minutes), everyone was glad. Symbotica works - it's simple and easy, but it simply isn't fun.

I could possibly see Symbotica being used as a teacher's aid for helping kids match shapes and colors. However, since other games do that and are geared towards children, that renders the one use of Symbotica irrelevant. Most folks are going to find the complete lack of strategy and massive luck a hindrance in this game; few options in this case are not a good thing. Sadly, I don't think I'll play it again - none of the four games interest me much.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com

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rdenning — 2007-10-10T19:45:15+00:00

Example of the Game in Play

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rdenning — 2007-10-10T19:42:16+00:00

There are all the shapes

Thread: Re: Symbotica Review

dwrigley — 2007-10-10T07:56:38+00:00

I too got this at the uk expo.
After playing it a few times I am not really impressed and think I would prefer Qwirkle.

I have not played it, but it has similar logic, and the rules seem more logical (at least to me !)

Thread: Re: Symbotica vs. Qwirkle?

Oldman20 — 2007-10-10T02:32:00+00:00

Greetings,

I have played Qwirkle but not Symbotica; however, from looking at the pictures and reading the review it is clear what the differences are. First of all, Qwirkle is a tile laying game without a boundary, while Symbotica lays out only on an 8x8 grid. Second, in Symbotica, when you play a tile, it only has to match in color or shape with the pieces that are above, below, right or left. Thus a row could contain a sequence like green triangle, a red triangle, a red square, a blue square. In Qwirkle, a tile must match in color or shape all of the tiles in its row or column. Thus if a row has a red square and a red circle then the piece that you add to it has to be red. In Qwirkle, there is also a further restiction that no identical pieces can repeat in a row or column. So you can't have two red circles in a row or column. However, these requirements do not extend past gaps in the grid. So, you can have a row like red square, red circle, red cross, empty space, blue circle, red circle, green circle.

A game of Qwirkle looks like a game of Scrabble, without the board, and with colored shapes rather than letters. I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

M. Leibig

Thread: Symbotica vs. Qwirkle?

Bosco312 — 2007-10-10T01:58:32+00:00

Does anyone know the difference (if there is one) between this game (Symbotica) and the game Qwirkle (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/25669)? The basic descriptions of the games in their respective reviews make them sound the same.

Thread: Symbotica Review

rdenning — 2007-10-10T00:16:02+00:00

I first saw Symbotica at UK Games Expo in June 2007(which I had better say I am an organizer of)where it was being shown by its publisher and designer Andrew Sage.

This is a abstract card puzzle type game. It is quite light and can be played by children as young as 4 or 5 although the 5 Card Version needs older children to grasp the choices they must make.

It can be played by 1 to 6 people. It is really a family game although we have played it occasionally as a filler game at our games club.

Games last 15 to 30 minutes.

This is 4 games in 1. There is a solitaire style Solo version "Symbotica Challenge". Next in complexity is the Simple Game, then the Standard game and Finally 5 card Symbotica.

All the games use the same cards. These are 64 simple cards with a single shape on each card. Shapes can be Circles, eyes, triangles, squares, pentangles and each shape will be one colour: white, blue, yellow, green, red, pink , purple.

The general thrust of the game is a card is laid on the table. Then you have to take your next card and match it against the card or cards that are already on the table. The card you place must only be placed adjacent (horizontally and vertically to cards that match it in EITHER colour OR shape. So a little bit like laying dominos.

One restriction is that the cards when laid out can never create a grid of more than 8 cards wide or 8 cards deep.

Generally if you cant go you throw away the card and miss a go.

This carries on until all the cards are gone.

The Play differs in the Four Versions:

Challenge
This is a solo game. You draw the top card always. the aim is to see how many cards you can lay out of the 64 with the record being 64 and the point being to beat your own score or others. Its a solitaire game and would keep you occupied for a few hands.

The Simple Game
This is a multiplayer version. You again just get to draw the top card on your go and choose where to place it. You score the sum of the sides in all the shapes adjacent to your card and also your card. So say you placed a triangle between a square and a circle you would score 3+4+1=8 pts.

The Standard Game
This is also a multiplayer version. You again just get to draw the top card on your go and choose where to place it. You score the multiple of the sides in all the shapes adjacent to your card and also your card. So say you placed a triangle between a square and a circle you would score 3x4=12 +3+1=15 pts. This version makes placing shapes with more sides have a greater impact on the game.

5 card Symbotica
The final and most complex multiplayer version. You get to start the game with a hand of 5 cards and each turn you draw the top card on your go and choose which of the 5 cards to play. You then place it. You still score the multiple of the sides in all the shapes adjacent to your card and also your card.

This version scores the same as the standard version. This is the best version for adults and older children as there is more strategy. Do you play a pentagon now against that square for 20 points or wait and see if you could manage to place it between two pentagons for a juicy 50 pts.

It is interesting to see folks playing cards one after the other in a straight line because they know that once you play one out to the side that opens up a chance to play a card against 2 other cards. A lot more clever play comes in.

Quality of the Product
The cards are bright and clean colours. It comes in a nice compact box and is a light and portable game. Good for popping in the pocket for a opportunistic game. One fault is that the red and pink are too close in tone and really a black colour would have been better. Costs circa £5 some good value for money.

The rules are on cards just like the game. The draw back there is you can find the cards from the 4 game version get muddled whereas a nice rule book might have been easier. That said the rules are easy to ready and there are nice pictures and examples to look at which clarify the occasoional confusion.

Conclusion
Overall how would I judge Symbotica?
Its a light game but for that quite pleasant to play. Its accessible to all ages and you can easily get your granny or dad playing this even if they don't like games much.

Unless playing with very young children or alone always play the 5 card version. If you don't the game will seem poorer.

If my daughter says can we play a game and i am tired this is one i reach for. It is not one I will suggest at my games club except if we have 30 minutes to fill and we want a light game.

So get this game if you like abstract/ puzzle games with shapes/ colours and are looking for a light game to play with the family. Ideal for playing with children. If you like game with more weight or theme then it would not be for you.

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Altaira — 2007-06-07T17:05:32+00:00

Logo

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ASAE — 2007-06-05T07:59:24+00:00

Deluxe handmade wooden version of Symbotica with board.

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ASAE — 2007-06-05T07:58:41+00:00

Deluxe handmade wooden version of Symbotica with board.

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ASAE — 2007-05-05T17:00:29+00:00

Backs of Symbotica cards and the deck of cards.

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ASAE — 2007-05-05T16:59:09+00:00

Hands of cards for the Five Card Symbotica variation.

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ASAE — 2007-05-05T16:47:03+00:00

A game of Symbotica in progress.