Game: Surf's Up, Dude!

Thread: Next wave

mathias_aguero — 2008-09-19T21:08:04+00:00

Already tried and worked well!

1) The first area far from the beach will work only to reveal what is the next wave. The surfers only be able to come in second and third waves. The card "cut in" works in fourth area.

2)The first space launch will be empty when the black waves begin. Here, there isn`t the next wave available.

3)At the beginning of the game, always reveals 3 waves.

gotcha!

Thread: Where's the rulebook?

brel — 2008-07-28T10:44:28+00:00

I like the high quality components of "Surf's Up, Dude!". But my game did not come with a rulebook. Where can I get it?

Thread: Re: Boardgamers of Reno Review

brel — 2008-07-28T10:18:33+00:00

The "Surf's Up, Dude" game I bought has no included rulebook. Where can I get it?

Thread: Re: Playing cards

Samuraicat — 2008-07-22T00:10:31+00:00

Yes, that is correct. The best time to play a Prime card would generally be during the turn a wave with your surfer is about to score. If two waves come out you will lose the chance to play a Prime card on the 2nd wave hitting the beach in that case but its a chance you have to take.

Thread: Playing cards

djnesq — 2008-07-21T23:25:10+00:00

The rules seem to suggest that a Prime card may affect any wave of the player's choice, not just the waves in positions one and two. Is that correct?

Thread: Surf Nebraska!

KineticKill — 2008-04-27T00:22:57+00:00

It was a cold and rainy Friday evening in Nebraska. Arriving at my FLGS (The Game Shoppe – Bellevue, NE) I was pleased to find one of my preorders had arrived at last. My group was happy to leave the weather outside behind as we broke out our swimwear and hit the sunny bikini clad beaches of the islands because “Surf’s Up Dude!”

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Overview:
Surf’s Up Dude! is a light but fun hand management game from Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum for 2-6 players in the 45-90 minute range. It’s more fun with more people, I’d say four is the low end for a really good game.

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Components:
The production values for Jolly Roger Games have certainly come a long way since Orcs at the Gates (where you had to cut your cards apart with scissors and apply your own stickers). This almost looks like a Days of Wonder game. You get a beautiful heavy duty box with a glued in insert, a glossy full colored game board depicting the beach and the ocean on one side and a Hawaiian Shirt style pattern on the back, eighteen rather large and colorful wave tiles (12 with red backs and 6 with black backs), a small black and white rulebook, six sets of 6 huge wooden surfer meepels, 80 full color playing card sized cards (50 numbered, 6 Bail, 16 Beach Babe, and 8 advertisements), Forty-Eight trophies (8 gold, 15 silver, and 25 bronze), 15 multi-colored chits (with values of 8, 5, & 3), and a special wave die.

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Production Issues:
I hate to nitpick, especially when Jolly Rodger Games has put out their best quality game to date, but there are some production issues that all my players have commented on. The first is the purple and black meeples are very hard to tell apart. This is that very dark purple many eurogames seem to like to use that looks black unless the lighting is very good. The second is the trophies. We had no trouble telling the colors apart, but we ran short of trophies in every game we played (from 4 to 6 players). The 15 chits serve as extra trophies, and judging from the fact that they don’t appear in the components list they must have been a last minute fix. Even so, there are quite often not enough to go around even with the chits, especially in a 6 player game. Next the rulebook, though adequate, would have been nicer in color with some illustrations and examples. These last two issues drop the game below the Days of Wonder standard. The $45 price comes in under the typical price point for this kind of game, but I would have rather paid a little more for enough trophies to go around.

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Manufacturing Issues:
I have also noticed a few manufacturing issues. I have some fraying along the edges of some of the wave tiles after only a few plays. I’m also getting a little fraying along the inner edge of the game board in the center cut. The cut edges are unsealed, and the layers are vulnerable to separation from rubbing. A clear glossy sealant applied along the edges would probably reduce this and extend the game’s lifespan. I also have a black wave tile that has a slight air bubble in its lamination, marring the back and “marking” the tile.

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Theme:
The surfing theme is well done and the game really captures it. The theme definitely adds to the fun of the game, and my groups found themselves using surfer speak and having a good time.

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Setup:
Shuffle the black backed wave tiles and place them near the board. Then shuffle the red backed wave tiles and place them on top the black backed ones. Place the stack of beach babe cards, the trophies, the wave die, and the chits near the board. Each player takes a set of six surfer meeples and places three at the ready area, two at the paddling out area, and one on the beach. Each player is given a Bail card and dealt six cards from the deck (seven if using the advanced rules). The youngest player is the first active player.

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Game Play:
The game consists of a series of turns. The active player starts each phase of the turn, and each turn is broken into four phases.

In the first phase new waves come in and old waves advance toward the beach. The active player turns over the top wave tile and places it in the top most wave box (furthest from the beach). Waves already on the board (if any) advance one space towards the beach. If the first wave placed has an asterisk (*) on it, a second wave tile is drawn and is placed the same way (no other wave tiles are drawn even if another asterisk is on the second tile). The three types of waves are Baby, Pipeline, and Monster (worth 3, 5, or 8 points respectively).

When a wave reaches the beach, it is scored. Each surfer meeple on the wave when it reaches the beach scores the points listed on the wave (3 for a Baby wave, 5 for a Pipeline wave, and 8 for a Monster wave) and receives a corresponding trophy to track the points earned (bronze, silver and gold respectively). The person in the prime position on the wave (more on that in a moment) also receives a beach babe card as a bonus (worth 3 points at the end of the game).

The second phase consists of each player (starting with the active player) playing a card or passing. This continues for multiple rounds with each player playing a card or passing until all players pass consecutively. A player who passed earlier may play a card later if it comes back around to him again.

Cards played in this phase can do several things. The most important is catching a wave. You can normally only catch a wave in the top two wave boxes (furthest from the beach). To do this, you play a card that matches the type of wave you wish to catch or a wild card (the numbers on the card don’t matter for this phase, only the name). You may then move one of your surfer meeples from the ready area to the left most open position on the matching wave. The leftmost position on the wave is called the prime position. If your surfer meeple is on the prime position, they control the wave. Only meeples in the ready area can catch waves. You cannot place one of your meeples next to another when catching a wave, there must be at least one other colored meeple between (this only applies when catching a wave, not later when other things may shift the meeples on a wave around).

You can play a Cut-In card. This lets you move a surfer meeple from the ready area to an open spot on the third wave from the top. This is the only way you can catch a wave that isn’t one of the top two waves.

You can play a ready card. This lets you move a surfer meeple from the beach or the paddling out area to the ready area.

You can play a Prime card. This lets you move one of your surfer meeples to the prime spot on a wave they are currently on (displacing everyone else to the right).

In the third phase, the active player rolls the wave die. If a shark is rolled, the active player picks a wave and each player with surfer meeples on that wave must select a card from their hand and place it face down. When all involved players have done so, the cards are all revealed. If the total of the numbers played on the cards is 9 or more, the shark has been run off and everybody stays on the wave. The highest numbered card played then takes the prime position on the wave. In case of ties, the meeple closest to the prime position wins the tie. You can play a bail card here, this counts as a zero. The bail card is always returned to your hand, unlike the other cards played which are always discarded after use. If the total of all cards played is 8 or less, the shark drives all the surfer meeples off that wave and they are placed on the paddling out area.

If a letter is rolled (B=Baby, P=Pipeline, and M=Monster) there is a competition for control of each wave of that type that currently has two or more surfer meeples. For a competition, each player secretly picks a card from their hand and places it face down. The cards are then revealed, if anyone played a bail card, then the person furthest away from the prime position that played the bail card leaves the wave and moves their meeple to the Paddling Out area. If nobody played a bail, then whoever played the lowest ranked card has to bail and remove their meeple from the wave (in a tie, the person farthest from the prime position is removed). The person who played the highest ranked card now takes the prime position (in case of a tie, the person closest to the prime position takes prime). This process is repeated for each wave of the type rolled. (In the advanced game if nobody bails, there is a second round of card play and the total of the two cards played is used instead with bail counting for zero in the second round). Remember that if you play a Bail card, it is always returned to your hand, not discarded.

If an M* is rolled, there is a competition on all monster waves and the die is rolled a second (and final) time.

The final phase is the action phase. Starting with the active player, each person gets three actions. For an action you may: move a Surfer meeple from the beach to the Paddling Out Area, move a surfer meeple from the Paddling Out Area to the Ready Area, or draw a card.

The next player to the left now becomes the active player and a new turn begins. Play continues in this manner until you get down to the black wave tiles. Half of the black wave tiles have a whistle icon on them, when the first wave with a whistle icon is revealed, the game is almost over. When the second wave tile with a whistle is revealed, that is the last turn that surfers may catch waves. After that turn, all meeples in the ready area, the Paddling Out Area, and the Beach are removed from play. Play continues as before, but no new waves are placed in phase one, just advance the waves toward the beach. In Phase two you may still play cards, but the Prime card is the only one of any use. Phase three continues unchanged with the dice roll and the sharks/competitions. And phase four consists of players drawing 3 cards each. Continue this cycle until all waves have reached the beach and been scored.

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Winning:
When the last wave has reached the beach and been scored the game ends. The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie the player with the most beach babes wins. If there is still a tie the player with the most gold trophies wins.

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High Points:
Easy to learn, and fun to play. The surfing theme seems to pull people in. There is just enough strategy and friendly competition to keep everyone interested.

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Low Points:
The production and manufacturing issues mentioned above. The card deck can run out during play (happens less often with advanced rules).

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Final Impressions:
Both groups I had try it that first night liked it. There is just something fun about catching a wave, and winning those beach babes. It was a blast stealing the prime position on a wave just before it reached the beach. It was a real bummer getting several competitions in a turn and having to play a bail card for more than one. So break out of the winter doldrums and hit the beach. Surf’s Up Dude!

Thread: Re: Meh.

iagomonk — 2008-03-28T17:51:52+00:00

Moviebuffs wrote:
...There are nowhere near enough cards in the deck for this, and nothing is mentioned about how you handle this: Does the first player get the three cards that are in the deck? Do they get dealt one each to the first three players?

Also six players in our first game of this, and also playing the "normal" rules.

We had the same endgame misunderstanding (thinking everyone was supposed to get 3 cards each turn) but we didn't even have enough cards to hand out the first set - so we stopped doing that for the rest of the game (which turned out is correct, though we didn't know that).

Actually, we were often short on cards. Probably because we started with three waves of the same type, and absolutely no competitions until about round 5.

Our game also went the maximum length (the last 3 tiles were the whistles) so we ran out of babe cards. Maybe a packing error? How many babe cards should be in the game?

I was similarly underwhelmed by this offering, although I wanted to like it. It felt like it went to print without the final few weeks of playtesting that would have made it a 7 instead of a 5.

Thread: Re: [Review] Surf's Up, Dude!

iagomonk — 2008-03-28T17:36:10+00:00

jollyrogergames wrote:
I'd also say that if anyone out there wants to send me art for a 'beach hunk' card, I'd gladly put it up as a download on the JRG webpage. Absolutely no sexism was intended

Our group felt like you totally missed an opportunity with the Beach Babes.

It should have been double-sided as "Beach Boy" card.

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Runehardt — 2008-03-07T01:41:29+00:00

Surf's Up DUDES! Note the altered blue dudes.

Thread: Weakest Surfer Variant & shark attacks

matthiske — 2008-02-25T14:06:11+00:00

I painted a #6 on one surfer for each team. This surfer represents the weakest surfer on the team. The #6 surfer's will be the one's that start the game on the beach.(Note: Player's may decide not to use this surfer and leave them on the beach throughout the game, strategy decision). During competion, the #6 surfer must play a card that matches the wave or any other card (prime, peace, ready, or wild) but not a wave card other than the wave your on during the competition. The exception to the rule is if the #6 surfer is joined on the wave by a team mate, then all cards may be used. The #6 surfer will be the surfer to bail to the paddle out area if two or more player's play bail cards. This would be the rightmost position dealing with two or more #6 surfer's that play bail cards.

Shark Attacks: Surfer's on a wave that have a successful shark attack must swim to shore, not to the paddle out area (swim to safety, not deep waters). Exception, Player's that play bail cards would go to the pddle out area because they bailed out of site early.

Optional Bail rule: All player's that play bail cards during a shark attack may be moved to the paddle out area, this may make it hard for the other's to compete against the shark and they may be moved to the beach on a successful attack, where as the player's that bailed have an advantage starting out in the paddle out area.

Thread: Re: [Review] Surf's Up, Dude!

jollyrogergames — 2008-02-21T19:34:34+00:00

Tom,
I've cracked open a couple of games here to see about the paint.
I think it may be an issue of when the games came through the line in terms of the blue/black. My copies are fine--but they do have the gold/bronze trophies a bit closer in color to one another than I'd have liked.

As for the counters--it was for a different practical reason: weight. Shipping on Surf's Up is a beast, but I didn't want to get rid of the trophies--I like cool bits. Thus, it was easiest to add in the chits as additional pieces.

I'd also say that if anyone out there wants to send me art for a 'beach hunk' card, I'd gladly put it up as a download on the JRG webpage. Absolutely no sexism was intended

Thread: Re: [Review] Surf's Up, Dude!

board_games_reno — 2008-02-20T22:32:57+00:00

Our review mirrored yours almost to the tee. We ONLY play advanced rules as it makes it a game! And four or more players. Any less, and well there are just better games out there for two / three players.

I re-dipped my gold trophies in bright yellow. It would be awesome to get a sheet of the winning chits as they were colorful and easy to read!

I re-iterate my kudos though to JR games, Moon & Weisblum for even attempting a game of this theme. "Hang loose, brudha!"

Thread: [Review] Surf's Up, Dude!

TomVasel — 2008-02-20T21:52:19+00:00

Surf's Up Dude! (Jolly Roger Games, 2008 - Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum) is a game that has been over a year in the making and has a fairly unique theme among modern games - that of surfing. Those two factors have put the game high on my radar, and I was pleased to finally get a finished product in the mail. The idea sounded fun, and Alan Moon is a superb designer best known for Ticket to Ride.

Interestingly enough, I disagree with the three stats on the box. The game mentions that it is for ages ten and up, while younger kids will grasp the mechanics; 45 - 90 minutes, yet I would be surprised at any game that lasts much longer than 45 minutes; and 2-6 players, but the game really only works with four or more. Surf's Up Dude is a light game that does a decent job in simulating the theme of surfing; and while it has some strategy, it depends greatly on card draws and the vagaries of a die roll. Teenagers find it greatly enjoyable, and most adults will also, as long as they don't mistake it for a heavy strategy game.

A board is placed on the table, with six zones in which waves will occur, starting from the ocean and heading to the beach. Players place three surfers on a "Ready" position - next to the first two waves; two surfers on a Paddling Out spot, and one surfer on the beach. Each player is given one "Bail" card and six other cards from a deck of eighty to start the game. A pile of eighteen wave tiles are shuffled, and then the youngest player starts the first round, becoming the active player. A quick note about cards; cards have a name on them and a number, which delineate two different things in different phases of the game.

In each round, the active player draws the top wave and places it in the first position, pushing other waves (if any) one space down. If the wave has an asterisk, a second wave is also placed. Then, starting with the active player, each player may play a card or pass. This continues until all players have passed. When playing cards, a player may use a Pipeline, Monster, or Baby card to place a surfer from the Ready position on an open position on one of the first two waves; as long as the name of the wave matches that on the card. There are also some Wild Waves, allowing a player to get on any wave, as long as there is an empty spot. (Monster waves can hold five surfers, Pipeline waves - four surfers, and Baby waves - three surfers). A player can also play a "Prime" card to move a surfer already onto a wave into the "prime" spot of that wave, displacing the other surfers. Players may also play a "Cut In" card to put a surfer from the Ready position onto an open spot on the third wave.

Once everybody has passed in a row, the active player rolls a Wave die. If a letter is rolled, all surfers on matching waves must participate in a competition. ("M" means monster waves, etc.) Each wave has a separate competition, every player who has a surfer on the wave must participate. A player may discard a "Peace" card to skip a competition for a specific wave. If not, then players play one card face down in front of them, and then reveal them simultaneously. If any player used their Bail card, their surfer is removed from the wave - placed in the Paddling Out area; if multiple players played the Bail card, then the rightmost one is removed. Otherwise, players then play a second card simultaneously, and the two cards are totaled. The player with the lowest total (Bail cards count as zero) is removed, with ties causing the rightmost surfer to exit. The player with the highest total places his surfer in the prime position on the wave, with other surfers adjusted accordingly. A wave with only one surfer has no competition. All cards except Bail cards are discarded upon using.

If the wave die shows a shark, then the active player chooses a wave that the shark attacks. All players with a surfer on this wave play one card face down. After revealing, the total of ALL cards played (Bail cards count as zero) must be nine or greater, or ALL surfers fall off the wave. If the surfers stay on, the player who played the highest numbered card moves to prime position. Cards are discarded except Bail cards.

Starting with the active player, each player then takes three actions. They may use an action to draw a card, move a surfer from the beach to the Paddling Out area, or move a surfer from the Paddling Out area to the Ready area. After everyone has taken three actions, the die is passed to the left, making that player the new active player.

When waves reach the beach during a turn, each player with a surfer on the wave gets a trophy that corresponds with the type of wave: gold trophies (8 points) for Monster Waves, silver trophies (5) for Pipeline Waves, and copper trophies (3) for Baby Waves. The surfer in the prime position takes one Beach Babe card (3 points), and all surfers on the wave are placed on the beach. The wave is removed from the game, and play continues.

A few waves are shuffled near the end of the pile, and three of these have a whistle icon on them. When the second whistle is revealed, then the game continues; but starting in the following round, no more surfers board waves. Players draw three final cards; then the die is passed around and rolled, as the final waves come in. Once the last wave comes in, the player with the most points wins the game; ties are broken by the person with the most Beach Babes.

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: The game looks really striking - the board is a beautiful beach and oceanfront; and the waves are thick, laminated cardboard tiles that move easily on the board. The back of the board looks like the brightest Hawaiian shirt that you've ever seen, and the artwork on the cards is quite well done - everything helping to invoke the theme. The surfing pieces are large meeples that look pretty good, although I got a couple of slight variations. The trophies are good, and extra counters are included in case you run out of trophies (why not just add in more trophies?). A few color problems exist - the gold and copper trophies are hard to tell apart in dim light, and there are some dark blue and black surfers which are VERY hard to tell apart. The cards are good quality, and everything fits inside a large square box. There is a cardboard insert that is glued inside, but I've ripped mine out since the meeples and trophies kept sliding underneath it. The game has a decent paint smell (not as bad as Blood Feud in New York), but the whole thing has high quality - possibly the highest I've ever seen from Jolly Roger Games.

2.) Rules: The rulebook comes in an eight page small booklet that does a good job explaining the rules, although some illustrations and examples would have been nice. Still, the game is so thematic that it all makes sense when I explain it, and the game has such an easy feel that most people won't be intimidated - even with the different types of cards. I've run the game with non-gamers and teenagers and have not run into a problem with learning yet.

3.) Theme: Say what you will about the game's lightness, the theme comes across strongly. Bigger waves can support more surfers; it makes sense as the waves come into the beach and the surfers paddle back out to them. Sometimes the theme is a bit lopsided (it's odd for many women to get into the "collect beach babes" mode), but collecting trophies, staying on the waves, and everything just fits.

4.) Hand Management: I enjoy the simple card system in the game. Cards are either played as an action (to get on a wave, cut to the front, etc.), or as a number. This leads to some interesting choices as players have to figure out whether they want to keep high value cards for their number - or use them for the action. I won't say that the choices are particularly strenuous, but it does give people a few decisions. You can save up cards and be assured of staying on the waves, but you'll get fewer people on them! And when is the best time to play the bail card?

5.) Advanced: In my rules summary, I mention the advanced version of the rules; because I can't see why anyone would want to play with the basic game. In the basic game, players only play one card in a competition. The advanced game forces players to play the Bail card more often, and forces hand management to be tighter and more enjoyable in the long run. I recommend that everybody simply start with the advanced rules - even with new players.

6.) Fun Factor: Surf's Up has proven to be popular in my groups - I wasn't as enthralled as everybody else, but a lot of fun was had by all. People especially enjoyed the competitions on the wave, and the hand management makes most folks, especially casual gamers, feel like they have a lot of decisions to make - even if it's really only a few. Theme, of course, has a lot to do with this; and while I don't think it's one of Alan's best games, it's one of the best merging of theme with mechanics that I've seen.

7.) Players and time: Surfs Up Dude is a fast game, with the longest game I've played so far still coming in under an hour. However, the two player game is a complete dud; as there is little competition, and the game comes across rather boring. A three player game only slightly improves on this; a four player game is when competition on the waves starts getting interesting. I think the sweet spot is five players.

Do you want a game about surfing? That's the question you need to answer when deciding if you want this game, as the theme is well presented. Surf's Up Dude! will make an enjoyable family game with high, flashy components and solid, easy game play. It is best played in a group of five or six; Surf's Up Dude isn't a deep strategy game, but it makes no pretenses and will have wide appeal regardless. I've not surfed, and this may be the closest I'll ever get. Yeah, I'm okay with that.

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

Thread: Re: Meh.

hancock.tom — 2008-02-14T11:39:28+00:00

I don't really know why you would not play the advanced rules... this isn't exactly squad leader. Its a fun light family/strategy style game like ticket to ride. If you are playing it with your gamer friends, expect to be disappointed if you take some of the complexity/choices out!

Your end game sounds a little wonky too. I think SamuraiCat straightened you out. You should give the game another try. Its not exactly "El Grande on waves" or anything, but its a good game.

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aslskfan — 2008-02-12T17:27:23+00:00

Father and Son enjoying the surf and dreaming of Beach Babes.

Thread: Re: Meh.

Moviebuffs — 2008-02-09T17:28:19+00:00

Samuraicat wrote:
The biggest difference is the competitions. In our game each player competing played a card face down and then revealed simultaneously. If somebody played a bail card then that person was off the wave and the competition ended. If everyone played a number card then everyone played a second card face down and revealed simultaneously. Low total was off the wave and highest total took the prime position. I would not want to play that each player plays just one card, period.

Yes ... That is what the rules call the "advanced game".

Samuraicat wrote:
I'm also not sure I understand how you played the end game. In our game, the second black wave with a whistle came up so no more waves would come out. We each drew three cards and added them to our hands. That was the last opportunity to draw cards for the rest of the game. Maybe that is how you played it but from your description it sounds like you were drawing three cards after each wave hit the beach during the end game. If so, that would be incorrect because at the end all you have to compete with are cards you managed to save for the end and the final draw of three cards. If I misunderstood how you played it out my apologies (or maybe this is another basic/advanced difference...)

Aha! In that case, that is my rule-reading error, and makes a bit more sense.

However, that is *almost* how we played it, as we all drew three cards, and then the next round there were only one or two in the deck, so they went to the first player. Our mistake there, I guess.

Thanks for the clarification!

N.

Thread: Re: Meh.

Samuraicat — 2008-02-09T17:03:27+00:00

I have played the game three player and I assume we must have used the advanced rules even though they don't seem very advanced to me considering the difference between how we played and how you played.

The biggest difference is the competitions. In our game each player competing played a card face down and then revealed simultaneously. If somebody played a bail card then that person was off the wave and the competition ended. If everyone played a number card then everyone played a second card face down and revealed simultaneously. Low total was off the wave and highest total took the prime position. I would not want to play that each player plays just one card, period.

I'm also not sure I understand how you played the end game. In our game, the second black wave with a whistle came up so no more waves would come out. We each drew three cards and added them to our hands. That was the last opportunity to draw cards for the rest of the game. Maybe that is how you played it but from your description it sounds like you were drawing three cards after each wave hit the beach during the end game. If so, that would be incorrect because at the end all you have to compete with are cards you managed to save for the end and the final draw of three cards. If I misunderstood how you played it out my apologies (or maybe this is another basic/advanced difference...)

Thread: Meh.

Moviebuffs — 2008-02-09T13:43:58+00:00

Not sure if this is a session report or a review .... But here goes anyway ....

Six of us were in the shop, willing to give this new title a try.

We chose to play the "standard" game, according to the (very small) rulebook

I have to admit, pretty much anything with "Dude" in it turns me off immediately, but - having heard this was a Moon/Weissblum design, and finding it pretty hard to avoid on the 'geek this last week or so - we thought it would be worth a go.

A couple of strange things jump out at you when sorting all of the pieces out:

The blue and black Meeples are unbelievably close to being the same colour. The players playing these colours had to keep checking whose was whose, the rest of us didn't bother checking, we just put them down to being owned by "one of those two".

The little trophies are also a little similar in colour (between the bronze and the gold), but not quite as bad.

In the box there are 18 waves (6 of each Baby, Pipeline, and Monster). There are 5 spaces for surfers on the Monster waves, 4 on the Pipeline, and 3 on the Baby. Whenever a wave reaches the shore, every surfer on it earns a trophy (gold for Monster, silver for Pipeline, and bronze for Baby). So why are there less gold trophies than silver, and less silver than bronze? Surely it should be an equal amount of each, or completely the other way round.

By the end of the game, we were using the (minimal) supply of extra chits, which look like they were thrown in when this problem was pointed out, but there still aren't really enough of those for a 6-player game.

When the game starts, the first thing that happens is that a wave is added to the top of the board. If it has a * on it, then another one is added. Players than take turns playing a matching card and adding a surfer to the wave.

If only one wave comes out, it will fill up with the next people round from the active player. I think once we had a situation where one player didn't have the right card and had to pass.

Other cards you can play are "Cut In" cards, which lets you load onto a wave a little nearer the beach. This NEVER happened in our game, as there was never a space on the third wave to make it possible.

After loading the wave, the active player rolls a die to see which waves have "competition" to stay on it.

On average, a third of the time the result is "Shark". This means that the wave is under attack from a shark, and cards totalling 9 have to be played by the surfers on it. Considering the lowest card has a value of 3, this is almost a foregone conclusion. So a "shark attack" means that the person who has a 9 in his hand moves to the left of the wave ("Prime" spot ... breaks ties in your favour and earns a bonus when the wave hits the beach).

If here is competition for a type of wave, players on the wave(s) of that type must simultaneously play a card to see who gets thrown off. Again, if you have no high cards in your hand, then you lose out.

In our game, I don't remember a wave getting to the beach with more than one space on it.

After the competitions, everyone gets 3 Action Points to replenish their hand and move their surfers up to the loading zone. This usually meant getting one guy up there, and then taking the remainder in cards.

After a while, you get down to the last waves, and then new waves stop appearing. This means that a turn consists of moving the waves towards the beach and rolling the die to resolve any competitions. Then everyone automatically gets three cards. There are nowhere near enough cards in the deck for this, and nothing is mentioned about how you handle this: Does the first player get the three cards that are in the deck? Do they get dealt one each to the first three players?

And that's it.

The trophies are worth 8, 5 or 3 points, and the "Beach Babe" bonuses for being in prime position on a wave are worth an additional three.

Scores were:

Phil: 65
Roj: 57
Nick: 56
Rachel: 56
Rich: 51
James: 40

Phil's comment was that he had much more fun coming last in a game of Kingsburg last week, than he did winning this one.

I don't know why this fell so flat, but we all felt like we had just wasted an hour.

I think the game might be improved by playing it with three or four players maximum.

And I have a sneaky feeling that the game is meant to be played with the advanced rules (where you play consecutive cards in the competition stage until someone bails), and the standard rules were added to make the game a little more "family friendly".

Can someone please tell me if we're missing something here ?

N.

Thread: Re: Scoring Waves

Samuraicat — 2008-02-08T16:24:28+00:00

Moviebuffs wrote:

Although you are not allowed to climb onto a wave adjacent to one of your own guys, so I'm not sure this would be possible.

Thanks for the tip. I was taught the game and the person who taught it apparently missed this rule. I'm not sure how big an impact this had in our game as I don't recall it happening much if at all where a player placed two surfers in succession on a wave. In that case you could score 2 surfers on a baby wave at most.

Thread: Re: Scoring Waves

Moviebuffs — 2008-02-08T08:32:48+00:00

Samuraicat wrote:
A player scores a trophy for each of his meeples on the wave. So, if you have all three slots filled on a Baby wave you would get 3 bronze trophies, in addition to the beach babe for having a surfer in the prime position.

Although you are not allowed to climb onto a wave adjacent to one of your own guys, so I'm not sure this would be possible.

N.

Thread: Re: Boardgamers of Reno Review

jollyrogergames — 2008-02-07T18:23:30+00:00

A fair review, sir!

I don't have a problem discerning the colors with the trophies, but I am pretty upset at myself for going with the small rulebook.

Once it was here--I said "@#%$!@#$!!! I should've gone with an 8x11 rules sheet.

If it matters--email me and I can send the rules electronically at a bigger size.

Jim

Thread: Boardgamers of Reno Review

board_games_reno — 2008-02-07T04:56:55+00:00

Surf’s Up, Dude: A review

Boardgamers of Reno debuted this latest offering from Moon & Weissblum on
February 5th.

Surf’s Up, Dude offers a unique board game experience that has a lot of Moon & Weissblum flavor to it. With its theme, it most assuredly plays to the lighter family genre level of games. Its theme alone will probably get it a “spiel de jahre” nod.

Game play is very straight forward.

Phase one involves waves of different size and value (baby, pipeline, monster) forming at one end of the board. Think “Niagara” to visualize this mechanism. Each wave can only handle a limited number of surfers. Players take turns playing matching wave cards to move onto the two furthest waves from the beach. Card play is similar to “Capitol” as each card has two features, but only one is used during a particular phase. Play continues around till all players pass. A die roll then determines which type of wave surfers will “compete” on.

Phase two is the competition. Each competing surfer on the die rolled wave(s) lays a card face down. Cards have a numerical value plus each player has a “bail” card. Cards are turned face up. If someone “Bails” they move off the wave back to the staging area. If more than surfer “bails” only the player furthest too the right on the wave moves off. Best is when no one “bails” (Note: we played the advanced version of this phase and recommend playing it this way. It’s not very advanced, just offers tougher card management) Surfers play a second card with “Bail” now acting a 0. Weakest combined total gets kicked off the wave. Strongest total moves to a “prime” location worth extra points when the wave reaches the beach. When a wave reaches the beach, points are awarded to all remaining surfer(s), with the “prime” surfer getting a bonus beach babe card. Sorry ladies, there are no beach hunks!

Phase three is book-keeping. In turn players have a three point budget to spend drawing cards and/or moving beached surfers back to the ready zone. Play continues till the second warning whistle is revealed on the “waves” Last wave crashes to shore. Points totaled, highest point total wins. # of beach babes collected breaks ties.

Surf’s Up, Dude is a card management game using a game board. Like “Capitol” the cards have two values: Jockeying value during Phase one, Numerical value in phase two.
As you have a limited # of cards, you must budget what you use in each phase. More excruciating is that the real strong jockey cards have high numerical value, so do you jockey for strong position in phase one, OR hold those high cards for competition (phase two). That is entire strategy of the game. Other than the “Bail” card, all played cards are discarded. Phase three offers some decision making in terms of filling your hand with cards or moving up surfers i.e. with no surfers in the ready zone, all the cards in the world are meaningless. No real down time or AP with this game. Once everyone gets the flow of play, it moves along fairly quickly, though somewhat repetitively.
Biggest gripe:
Rule book size and trophies. Now I’m 47, in great health, but having to read the quarter fold mini font rulebook was a pain. I photo-copied them up 135% just so I could read them clearly. The point’s trophies also left something to be desired. The gold eight point trophies were painfully close color wise to the bronze three point trophies. Jolly Roger Games also included some point chits if you run out of trophies. I say to hell with the trophies, I’d rather have a full sheet of the colorful EASY TO READ chits!

Overall, if you are in the mood for a “Zooloretto” level game, Surf’s Up, Dude fits the bill. I gave a BIG “Shakka Brudda” to Alan and Aaron for even attempting the theme.
Put on some Don Ho / Beach Boys music for flavor, cut up some pineapple, and then dive in!

Thread: Re: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

tgbruiser — 2008-02-01T21:21:00+00:00

My copy arrived this morning, so I'm excited to crack it open and give it a whirl.

Since I haven't see the pieces in person yet and I don't know how many waves there are, etc., I'm not sure if this would work to get tilted waves, but this might work:

Use clear plastic clips (like those used to make cardboard pieces stand upright) that clip to two of the corners on the top of the wave. Those wouldn't take up much space in the box. If I find some extra ones, I might try it out.

Thread: Re: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

Ninjabob — 2008-02-01T01:19:18+00:00

Now that the pictures are up, I'm a little disappointed in the "waves." I envisioned every surfer would be on their own moving wave and that they would jostle around when a back piece was pushed them forward--like consecutive tiles in Niagara.

Thread: Re: Scoring Waves

Samuraicat — 2008-01-31T20:46:32+00:00

Abundance of Flowers wrote:
Does a player score one trophy PER surfer meeple on a scoring wave? Or does a player just get a single trophy regardless of the number of meeples he may have on the wave?

A player scores a trophy for each of his meeples on the wave. So, if you have all three slots filled on a Baby wave you would get 3 bronze trophies, in addition to the beach babe for having a surfer in the prime position.

Thread: Scoring Waves

Abundance of Flowers — 2008-01-31T19:21:31+00:00

Does a player score one trophy PER surfer meeple on a scoring wave? Or does a player just get a single trophy regardless of the number of meeples he may have on the wave?

Image

Abundance of Flowers — 2008-01-31T19:16:00+00:00

The unfortunate closeness of color of the Black and Dark Purple Meeples - Can you tell them apart?

Image

Abundance of Flowers — 2008-01-31T19:13:07+00:00

Close up on Waves.

Image

Abundance of Flowers — 2008-01-31T19:09:07+00:00

Game in progress

Image

Abundance of Flowers — 2008-01-31T19:07:31+00:00

3-player game in the early stages

Thread: Re: competition

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-23T18:39:47+00:00

Yes, all cards may be played during a competition.

The reason to use the Bail is to conserve cards for later use--especially since you may want guys 'ready' if bigger waves have not yet appeared.

The trick is to balance cards in hand with returning surfers to the ready area....so sometimes if other players have used high-point cards, it is better to 'fold' and wait for the next competition rather than use a second card on a competition you probably won't win.

Thread: competition

matthiske — 2008-01-23T14:05:05+00:00

during the competition phase are all cards legit to play on any wave for the surfer's on that given wave? Otherwise I didn't see much of a reason to Bail off a wave unless you didn't have the correct cards!

Image

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-17T20:18:51+00:00

Back of the game board (Dating Game anyone?)

Image

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-17T20:10:32+00:00

gameboard (17 x 22")

Thread: Re: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-17T13:28:15+00:00

Actually, you DO push waves in towards the shore. Unlike Niagara though, they don't fall off the end of the box!

I tried to get wave 'angles' into the game so that the waves would be tilted and look more like waves coming in to the shore, but that proved to be a big problem--box size would've needed to be adjusted, price would've gone up, and the surfers didn't stay on their surf boards as well.

Once the games arrive (in about 4 hours from this post) and orders get fulfilled, etc. I am going to experiment with styrofoam pieces to go under the waves to see if that creates a cool effect.

(And Eric, I will also get you pictures for BGN!!!)

Thread: Re: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

matthiske — 2008-01-17T12:32:36+00:00

I'm excited to see this game, this sounds so sweet. Almost time to catch some big waves here in michigan and in the winter months yet.

Thread: Re: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

Henry Rhombus — 2008-01-17T06:53:44+00:00

I'm still waiting to see the board as well. Once I have pics, I'll post an update. Very curious...

Eric
Editor, http://www.BoardgameNews.com

Thread: Re: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

Ninjabob — 2008-01-17T05:36:47+00:00

I can't wait to see the board.
Will this be something like Niagara where the waves push each other into shore?

Thread: Surf's Up, Dude! preview on Boardgame News

Henry Rhombus — 2008-01-17T00:37:11+00:00

With Surf's Up about to break on the shores of the U.S., I've posted a preview of the game on Boardgame News: http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comment...

Eric
Editor, http://www.BoardgameNews.com

Thread: Re: Release date

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-16T17:20:17+00:00

The games arrive tomorrow and are able to ship out starting next week.

Thread: Re: Could this be a retheming of the skyscraper game?

alanrmoon — 2008-01-16T02:46:54+00:00

Hi Randy,

The Skyscraper game is still around in prototype form. It was sold in the summer of 2001 and then cancelled after 9/11 because it involved knocking the skyscrapers down. It may still come out someday.

SURF'S UP DUDE is not another form of the skyscraper game, not even close. SURF'S UP DUDE is not a recent design though. It was designed many years ago and is only now finally seeing the light in the form of a beautiful production from Jolly Roger.

Best,
Alan

Thread: Could this be a retheming of the skyscraper game?

Randy Cox — 2008-01-11T20:57:35+00:00

Wasn't there a game designed by Alan and Aaron just before 9/11 that had something to do with skyscrapers in NY (or other big city)? That surely never materialized, but is this that game rethemed with big waves?

Or is this a new design from a thought-to-be-defunct team?

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-04T01:25:04+00:00

The game is right now about 2/3 of the way across the Pacific.

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

Henry Rhombus — 2007-12-12T14:32:45+00:00

I've spoken with Alan Moon about the game and will run a preview of Surf's Up, Dude! before the game's release in Janunary 2008.

Eric
Editor, http://www.BoardgameNews.com

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

jollyrogergames — 2007-12-11T01:05:12+00:00

Don't have a bad feeling--just harass JRG directly

There were delays due to factors like the paint controversy with Mattel, so the factory had to make sure the paints were safe for kids to suck on the Meeples involved I guess.

The games ship from China to the US on December 20--barring interesting delays on the part of US Customs, the game will be able to ship by mid-January.

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

fanaka66 — 2007-12-08T01:48:35+00:00

matthiske wrote:
Any set release date for this yet?

I've got a bad feeling about this one...I sent an e-mail to Jolly Roger games about a month ago and posted the other thread looking for any info. No response on either one.

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

matthiske — 2007-12-04T00:54:28+00:00

Any set release date for this yet?

Thread: Any info???

fanaka66 — 2007-11-15T02:49:09+00:00

Anymore info on this one? I'd love to know a bit about gameplay.

Image

jollyrogergames — 2007-08-13T17:28:54+00:00

Card backs...(typo with no R. in Alan R. Moon's name)

Image

jollyrogergames — 2007-08-13T17:28:14+00:00

Box Cover (with a name typo...will read Alan R. Moon)

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

ropearoni4 — 2007-07-29T07:52:40+00:00

My brother surfs every day he can in Huntington Beach - the bum. This should be a good game to get him to try a boardgame or two when he visits or I visit there...except when I try surfing again, so mornings are out of the question on gaming times. Either way it might give him a chance to try something else other than...well...nothing. Kinda boring to hang and not do anything when he visits. Idaho compared to Calif. is a big let down I'm sure, but we have bowling and the potato museum. :P

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

Runehardt — 2007-07-28T05:26:45+00:00

Sounds like the perfect game to take to the beach. And yes, I do go to the beach in December! This is California baby!
I've heard that this is going to be a good game. The artwork looks great.

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

jollyrogergames — 2007-07-22T12:12:13+00:00

It should be right at the start of December.

The only catch-->it is always interesting on shipping time from overseas and then the adventure of customs.

Thread: Re: Projected Release?

fanaka66 — 2007-07-21T16:46:01+00:00

December, per Boardgamenews.com...

http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comment...

Thread: Projected Release?

Ninjabob — 2007-07-21T03:53:33+00:00

This sounds like a lot of fun!
When is it due to be published?