Game: Sunda to Sahul

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Eorl — 2008-01-03T05:12:11+00:00

All pieces (except the one my 2nd hand copy had missing)

Thread: Re: Availability?

duchamp — 2007-08-17T13:06:20+00:00

"Buying Directly from us in Australia

We prefer our Australian customers to buy our products through the retail outlets who stock them (see under the In These Shops tab at the top of the screen).

However if there is not a retail outlet in your vicinity who stocks our products then contact us and we will either arrange for a retailer to supply you or we will supply you directly. Sunda to Sahul, our first product, currently costs $70.00 including shipping in Australia. You can download our faxable order form and order by credit card (Mastercard, Visa, Bankcard, Amex or Diners) or you can contact us and we will send you our bank details so you can do a Direct Funds Transfer.

Tel: 02 6241 6089
Fax: 02 6241 6089
Email: sagacity@aires.com.au"

This is the text under "buy" and "direct" on the homepage. But under "In These Shops" you find shops in Sydney, Adelaide, Brsibane, Melbourne and Canberra. But the homepage was not updates for quite some time, so, if you don`t find this too useful ...

http://sagacity.aires.com.au/

... give Don Bone himself a try via personal e-mail

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/DonB

And, finally, his personal comment to his rating of "Sundaa to Sahul":

"I distribute this game myself so I have lots of brand new shrink wrapped copies of the game to sell. I am always willing to listen to offers of something other than money for the game, such as another interesting game or a translation of the rules."

Good luck - fine game!

Thread: Re: Availability?

shawn_low — 2007-08-16T07:06:26+00:00

Go to the Sagacity website and the designer, Don Bone, will sell copies direct.

Thread: Re: Availability?

the_pirate — 2007-08-16T05:54:30+00:00

We have a copy at Mind Games Albury.

www.mindgamesalbury.com

Thread: Availability?

waza — 2007-08-16T04:00:29+00:00

Does anyone know if this game is available anywhere?
The publishers website has not been updated for a while, the contact phone number is disconnected and I recieived no response to my email.
I have called all the Sydney stockists listed on publishers website. Four had never heard of it, one recommended it as a great game but they had not stocked it for a while and the other remembered it when I described the cover but said they had not had it for a while.

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:21:04+00:00

Freshwater Node (Worth 5/10 Points)

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:19:30+00:00

Tileset 2 (Includes Resource Markers)

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:18:28+00:00

Tileset 1 (Spirit Markers)

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:15:30+00:00

Stack of Wooden Game Tiles

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:14:24+00:00

Small Islands Can Be Created

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:12:58+00:00

Some Sample Tiles

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:11:56+00:00

Original and Alternative Scoring Tokens Compared

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:10:03+00:00

It Can Be A Long Walk From One End Of An Island To The Other

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gamephotos — 2007-05-07T22:08:45+00:00

Mid Game

Thread: Sunda to Sahul - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-01-02T04:32:20+00:00

All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.

Sunda to Sahul is a tile laying game but unlike others it uses jigsaw tiles! The game takes its players back roughly 50,000 years in history, to a time when the islanders of Indonesia were setting out to discover what lay beyond their shores. Each player takes a set of markers to represent one of the four great spirits and the games jigsaw tiles are divided amongst the players. Each turn requires the players to place 2 tiles, connecting them to others already in play, and in this way the map evolves.

The aim for players is to create nodes. A node is created when a tile is placed to meet the corners of the other tiles it touches. This may sound confusing but takes 2-3 seconds to understand and the rules provide good visual examples. Each tile may contain all land, all water or a combination of both. If a node only contains water then nothing is gained so the main aim is to create land nodes. When a player creates a land node they can place one of their spirit tokens onto that land mass. They can choose to start a new tribe on the island or they can ask to add their token to an already existing tribe. Each tribe can have up to 5 tokens and the major advantage of joining another tribe is that there is safety in numbers and points are awarded based on the size of a tribe.

The current controller of the tribe must decide if you can join. Allowing you to do so will see you gain control of the tribe, but they will have greater safety in numbers and score more points at games end. This is an excellent design feature and makes for many challenging decisions. Tribes can challenge each other during the game to eliminate enemies and advance their standing on the island. The victor gains control of the losing tribe and the loser is further weakened by losing a token. Of course this only underlines the importance of inviting others to join your tribe to make you stronger. The game is over when any one player places their last token onto the map, the last jigsaw tile is placed or all players agree to finish.

Scoring is then calculated and the winner determined. Each token in a tribe is worth as many points as the size of a tribe. If one player has managed to place several of their tokens in a large tribe they will do well.

This is the basic game. Sunda to Sahul then goes on to offer an advanced game with a number of new features to spice up the play. Extra scoring is possible for creating internal lakes, resource markers can be placed on islands to reward the player with the most tokens per island and further game play is offered through the puzzle and solitaire games. It all adds up to equal a game that offers good value for your investment.

The Final Word

The biggest compliment I can offer Sunda to Sahul is that it is highly original – no mean feat in a world full of ‘copy cat’ products. The game play is well developed (basic, advanced, puzzle and solitaire game options), the rules are well written and the components are well constructed so the game will stand up to repeated play. If all that were not enough then we can be proud that this quality game comes from an Australian designer. So what are you waiting for, get out there and discover an island archipelago for yourself!

Thread: Re: User Review

RichardV — 2006-12-28T10:03:42+00:00

About the problem with the basic game you mention, could the game work with all the pieces facing down, and each player having a hand of 6-7 pieces face up? (maybe more... I don't have the game, but am considering it...)

No - there are too many permutations. Often there are only a few out of the total set of pieces that will do what you want. The game would become completely different and you would have little control.

Thread: Re: A good coop game?

shawn_low — 2006-09-05T02:49:28+00:00

Yes, it's like playing a puzzle (trying to maximise points and scoring). It's also good solitaire.

The competitive game will reward experience players.

Great looking parts too!

Thread: Re: A good coop game?

melissa — 2006-09-05T02:39:15+00:00

Even the basic game is pretty friendly - and great for someone who likes puzzles. You find that you work together to find the right pieces even if you're not starting out to play co-operatively.

So I'd say yes, good choice. :)

Thread: A good coop game?

cull — 2006-06-03T19:12:06+00:00

Apparently some of the official advanced rules make the game more cooperative. Which rules do this?

My wife and I are always looking for a cooperative, or at least low-confrontation, game. And my wife also likes puzzles. So this game sounds interesting. Do you recommend this game to us?

Thread: Re: User Review

maka — 2006-02-12T01:24:35+00:00

I've just learned about this game... seems interesting.

About the problem with the basic game you mention, could the game work with all the pieces facing down, and each player having a hand of 6-7 pieces face up? (maybe more... I don't have the game, but am considering it...)

Thread: Session Report

EYE of NiGHT — 2004-04-10T18:38:30+00:00

Then I opened Sunda to Sahul. I'd met the designer Don Bone at Essen 03 where I got my reserved copy. He's a very nice chap and kindly allowed me to dump my games in a box at his stand. Sunda is his first published game and Don told me that he's learnt a lot about the process now. He explained the limited numbers of gamers in Oz and his inexperience reduced the playtesting, but the early comments seemed good and there was a huge demand. He'd only been able to bring a limited stock to Essen and sold out on the first morning!

So I was curious to finally give it a go and we cracked it open and examined the bits. Nice bits, loads of attractive, odd tiles, sheets of tokens, a colour rule book with good illos, with easy to advanced games. It seemd to be a quick tile laying game and we decided to have a pop at the easy game first.

It is NOT a tile laying game. We discovered early on that the pieces are not tiles, they are jigsaw pieces. They have a variety of ends, are left or right-handed, and the patterns of land and sea make a huge variety of combinations. So we abandoned our attempt at a game and simply raced to build a working map and put our markers on the nodes. Nodes are the points where tiles join to form solid land.

And even this took some time! It became easier to find pieces that fitted, but the islands just got bigger and bigger. To try and bring an island to completion, which scored you 2 pts instead of 1pt per node, was very tricky. We scrambled through the bits again and again, found one that fitted, but had the wrong markings. We found pieces with the right markings, but didn't fit! Finally I succeeded in getting my 12 tokens down and we called a halt.

Well, we had fun, we liked it, but we didn't play a proper game. Clearly, you need some familiarity with the pieces before you can try a competitive game. Sunda is a mix between jigsaw puzzling and gaming, with the weight on the puzzling. I think I will have to try the solitaire version to learn more how it works, and move through the game options.

I like Sunda and I hope Don enjoys success with it. But I don't think it's a german style game you can play straight from the box. Sunda will appeal to puzzlers, who will enjoy a unique challenge, but it is more of a challenge than I expected. If you're aware of what you're getting, you will be pleased.

Thread: Session Report

pmboos — 2004-03-15T17:41:13+00:00

Another session - different players against my wife and I.

My wife and I had another couple over for dinner and we alolowed them to choose from one of 3 games... This couple are avid puzzlers - they enjoy getting large puzzles and completing them on the weekend. they chose to give Sunda to Sahul a try over a game of Puerto Rico (which we had played several times before) and Tyros (one which just didn't appeal to them much - even though they hadn't played it).

Anyway, I didn't get to play Marajun this time :-(

Heather again went first, I second, then Joy and Ken. We again played with the water tights and tribe rules. But again no one seemed to make tribes (we must be overlooking something). We compleyted several islands this time and this proved decisive in teh game. Joy concentrated on getting 3 islands complete with a majority of her pieces. I got a single node lake for water rights. This only netted me second place to Joy though... Althought without it, I woudl have been much, much farther behind... My wife was actually working against me! Telling everyone not to help... Maybe I will have to see about setting her asail in a boat to explore Indonesia...

At the end of the game (and not because she won, but because she loved the puzzle aspect), Joy declared this her favorite game and for us to definitely have it at the beach. I will probably buy them a copy as a present...

While everytime we playe, we tend to play coorperatively, this game alsways comes out enjoyable.

Paul

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2004-03-14T14:28:26+00:00

I’ve been hoping to get this interesting design from Don Bone back to the table for a long, long time. Something always seemed to stand in the way. After finally having the pleasure of meeting Don in person back at the Spiele Faire in October, I was more determined than ever to get the game back to the table. Well, Steve Pouey expressed an interest it, so I jumped at the opportunity. We were joined by Jim.

My first playing was over 10 months ago and, for me, the game just lacked “oomph”. However, we played with a proposed variant that just didn’t work as well as expected. So, I was determined to play again with the rules as written. We turned all 136 puzzle pieces face-up in the pool and each turn players searched through these to find the piece they were seeking. In fact, it was a cooperative effort, as all players would help search for the desired piece. This helped the game to move along significantly faster than my first play, which is a good thing. We also played with all of the advanced rules: tribes, resources and water rights. I’ll explain these again in a bit.

I do enjoy jigsaw puzzles, so there was enjoyment in trying to locate the correct pieces and watching the board grow. The pieces are thick, nicely illustrated and make a good picture when assembled. Unfortunately, I just didn’t find the “game” which is integrated into this puzzle aspect to be exceptional. I described the game in considerable detail in my original report of March 12, 2003, so won’t repeat it here. I will, however, use some passages from that report to help clarify some things.

Basically, as players place puzzle pieces, they are trying to form islands and “nodes”.
A node is formed where the corners of each group of pieces meet in such a way that the pieces completely surround that point. When a node is formed, the player marks this spot with one of his tokens. Since a player can place two puzzle pieces on his turn, forming nodes is not all that difficult, especially as the board grows. I was hoping that part of the challenge of the game would be to try to place pieces in such a fashion as to make it difficult for opponents to form nodes. Sometimes this is possible, but on most every turn, players are able to form a node and place a token. There just isn’t much of a challenge to this aspect of the game.

Why is forming nodes so easy? The pieces are designed and cut in such a fashion that they will fit in multiple locations, so finding a match is not all that difficult. Further, if you pick up a piece and it turns-out to not be the piece you need, you can simply place it back and choose another piece without penalty. As I mentioned in my original report, this means there isn’t much tension or excitement in the puzzle-building or node-forming aspects of the game.

The “Advanced Game” takes the system into the realm of gaming as opposed to strict puzzle building. Each element of the Advanced Game is not terribly difficult and it is easy to incorporate all sections into the game. The “advanced” elements that can be added are:

Water Rights. This is a node that consists of all water at the node point. If the water node is surrounded by land, then it is considered ‘freshwater’ (a lake) and a player can claim this node by placing a token on it. Otherwise, it is a ‘seawater’ node and cannot be claimed. Freshwater nodes are worth either five or ten points at the end of the game, depending upon whether the island surrounding the lake is completed by the conclusion of the game.

Tribes. This adds an element of potential conflict to the game. Whenever a player completes a land node, he may place one of his tokens onto the island. He may either place it into an existing stack of player tokens (up to a maximum limit of five tokens per stack), or form a new stack (tribe). If he desires to place it into an existing tribe, however, he must gain the permission of the player controlling the tribe. The player who has the most tokens in a tribe controls it. If there is a tie, it is broken in favor of the player who own the top-most token in the tribe.

Ultimately, each token in a tribe is worth a number of points equal to the total number of tokens in that tribe. So, if there are four tokens in a tribe, each token is worth four points. So, granting permission to another player to add a token to a tribe could be beneficial, but you must keep a careful eye on the control status of the tribe.

Players can also opt to use the “Challenge” element when playing with the Tribe rules. Whenever a player adds a token to a tribe or forms a new tribe, he may then select ANY tribe he controls, whether or not it is on the island where he just placed a tribal token, and challenge a different tribe on that same island. Dice are rolled, with the player controlling the larger tribe usually having the advantage of more dice. The highest individual number rolled by each player is compared and the victorious player gets to replace the top tribe marker in the losing tribe with one of his own. As in real-life, combat can be risky, but often worth it for the additional points it can yield.

We found this tribal system to actually be far less tense than anticipated. Once a tribe reached its maximum limit of five tokens, it became very powerful. Once another player established a new tribe on the island, on his next turn the controlling player would use his large tribe to attack this newly placed token at 5 – 1 odds. This would most always result in the replacement of that player’s token with one of the dominant player. So, it became very difficult to challenge for control of a larger island.

Resources. Finally, there are various resource chips that can be added to an island when a player adds a tribe token. Resource markers are valued at 5 – 10 and can only be added if the number on the token is equal to or less than the number of tribe tokens on the island. Once placed, they cannot be removed or exchanged.

At the end of the game, the player with the most tribal markers on the island receives the number of points listed on any resource chips located on that island. These points are doubled if the island is completely formed! This can be significant and did result in efforts to grab control of the islands where they were located. However, this was difficult due to the reasons I’ve already cited.

The game ends whenever a player has placed all of his tribal tokens (called “spirit” tokens in the rules). Interestingly, the rules also call for an end to the game whenever a player has used all their jigsaw tiles. This is strange since I couldn’t locate any clause in the rules that allotted a certain number of jigsaw tiles to each player. Hmmm. Also, according to the rules, he game can also end “when all parties agree to finish”. Fortunately, this game moved along much faster than my first game, so we were never in danger of simply halting the game.

Whichever method triggers the game’s conclusion, players earn points as follows:

· Resources: The values of all resource chips on an island are added and awarded to the player possessing the greatest number of spirit tokens on that island. These points are doubled if the island is fully formed.

· Tribal points: The value of each spirit token is determined (each token is worth an amount equal to the number of tokens in that tribe).

· Water Rights: Any spirit token located on a ‘freshwater’ node is worth 5 points, or 10 points if the island around it is completely formed.

Of course, the player with the most points is victorious. There is no method provided to break any ties.

Now that I’ve played the game a second time, I’m certainly happy that it moved along at a quicker pace than my first game. However, I’m still not enthused with the game. For me, it just lacks excitement and tension. The game works, but as mentioned earlier, it lacks “oomph”. I certainly think that the concept of a game being married to the building of a jigsaw puzzle is very clever and intriguing. However, I just found the game itself to be lacking. I do understand that many, many people who were exposed to the game at the Spiele Faire in Essen and the Origins convention here in the United States were smitten with the game, so please don’t take my opinion as the definitive statement. I encourage you to try the game for yourself and see if this novel concept has more appeal for you.

I was angling to build a large tribe on an island, but Jim forced the island to close early, restricting its growth. Spouey was also building an island, but Jim and I were determined to keep the island growing so as to prevent Spouey from enjoying the “doubling” benefit of a completed isle. This led to a major struggle for control as we each would form nodes and place tribal tokens. I got lucky with a die roll and managed to knock Spouey out of control, but Jim then dominated the island. I again got lucky on a series of rolls to knock Jim out, thereby grabbing control of the large island and the numerous resources for myself. Since I had control, any future effort by my opponents to place a token was rebuffed on my next turn.

The game ended when I placed my final spirit token.

Finals: Greg 96, Jim 57, Spouey 36

Ratings: Spouey 6.5, Jim 5.5, Greg 5

Thread: Session Report

pmboos — 2004-02-19T01:56:12+00:00

My game group had a chance to play this game over the past weekend. We played with some, but not all of the advanced rules as this was the first time for everyone, but me. I felt we needed a bit more complexity though than what the basic game allows. While we played with the tribes rules, we ended up not forming tribes. I think people (myself included), preferred taking nodes for ourselves. Undoubtedly, play would have wound up different with the tribes.

We specifically played with the water rights and tribes rules. Everyone avoided Marajun - the protector of life, because they didn't like the monkey face. This is incidentlly my favorite spirit to play... They laughed at monkey boy - for awhile ;-)

We had four players and while there was competition, there was also alot of cooperation (again until monkey boy, er Majarun, took the lead).

It began with everyone helping to place pieces. My wife went first, I second, Paul (yes another Paul) 3rd, and his wife Linda 4th. I took the lead with the first token down, my wife Heather was rather upset as she didn't get to make a node out of the gate when it started out. When it got back to her, she had an excellent set-up for getting two tokens down and so I showed her how to do this.

Shortly after startign (like third turn), I got set up beautifully to form a lake and then complete (it was a two node lake) in one turn. This gave me two water rights tokens down. No one laughed at Marajun anymore - I also ended up being the only person to no longer receive any help (I still helped the others).

Late mid-game, my wife made a node that was the only one on an island. This has definite advantages as you immediately have an token worth more. The island with my lake also got huge. I began focusing entirely on completing it.

The last turn of the game, was I - my last token got put down by completing the one huge island. The doubling of the water rights put me over twice as many points as anyone else. One reviewer suspected that water rights could be key to locking down a game and I am here to say - yes, they are! As soon as I had them, everyone knew they were really hurting to catch up. I should have started then to focus on completing the island, but it didn't quite occur to me to do that concerted of an effort. Once it got huge, it got much harder and I just barely made it (although I would have still won as it doubled alot of my opponent's points also).

My group looks forward toplaying this again. Our session was a little over an hour, but didn't feel that long. With those simple advanced rule additions, you can have a really challenging, competitive puzzle game.

Cheers!
Paul

Thread: User Review

TomVasel — 2003-12-30T16:16:56+00:00

I hate jigsaw puzzles, because I find them boring and monotonous. However, I’m still intrigued by them and am fascinated at how the pieces fit together. My wife, on the other hand, likes puzzles, so she was pleased to hear that I had acquired a new game, one that combined puzzles and gaming – Sunda to Sahul (Sagacity Games, 2002 – Don Bone). Even though initial reports on the game were high in praise, I was slightly apprehensive, and wondered if puzzles and games could be mixed successfully.

And to my surprise, Sunda and Sahul accomplished this goal. Not only is it a fun and difficult solo puzzle for those who like such things, but Sunda and Sahul makes an excellent game for two to four players. In particular, my wife and I found it a very fun, relaxing time to spend an evening together. There are several ways to play the game, outlined in the rules – and each method of playing has a different feel to it – and all of them are quite good. I found that I enjoyed one way of playing with my wife, while another method worked better with my gaming group. This makes Sunda to Sahul a very versatile, unique game – one that should be added to most gamers’ board game libraries.

In the basic game, 136 different puzzle pieces are shuffled and placed face-up on the table. There are about 10 different pieces, and they all fit together rather ingeniously. Each tile shows a combination of land and water, so that when the pieces are connected together, many islands are formed. One piece that consists of all water is placed in the middle of the board, forming the play area. Each player then takes a set of “spirit tokens” of their color, with the amount determined by the number of players playing the game. The youngest player goes first, and then play proceeds clockwise around the table.

On a turn, a player can place two tiles (puzzle pieces) on the board. As in games like Carcassonne, other players may give advice about where to place the pieces, etc. Puzzle pieces must fit together to work, and land must touch land, with water connecting to water. If a player forms a land “node” (a place where corners of each of a group of tiles all meet in such a way that the tiles totally surround that point), then they may place one of their tokens on that node. Because of the shapes of the pieces, there are nodes that can be formed by three, four, five, and even six tiles.

The game ends when one player has placed all the tokens, when all the tiles are placed, or when everyone agrees that no more tiles can be placed. All players total up their points – with tokens on completed islands worth two points, and all others worth one point. The player with the most points is the winner!

There are many advanced rules that can be incorporated into the basic game to add complexity.
- Water Rights: If a water node is created that is totally surrounded by land (creating a lake), a player can claim it. At the end of the game, each of these nodes is worth 5 or 10 points, depending on whether the island is completed.
- Tribes: After creating a node, a player may place one of their tokens on the island to form a “tribe.” If other players have already formed a tribe, the player may start their own tribe, or attempt to join a tribe already on the island. If joining, they must get permission from the “head” of the tribe – the player with the most tokens in the tribe. Tribes can challenge each other, with dice used to determine the winner. The player who rolls the best on the dice (very similar to Risk style of combat) removes the top token from the tribe they were fighting. At the end of the game, each tribe token scores points for every other token in the same tribe, and double that amount if the island is completed.
- Resources: Six resource markers, with values from five to 10, are placed face-up next to the table at game setup. Whenever a player places a token on an island, they may add a resource chip to that island. Resources may only be added, however, if the number on the resource chip is less than or equal to the number of all other tokens on the island. At the end of the game, each resource chip scores the points on it for the player with the most tokens on the island.
- “No Turns” game: Players can opt to play simultaneously. If they do this, each player has their own private tile pool, rather than one large communal one. Play occurs the same as the basic game, except that players are all placing tiles at the same time. Players may “raid” an opponent, but taking a tile from any other player, but then must sit back while that player takes two tiles from them.
- Puzzle game: If only one player is playing, they can try to use all the tiles to form a group of completed islands (harder than it sounds!), or try other puzzles that are found on the companies web site.

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: After seeing this game, I am impressed how an independent game company has put out components that are equal to, if not superior, to most of the big name game companies. The main component of this game is obviously the puzzle pieces, and they are incredible. They are very thick, and fit together very snuggly. The artwork on them looks really nice, and it’s a lot of fun to see the map as it slowly assembles across the table. What’s even more impressive is that I don’t think there’s an identical piece, and that makes each game fairly unique and original. The tokens used for players to build tribes, claim nodes, etc., are nice sized cardboard tokens, each a different shape and color, making them easily distinguishable. A small scoring board is included with the game, so that advanced games can be scored, with up to 399 points possible. The scoreboard is unique looking and fits in with the overall jungle island theme. Everything fits well in the bright blue, sturdy box, and a large plastic bag is provided to keep the puzzle pieces separate from the other components.

2.) Rules: The rules are among the best I’ve ever seen. The booklet includes many color illustrations, along with examples, etc. What I liked the best was that the rules progressed from the basic game to the complete game, explaining one concept and rule at a time, building on previous rules. I had absolutely no questions after reading the rules, and they have answered every problem (which have been almost none) that we had during games. The game is easy to teach and learn, and people who are puzzle maniacs will pick it up quickly.

3.) Puzzle or Game?: This leads to the obvious question – “If I hate puzzles, will I hate this game, also?” From personal experience, I can say with conviction that while I hate puzzles, I like this game quite a bit. One thing that helps is that there is no right piece for a particular place, because every open spot can host a myriad of different pieces. I had fun trying to find the best piece for each spot, and several times would help the other players (of course, I then punched myself in the head for helping the opposition). Puzzle addicts should not fear that the game is too easy, however, as the single player rules allow them to have a rather difficult challenge.

4.) Simultaneous or not? I personally don’t like the simultaneous play that much, because it makes the game very frantic, and I enjoyed Sunda to Sahul more as a leisurely activity. However, people who hate analysis paralysis should beware, as that is a very easy thing to find oneself falling into when playing this game. Players can always put a time limit on other players, or can pick the simultaneous mode. I find it impressive that the game handles both methods equally well.

5.) Basic or advanced? Is the basic game good enough? The answer is a resounding yes! Are the advanced rules worth it? Another yes breaks the silence, because both the basic game and advanced game are equally fun. More thinking is done in the advanced game, and the luck of the die adds a small random element for those who like a little luck in their games. There are strategic options in both, as players seek to finish their islands, and prevent their opponents from finishing theirs.

6.) Theme and Fun Factor: The theme, exploring and discovering islands, is very prevalent as players slowly build many islands. A sense of wonder can be felt as the map slowly unfolds upon the table. This adds up to a lot of fun. Players can have frenzied, wild fun with the simultaneous play, or peaceful, wondrous fun otherwise. Either way, the game is jam-packed with fun!

If this game is indicative of games coming out of Australia, then I hope to see many more. Sunda to Sahul is one of the most innovative, original games I have played this year. I found it a wonderful activity to partake in with my wife, and yet a good game to bring to my gaming group. Sunda to Sahul is certainly worth your time, whether or not you like puzzles, and I encourage all gamers to give it a try!

Tom Vasel

Thread: User Review

msaari — 2003-07-11T14:54:40+00:00

As other reviewers have done a very good job at describing the game, I'm not going to bother with that. If you don't know a thing about the game, go read the review written by tempus42.

I have really played the game only one way. After trying it twice playing the turns game with basic rules, I tried the no turns version. Believe me, there's no going back. While my first turns game (two-player) was ok, the second (four-player) was boring and pointless. I believe the advanced rules might make it better, but I haven't tried it.

Instead, I have played the no turns game, where the basic rules are enough. The nature of that game gets adrenaline rushing. Of course, it also means there's no luck involved. Who has the best pattern recognition skills plays fastest and wins. If you can accept that, the game is a great experience.

We've mostly played with the basic rules and water rights. That's certainly enough. We tried the tribes, but they scored too many points for the fastest player (me, as I own the game and have practised most). Limiting the tribes to three tokens max balanced that, but the correct way to balance it would be extra practise. With players of more equal skills, tribes are probably a good addition to the turns game.

If you don't mind the fact that players with less experience don't have a chance, the no turns game is excellent entertainment. At least the people I have played with have enjoyed the game even though I've won it every time. They can compete with each other until they can compete with me. I also believe the amount of practise needed to be able to compete isn't that big and they'll be able to catch me soon.

Sunda to Sahul is one of the most refreshing new games lately. I was first enthusiastic about it because of the bits, which are gorgeous. Then my enthusiasm went down a bit as the game turned out to be a bit boring but now I just love it. The no turns game plays fast (15 minutes max when I'm playing) and not many game can compete with the adrenaline. Villa Paletti can get as exciting, but that's just about it with my game collection.

Sunda to Sahul is highly recommended for the solitaire game and especially the multiplayer no turns game. I think, though, that it might be a try-before-you-buy game, as the fast game is not for everyone's tastes.

Thread: Re:Session Report

shumyum — 2003-05-20T02:59:24+00:00

Just by way of clarification, I would guess that this most definitely is simply a session report. Greg writes them for his own venerable website (which predates the 'geek) and they get automatically get put here. He probably doesn't know yet that it has generated responses, but I gather it will eventually get back to him. My guess is that they'll try the game again.

Thread: Re:Session Report

adriang — 2003-05-20T00:05:47+00:00

"This article I see is actually filed under Session Reports rather than Reviews, so I guess I can't hammer on it quite so hard as a bad "review" per se, even if it sounds like one."

I suppose that depends a bit on whether Greg intended this as the review promised for receiving a copy of the game or if this is just a first impressions report.

Thread: Re:Session Report

cfarrell — 2003-05-19T22:13:11+00:00

Ahh, I guess I'll have to back off a little bit. This article I see is actually filed under Session Reports rather than Reviews, so I guess I can't hammer on it quite so hard as a bad "review" per se, even if it sounds like one.

Still, I'd recommend playing the game by the rules the designer came up with before judging it.

Thread: Re:Session Report

cfarrell — 2003-05-19T16:59:58+00:00

Adrian says:
I must admit that I was astounded and worried by your gaming methodology:

In response to Greg's:
"This sounded logical to me, so I decided to use Rick’s variant in our first game."

I don't care how people play games in the privacy of their own homes of course :), but that Greg would write a lengthy review based on one play of a variant that "sounded logical" and changes the game rather fundamentally (as he discovered), rather than, say, the rules in the box that the designer had gone to some length to come up with, seems at best a rather dubious decision to me also.

You know, I've been a gamer for a long time, and my instinct on seeing that downtime could be an issue was not "hey, let's fiddle with the rules", but "hey, let's try the simo-play version". The designer did include the version for a reason, I imagine, and I have to think that appealing to players who dislike the downtime issue was in fact that reason. Failing that, I think a timer like the G8 would in fact be an excellent solution that keeps the heart of the game intact.

I think Sunda to Sahul is rather neat, but it is a bit of a "niche" game and, as Adrian says, requires patience. Still, Greg's somewhat randomly negative review isn't, to mind, terribly well thought out or fair. Somthing to consider when sending out future review copies.

Personally, I'm waiting to play a couple more times before I write my review; but I thought Brad's review was pretty good.

Thread: Re:Session Report

adriang — 2003-05-19T02:25:13+00:00

Greg;

I must admit that I was astounded and worried by your gaming methodology:

"This sounded logical to me, so I decided to use Rick’s variant in our first game."

That you would not play the game at least once using the "standard" rules and instead abandon them for an unknown and unworkable variant seems quite strange. By all means play the game and if you find it's not working then seek your own alternatives. But to pick up a new game and immediatly subvert the whole intent of the game based on one other person's opinion . . . This seems even stranger given that you seem to have been given a free review copy (?) presumably on the understanding that you give the game a rigourous testing and appraisal.

I found that Sunda is not really my cup of tea as I don't have the patience for it, and it is IMHO a game that rewards patience. However, I have played with it a bit and found that the only real way to speed up the game is to get familiar with it by playing with the tiles.

I'm surprised given your professed love of jigsaws that you and some freinds didn't try out the puzzle elements of the game before playing. That should have helped with tile familiarity before you launched into the game.

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2003-05-17T15:45:57+00:00

A few weeks back, I was sent this interesting game from Australia in order to play and review. The concept certainly seemed intriguing: a game wherein the board, which depicts a series of islands and sea areas, was comprised of over a hundred jigsaw-puzzle pieces and formed as the game progressed. Certainly this is a variation on the tile-laying concept and one that held promise. I tend to enjoy the occasional jigsaw puzzle, so I was anxious to give this one a try.

The components certainly are top-notch, including 136 thick, colorful jigsaw pieces and an assortment of sturdy player tokens and resource markers. There are also four dice includes, as well as a score board which is quite superfluous.

Although not complicated, the game can be learned in stages. The initial ‘Beginner’s Rules’ is certainly the simplest. Indeed, it is likely too simple for the tastes of most gamers. In this version, players simply place two pieces to the board on each turn, attempting to form “nodes”. A node is formed where the corners of each group of pieces meet in such a way that the pieces completely surround that point. When a node is formed, the player marks this spot with one of his tokens. Forming nodes in this version is quite easy.

Why is this so simple to accomplish? Well, that’s because all 136-puzzle pieces are face-up and the player may select any pieces he desires from this pool. The pieces are designed and cut in such a fashion that they will fit in multiple locations, so finding a match is not all that difficult. Further, if you pick up a piece and it turns-out to not be the piece you need, you can simply place it back and choose another piece without penalty. Certainly, this is the “kind and gentle” version of the game.

Sadly, this also results in a game that simply isn’t much fun. There’s no tension or excitement. You’re simply building a puzzle. Puzzle-lovers might enjoy it, but gamers will find it lacking.

The “Advanced Game” takes the system into the realm of gaming as opposed to strict puzzle building. Various elements can be added to the system and players can choose which section(s) to add. Truthfully, though, each element is not terribly difficult and we found it easy to incorporate all sections into our game. Elements that can be added are:

Water Rights. This is a node that consists of all water at the node point. If the water node is surrounded by land, then it is considered ‘freshwater’ (a lake) and a player can claim this node by placing a token on it. Otherwise, it is a ‘seawater’ node and cannot be claimed. Freshwater nodes are worth either five or ten points at the end of the game, depending upon whether the island surrounding the lake is completed by the conclusion of the game.

Tribes. This adds an element of potential conflict to the game. Whenever a player completes a land node, he may place one of his tokens onto the island. He may either place it into an existing stack of player tokens (up to a maximum limit of five tokens per stack), or form a new stack (tribe). If he desires to place it into an existing tribe, however, he must gain the permission of the player controlling the tribe. The player who has the most tokens in a tribe controls it. If there is a tie, it is broken in favor of the player who own the top-most token in the tribe.

Ultimately, each token in a tribe is worth a number of points equal to the total number of tokens in that tribe. So, if there are four tokens in a tribe, each token is worth four points. So, granting permission to another player to add a token to a tribe could be beneficial, but you must keep a careful eye on the control status of the tribe.

Players can also opt to use the “Challenge” element when playing with the Tribe rules. Whenever a player adds a token to a tribe or forms a new tribe, he may then select ANY tribe he controls and challenge a different tribe on that same island. Dice are rolled, with the player controlling the larger tribe usually having the advantage of more dice. The highest individual number rolled by each player is compared and the victorious player gets to replace the top tribe marker in the losing tribe with one of his own. As in real-life, combat can be risky, but often worth it for the additional points it can yield.

Resources. Finally, there are various resource chips that can be added to an island when a player adds a tribe token. Resource markers are valued at 5 – 10 and can only be added if the number on the token is equal to or less than the number of tribe tokens on the island. Once placed, they cannot be removed or exchanged.

At the end of the game, the player with the most tribal markers on the island receives the number of points listed on any resource chips located on that island. These points are doubled if the island is completely formed! This can be significant and will likely cause numerous tribal conflicts in attempts to control the island.

The game ends whenever a player has placed all of his tribal tokens (called “spirit” tokens in the rules). Interestingly, the rules also call for an end to the game whenever a player has used all their jigsaw tiles. This is strange since I couldn’t locate any clause in the rules that allotted a certain number of jigsaw tiles to each player. Hmmm. Also, according to the rules, he game can also end “when all parties agree to finish”. That’s a bit scary as it does offer a hint in just how long the game might last.

Whichever method triggers the game’s conclusion, players earn points as follows:

· Resources: The values of all resource chips on an island are added and awarded to the player possessing the greatest number of spirit tokens on that island. These points are doubled if the island is fully formed.

· Tribal points: The value of each spirit token is determined (each token is worth an amount equal to the number of tokens in that tribe).

· Water Rights: Any spirit token located on a ‘freshwater’ node is worth 5 points, or 10 points if the island around it is completely formed.

Of course, the player with the most points is victorious. There is no method provided to break any ties.

Prior to playing the game, I had read several other session reports from other individuals. Nearly all of them complained about the excessive down-time present in the game as players searched the pool of 130 plus pieces in search of the optimum piece. This worried me tremendously. The designer of the game suggested using a timer to limit each player’s turn, but I tend to dislike such methods as I find that timers put a tremendous amount of pressure on the players and force them to make bad plays. Timers have their place in some games, but in games of strategy, I tend to frown upon their use.

Rick Thornquist had proposed an idea wherein instead of having all pieces face-up and available in a pool, only 6 pieces were available each turn. The idea is that with far fewer pieces to choose from, the amount of down-time would be severely reduced. This sounded logical to me, so I decided to use Rick’s variant in our first game.

Much to my surprise, this certainly did not alleviate the ‘down-time’ problem. Indeed, based on the time durations discussed in the other reports I had read, our game proved much, much longer. I couldn’t understand why as the variant seemed to be a perfect solution. I had the opportunity to chat with Rick about this and I came to the realization that in limiting the pool to six pieces, it was much more difficult to form nodes. Indeed, often several rounds would pass without anyone forming one. This meant that players were not placing their spirit tokens to the board on most turns. This caused the game to drag on and on and on. So, as strange as it may seem, having all pieces available to choose from actually makes the game go quicker as nodes are easier to form and, thus, players place their spirit tokens with far greater regularity. Lesson to be learned.

Truth-be-told, I was ready to abandon the game after our first playing until I spoke with Rick. Now, I’m interested in playing it again with the rules as written to see if my opinion would improve on the basis of a quicker game. I’m still intrigued by the concept, as the idea of forming a board from jigsaw puzzle pieces is quite clever. However, one of the beauties of jigsaw puzzles is that you can work on it for 20 to 30 minutes, then set it aside and walk away, returning later to locate a few more pieces of the puzzle. This is impossible in a game setting, so one must play to completion, finishing what you have started in one sitting. Unless the time required to play this is drastically reduced, I have a strong suspicion that this “game in a puzzle” concept is a case of “neat idea, but just doesn’t click”.

I was joined by Elizabeth, Keith and Michael for our inaugural playing. As mentioned, using Rick Thornquist’s variant, we found forming nodes to be quite difficult. This caused copious amounts of down-time as we examined each piece in hopes of locating the right combination and location to form a node. I think we all were a bit intrigued by the concept, but the tedious nature of the game eventually took its toll. Thus, after the first hour, we all seemed anxious to get the game over with, yet had to endure another 1 ¼ hour before we finished.

I managed to place all my spirit tokens and grab control of the largest island, earning me quite a few resource and tribal points. This was enough to capture the victory.

Finals: Greg 70, Keith 40, Michael 27, Elizabeth 21

Ratings: Greg 5, Keith 4, Elizabeth 4, Michael 3.5

Thread: Re:User Review

adriang — 2003-04-04T07:45:30+00:00

I found a good way to start was by building separate nodes using 3 tiles, 4 tiles, 5 tiles and 6 tiles. This is a simple "puzzle" that helps with basic tile familiarization, but also really assists in the understanding of the various ways the tiles can fit together.

Thread: User Review

tempus42 — 2003-04-03T18:33:39+00:00

Game Overview
Sunda to Sahul is a tile-laying game set in ancient Indonesia. Players take the role of 4 different "spirit totems", each trying to lead their people to the best island locations. The islands are built by the players from a truly innovative set of tiles as the game progresses. There are a number of different variants presented in the rules, but all follow the same basic structure: The game begins with one piece in the center of the table. A player chooses a tile and connects it to the growing board. If that player created one or more "nodes", he may place one of his tokens on it to indicate his ownership. Ownership is worth points at the end of the game, and the game is over when all the tiles are used up or one player runs out of tokens.

A "node" is formed at "a point where corners of each of a group of tiles all meet in such a way that the tiles completely surround that point". This may sound confusing, but it's relatively easy to see on the board and the illustrated examples in the rulebook. Basically, if the tiles were squares, a node would be the point at which 4 adjacent square tiles intersect. But in Sunda to Sahul, the tiles are not squares, and that's the what makes this game new and interesting. It's crucial that you get an intuitive feeling for nodes and how to create them.

The two main options of play are "turns-based" and "no-turns". The "turns-based" game is the traditional style of game, where each player takes a turn playing two tiles. In the "no-turns" game, however, it's a free-for-all: players place tiles and claim nodes simultaneously.

In the Basic Game, players simply place their tiles and then place a token if they can. Each token is worth one point at the end of the game, or two if it's on a "completed" island. (Naturally, an island is "completed" if it is completely surrounded by water.) In practice, the first player to play all of his tokens can probably be fairly sure of winning. The Basic Game is a good way to learn the fundamentals, but otherwise it's mostly suitable for children.

The Advanced Game adds a palette of optional rules that you can choose to add to the Basic Game. First is the concept of Tribes: When a player forms a new node on an island, he may stack his token with others already on the island. Tribes are worth considerably more points than single tokens. Closely associated with Tribes is the optional Cooperation rule. If you are allowing Cooperation, Tribes may be formed of tokens owned by different players. Both players benefit when it comes to scoring, but only the player with the most tokens in the Tribe controls decisions for that Tribe (such as allowing other tokens to join). That becomes very important when the Challenges rule is added. Challenges allow Tribes to attack one another, and this is the only source of luck in the game, in that attacks are resolved with dice rolls. Another optional advanced rule is Water Rights, which grants points for "water nodes" that may be formed on the interior of islands. Finally, Resources can provide bonus points for islands that are very large, with 5 or more nodes in them.

Last, there are rules for Solitaire Games, which are really more like puzzles. The Solitaire rules encourage the player to try to create a board where all islands are complete, or to create certain islands of a certain specific shape or appearance. Some puzzles are provided in the rulebook, and more are given on the Sagacity web page (http://sagacity.aires.com.au/). Games of this sort are somewhat reminiscent of the "Instant Insanity" type of puzzle (http://www.geocities.com/jaapsch/puzzles/insanity.htm) or even tangrams (http://tangrams.ca/tanhist.htm).

Components and Presentation
In terms of materials, Sunda to Sahul is exemplary!! Start with the box: Normally not worth mentioning, but several people I have played the game with have all noticed that the box is probably one of the strongest and best made I've ever seen. The box art is quite good and evocative of the theme, and the color scheme mirrors that of the game pieces. The cardboard tokens provided are colorful and illustrated with an Indonesian flair that is perfect for the game.

The rules booklet is relatively brief and quite clearly written. There were a few minor points that I confused at first because of the slight differences between the Basic, Advanced, and No-Turns rules, but nothing major. The color illustrations help understanding of the game considerably.

But the showpiece of the game, and the most strikingly innovative aspect of Sunda to Sahul, are the tiles themselves. Instead of simple squares or polyominoes, as have been used in many, many other games, Sunda to Sahul employs an ingenious jigsaw-puzzle-piece shape. At first, it may seem that the pieces are irregularly shaped like those in a real jigsaw puzzle, but study reveals that they are actually all essentially diamond shaped, two equilateral triangles back-to-back. The twist is that each of the four sides of the diamond have either a "tab" or a "hole" on them, and all possible combinations are covered. That means there are 10 different tile shapes, which might be challenging enough, but each of the shapes also have different combinations of land and water depicted on them. Every tile is unique, so finding just the tile you need becomes the crux of the game. This clever design allows the tiles to be fit together to create nodes in several different ways -- nodes can be formed with as few as 3 or as many as 6 tiles.

The tiles are made of a wood composite that is very attractive in addition to being very, very durable, so don't worry about the game holding up physically to repeated play. The jigsaw shapes are laser cut, which is probably important for a game that requires the tiles to fit together accurately in several different ways. I believe I might have purchased a set of tiles like this for the Solitaire Game possibilities alone.

One very minor criticism of the marketing: Most people I know (Americans primarily, perhaps others) have no idea to what "Sunda" or "Sahul" refer. I thought I had an above-average grasp of geography, but I had to look it up. Sunda and Sahul are the western and eastern ends, respectively, of the Indonesian archipelago. The name of the game refers to the ancients' migration from the Sunda (Sumatra) end to the Sahul (New Guinea) end. I don't think the name will turn off potential players, but it doesn't really serve to attract them either.

Game Play and Strategy
Sunda to Sahul is very fun for many different types of players, but I definitely recommend sticking with the Advanced Game unless you're just getting acquainted with the game for the first or you're playing with young children. With all of the Advanced Rules, there is plenty of strategy and choices to please casual to serious gamers, while the compelling pieces will attract non-gamers as well. Puzzle fans will definitely like the jigsaw puzzle style of the game, but they may prefer the Solitaire Game. My wife, who is a casual gamer, declared "I know I'm going to like this game a lot" about 3 turns into her first try. Those, like her, who appreciate attractive components and visual/observation-based strategy, will definitely enjoy Sunda to Sahul.

The first skill to acquire is how to recognize and form nodes. This takes a combination of cleverness, observation, and patience. You must realize first that the "tabs" and "holes", unlike a regular jigsaw puzzle, are universal -- they fit together in any combination, not just one. Second, you have to notice that the board is essentially built on a triangular grid, and each tile covers 2 adjacent triangles. A node is always the center of a hexagon formed by 6 triangles, which may be contributed by as few as 3 tiles (if all 3 are placed the "wide" way), as many as 6 tiles (if all 6 are placed the "narrow" way) or several different arrangements of 4 or 5 tiles. Once you get this concept down, finding the tiles you need becomes a little more straightforward. Everyone seems to have their own style. I found it worked best for me to think of the tiles sort of like dominoes, characterized by the tabs and holes on each side and whether the sides were land or water. So I would, for example, look for a "wide angle with a land tab on the left and a water hole on the right".

In terms of strategy, the choices seem fairly straightforward at first, but repeated play actually begins to reveal additional layers, which I'm still learning myself. If everyone is playing to maximize node formation (which seems to be the norm with beginning players), then it's actually quite trivial to form at least one node
(sometimes two) during each of your turns. Game play quickly begins to focus on Cooperating to build Tribes up to 5 tokens, with yourself in control, of course. Every turn should be focused on creating your node, placing your token on a tribe that gives you the greatest NET point gain, and then making an attack on the largest Tribe that you are most sure of defeating.

The next tier of strategy seems to be doing all of the above while ensuring that you don't leave the next player any "easy" nodes (i.e. a node that can be completed with only one tile). It seems to be quite difficult to achieve that, so you are normally resigned to leave only a "wide" placement, hoping the player will need to use both of his tile plays to complete the node so he only gets the one.

The third tier of strategy is the realization that completed islands are the key to victory -- all points are doubled on a completed island. You want to form the largest islands that you can that a) you can complete and b) from which you can exclude other players' tokens. This is where the inter-player interaction really becomes fruitful. You want to build your islands big (and attack interlopers to keep them off of it), but your opponents will want to either a) close off your islands while they are small, b) prevent your islands from closing off at all, and/or c) "horn in" on your islands to share your good fortune. We've played games where almost no islands got more that 2-3 nodes big, and we've played games where one monster island became the primary battlefield for all 4 players. Closing off larger islands can become difficult, particularly if someone is actively working against you. Your best bet is to get one other player to Cooperate with you to close off the island when it is suitably large. However, the large islands tend to have Resources discovered on them, which makes them more valuable to the partner who controls the island, which in turn discourages long term Cooperation and encourages even more settlers. This is where we're currently trying to develop our skills -- knowing when to grow an island, when to close it off, and when to allow someone else into your Tribe. The interactions are more subtle that you might realize at first.

I believe the next tier of strategy, which we are only just beginning to realize in my group, is the understanding of the importance of the water tiles instead of focusing only on the land. First, Water Rights can obviously bring in a fair number of points for the commitment of only ONE token, and no one can attack you to take these points away from you. This seems to be a very important point, but we are just learning how to be effective building lakes. Second, and less apparent, are the effective use of all-water (or mostly water) tiles as a means to prevent the next player from being able to build nodes. It's difficult to think this way, because by playing an all-water tile you guarantee that you cannot get a node (or at least a land node) with that tile, but it may make a critical difference in scoring if used properly. Currently, we have never had a game end by running out of tiles; the winner has always been the first to run out of tokens. There are several ways to slow down the leader, and we're looking at ways to apply these more effectively: Extensive use of Challenges to remove the leader's tokens, and clever tile placement to prevent node formation by the leader.

I must confess that I have only played the Turn-Based game to date. My group is not accustomed to playing "physical/dexterity" games, and we were uncomfortable having the win hinge on being able to reach the right tile and put it into place quickly. When playing with my family, we thought it would probably be unfair for the kids. I would like to try the "No Turns" game soon, but I think it will require a group of very like-minded players.

Based on our early confusion of the rules, we actually enjoyed a sort of hybrid form of the Turn-Based and No-Turns game -- We used all the Turn-Based rules, but gave each person their own tile pool (as in the No-Turns game). 2-for-1 swaps were permitted to get a tile you needed from someone else's pool. This helped cut down the tile searching time since you could usually focus on your own pool, but did alllow you to pay a minor penalty to take a tile from someone else. If you find there's too much downtime while other players search for tiles, I recommend this slight change.

Summary
Sunda to Sahul is perhaps the highest quality independent small-press game that I have ever seen -- It's more professionally produced than a fair number of large-press games I could name. If you like tile-laying games that are like Carcassonne or Hellas, you will like this game. It is an excellent addition to that genre, with several considerable new innovations to set it apart. The flexibility and modularity of the design will please many different types of gamers, but also provides one of the few bridges I've seen between the puzzling world and the gaming world (Ricochet Robot being one other example). The cost is a bit high, but bear in mind that you are getting top-quality components from an independent publisher in Australia (not necessarily the most accessible location to the rest of the world). I think the result is well worth it, but I happen to know that the designer is considering reduced cost alternatives for the future as well.

My Ratings (1 low to 10 high):

Basic Game
Overall 5
Complexity 3
Innovation 8
Strategy 4
Theme 5
Interaction 4

Advanced Game
Overall 9
Complexity 5
Innovation 9
Strategy 6
Theme 6
Interaction 7

Disclaimer: A complimentary evaluation copy of Sunda to Sahul was provided to the reviewer.

Thread: User Review

RichardV — 2003-02-28T17:18:49+00:00

Sunda to Sahul is the first game released by Sagacity Games. Designed by an Australian, Don Bone, its title refers to the ancient landmasses that almost connected Australia and South-East Asia some 50 000 years ago. Sunda to Sahul is actually a family of games, that can be played solitaire, or by up to four people. At its heart, Sunda is a competitive jigsaw puzzle: it comes with 136 wooden jigsaw pieces that show bits of tropical islands and their coastline, and that can be assembled in a variety of ways. There are 10 tile shapes, and between 6 and 16 terrain configurations on the tiles (depending on whether the tile shape is symmetrical), which makes 136 unique tile configurations (the set could have been 20 bigger if peninsulas - tiles with two isolated bits of sea had been included). The fun in the game is trying to use these pieces to build bigger and better islands than your opponents.

The one-player game works as you might imagine. You are challenged to assemble these tiles into a series of complete islands forming one continuous board. There are also some smaller puzzles given in the rulesbook, with more promised on the company web-site (sagacity.aires.com.au). These smaller puzzles are quite difficult. The simpler ones show a picture of a completed island, but have no piece borders illustrated. This is how a conventional jigsaw puzzle is done, but conventional jigsaws usually have more variation in the picture than just tropical jungle and coastline. The occasional animals and people on the tiles, plus small variation in foliage and coastline are the only clues to work with. It took my brother and I about 10 minutes to do a 14-piece puzzle of this type. The next level of difficulty shows only the coastline of the island, with one piece outlined in the middle for scale and as a starting point. These are seriously tricky puzzles that you will not get out in 20 minutes, but which will not take days like a 1500 piece jigsaw does. These puzzles may suit fans of impossi-puzzles and die-hard puzzlers, but were a bit much for a street amateur like me.

On to the games in the Sunda "package". There is a beginner's game, a menu of advanced rules from which you can pick'n'mix, and then a real-time game which may also include any of the advanced rules. All of these games revolve around making a "land node", which is a piece vertex entirely surrounded by other pieces that all show land at that vertex (as opposed to sea). The "Aha" factor of finding a piece that completes an island you have been building is present in all the versions of the game, but the surrounding game structures have a big effect on determining whether the players will have a great or lousy time.

The beginner's game doesn't quite work as a game. The problem is this: the only way to score points is to complete a node, which permits you to place a marker that will be worth one point (or two if the island containing the node is complete at game's end). A node can be completed with anywhere between 3 and 6 adjoining pieces. Each turn a player may place two pieces chosen from the entire pool of tiles. The consequence is that each player should be able to score one point a turn, or two points if they are lucky and the other players have left several half-finished nodes. However finding the piece needed to complete the node and score the point may take some time, as on average about one piece in 20 will fit to complete a node. Part-way through her first turn, my 75 year-old Mum said "How long have I got to take my turn", I replied, "As long as you need", she said "What do you mean? I can just keep looking?!". She was right, it doesn't really make any sense. You will either find a suitable piece or discover that all of the ones you need have already been played, and it is simply a matter of an intensive search to determine which; therefore everyone else might as well help look as otherwise the game takes longer but the outcome is the same. Each group seems to develop its own terminology to help in this search, which is fun, but largely negates any element of sensible competition in the game and perhaps moves it from the category of game to past-time. We solved Mum's problem by shifting to the real-time game, where everyone goes hell-for-leather whacking in pieces as fast as they can. This is certainly competitive, but, as there is no real luck, a small edge in skill can lead to a crushing victory.

The advanced rules shift the focus towards diplomacy and treachery by allowing the scoring tokens to be formed into tribes. These tribes may do battle, with the bigger tribe more likely to win, and the consequence that one scoring token changes sides. Playing the advanced game with a 1-minute timer for each turn (not supplied) certainly turns Sunda into a real game. There is some subtlety in the tribe and conflict rules, and they seem to lead to a game of treaties and back-stabbing that somewhat resembles Risk.

Strategy in the beginner's game revolves around preventing island completion by others as this doubles the value of their nodes. In the advanced game, strategy it is more involved, and centres on judging how generous and how trustworthy your fellow players are, so as to find a safe place to form a tribe or a good tribe to join. However, because tribe size is limited to 5 tokens, a "go it alone" strategy seems to be as effective as a strategy of careful co-operation and co-existence. If played with a time limit, good strategy in both beginner's and advanced games becomes subordinate to the ability to quickly identify pieces that will enable you to form a node.

The components are both lavish and functional - certainly one of the best self-published games ever made, and equal in standard to any game from a big European publisher. The spirit tokens would have been better with double-sided printing or more distinctive die cut shapes, and the scoring board would have been easier to use if it were base 50 or even base 20, but these are minor quibbles. The wooden jigsaw pieces are very impressive: attractive, close fitting, and sturdy. The rules are clear and straight-forward, and there is a FAQ at the web-site.

This is a tough game to evaluate. My puzzling friends didn't like the game as much as I expected because they found it too stressful (this was the timed, and the real-time version) while they did jigsaws to relax. They probably would have enjoyed fiddling with the pieces and attempting some of the puzzles. I can't help feeling the game might have been better marketed as a puzzle AND a game. The piece design is very clever, and the way they fit together is intriguing and attractive. The game works when played with time limits and has a quite acceptable duration (< 20 minutes a game for the real-time version; < 1 hour for the game with a 1-minute turn timer). Sunda is not a hard-core strategy-game, but it offers a different and satisfying play experience, and most people that I've played the game with have enjoyed it. Unfortunately the beginner's game, which may well be all that most people try, just doesn't work; while the advanced rules seem to encourage fairly brutal play, not really suited to the family table. The real-time version, which turns the beginner's game into a proper game, strongly rewards players with more skill and experience, rather in the way Ricochet Robots does, but doesn't have any catch-up feature like that included in Robots where lower scorers have a minute to find an equivalent-length route. All of this is a pity, as within the Sunda to Sahul "family", I think many game players could find a game to suit them: for me the brew consists of all the advanced rules except the resource markers, with a one-minute limit on each player's turn.

Thread: Session Report

e.loureiro — 2003-02-26T22:51:24+00:00

My wife was a little sad yesterday and, since she likes puzzles, I invited her to try Sunda to Sahul, this board game which is also a puzzle.

From the very beginning, I saw smiles and smiles in my wife's face. She was delighted.

After some minutes of slow play recognizing the tiles patterns, the turn based version (there's a simultaneous one) became faster and we could enjoy the game even more.

I managed to put more tokens in a large completed island and avoided another large island being completed, since my wife had more tokens in it. But, since it was our first game, we tried to form a lake together, and she put the last piece, controlling a 4-node lake that gave her 20 points.

My wife ended up winning for a small difference. But I've gained the smiles in her face. :)

Next time, we'll try the tribe version, one of the many variants that comes with the game.

Thread: User Review

Spielfreak — 2003-02-16T17:27:34+00:00

Sunda to Sahul is a fresh, very clever, and well produced game of exploration and settlement. The puzzle pieces are remarkably durable and visually pleasing, the tokens are thick and distinguishable both in shape and color, and the box is compact and the stiffest cardboard one I've ever encountered. While the artwork is unique on all puzzle pieces, there is some overlap in piece functionality.

Game Play
In general, players expand the evolving map each turn by attaching two pieces to the puzzle. A token may be placed on the map whenever a land node (intersection of pieces) is completed. In the basic game, this token is placed on the newly created node, while in the advanced game this token may be placed either on this node or on top of an existing stack of tokens (a tribe). The taller the stack (max is 5 tokens), the greater the worth of each token in the stack. Tribes may fight each other, with the winner replacing one of the loser's tokens with one of their own. As the island's population grows, resource chits may be added that provide additional victory points. Play continues until either all pieces are placed or (more likely) one player has used all of their tokens. Victory points are awarded for tokens, owners of fresh water lakes (water nodes that are completely surrounded by land), and resources. Only the player with the most tokens on an island scores resource points. In addition, all points are doubled if the island that is being scored is complete. The player with the most points wins.

In an interesting twist, this game may instead be played in a simultaneous fashion, in which each player gets a separate pool of random puzzle pieces to use. Play focus tends to become myopic, as you concentrate on using your pieces as quickly and as effectively as possible, generally on the part of the map closest to you. Play continues until either one player has placed all of their tokens or used all of their puzzle pieces. You may take and use an opponent's puzzle piece, but at a cost of losing two of your own pieces. This is a quick and frantic way to play the game.

Analysis
There is a lot to consider on each player's turn. As all puzzle pieces are face up, there is complete information available when selecting which two pieces to play. There is definately the danger of analysis paralysis setting in, which is why the FAQ recommends that a 1 or 2 minute timer be used each turn. Although there is tile placement that is akin to Carcassone, I find that the decisions are more like those encountered in Medina; anyone can add onto any island, and your choice of extending or trying to complete an island is based on the past play and potential play of your opponents. In Medina, everyone starts with the same building tiles, and players sieze opportunities to cap and claim buildings. In Sunda to Sahul, everyone starts with the same access to all pieces, and players sieze opportunities to create nodes and increase their control over islands. But unlike Medina, control of an island may shift, either through island expansion or through tribal warfare. Large islands are particularly susceptible to this activity, as they have the potential to yield resource victory points. A strategy for completing smaller islands may work, particularly if you are the only one with tokens on such islands. Finally, luck increases as the game progresses, as you may find that the piece you are searching for has already been played. This is not really a drawback, but rather a function of the puzzle mechanism.

Conclusion
It is a pleasure to play this game! The bits are of superb quality, the rules are straightforward and easy to explain, and the gameplay is stimulating and rewarding. The only drawback is the concern about the downtime between turns; while one may mitigate this by trying to locate desired puzzle pieces during this time, chances are that the puzzle will change enough that the once-desired pieces are no longer optimal. Still, none of the five games I've played to date has gone beyond an hour in duration, so if there is an analysis problem, it at least seems to be minimal.

Thread: User Review

adriang — 2003-01-26T16:38:45+00:00

Sunda to Sahul is a very interesting game. Pour it out of the box, and you get a nice collection of bits- lots of solid jigsaw-like pieces, a scoreboard, tribal markers and resource markers.

The game itself is a little similar to Carcassone, in that you choose tiles to create the board, but scoring is quite different, and the pieces used here have a variety of shapes, which can ingeniously fit together in various ways. If the tiles are placed in such a way as to form a "node" (pieces radiating from a central point) on an island, you are allowed to place a tribe on the board. These tribes can be stacked up with each tribes man in a stack increasing the points earned. A completed island doubles the points scored, and if you have an island with an inland sea further bonus points are scored.

If several different tribes find themselves co-habiting an island, then they can choose to live in peace and harmony, or co-operate towards a mutually higher scoring and more defensible future, or, if you play games anything like my group does, be ruthlessless hunted down and scoured from the face of the island. The "combat" between tribes reminded me a bit of "RISK", with relative numbers of dice being rolled depending on size of tribe.

In adiition, there are resources which can be placed on an island if it has more than a certain number of tribes. These also add to the scoring and value of an island.

Still, the main part of the game is the somewhat jigsaw, somewhat Carcossone map-building. The vast array of shapes ond pictures on the tiles is a little mind boggling at first, but with repeated plays would become easier.

The game can also be played as turn-based or as a real-time game.

Overall, a visually pleasing game with several different modes of play, including a single player puzzle mode. If you like jigsaws and games, this would be a natural choice for you.