Game: Dragon Delta

Image

felo — 2008-11-02T15:48:09+00:00

The end of our first two game player. Black (I) won :-D

Image

Lord_Prussian — 2008-06-19T18:44:59+00:00

back of box (well cropped and rotated)

Image

Lord_Prussian — 2008-06-19T18:43:57+00:00

better representative image

Thread: 5 first-timers play Dragon Delta

scottsnew1 — 2008-05-12T23:56:14+00:00

Once a month we have a game night at church on friday night. One friend of mine has settlers, and i have a couple dozen games. The rest of the games played there are your standard Wal-Mart fare. I like to try to bring a new one each time. Most people there like lighter games, so this past weekend i brought Dragon Delta.

After about 5 minutes of going over the rules, we started playing. I was the only one who had played it before, so it was me and 5 newbies. I had photocopied off a couple of summaries of the cards and their meanings, so the 5 new players could refer to them.

It started off slowly, with nobody quite getting what was happening, but after about 5 minutes everyone started to catch on to the mechanics. It started to get really really fun to all turn our cards over and see what would happen to whom.

One of the players was only 8 years old, and he seemed to be able to catch on the fastest, never having any questions about rules or play. There was a lot of back and forth with several players almost reaching their goal, but being thwarted at the last moment.

It finally ended with one of the newbies winning after a one hour game.
A couple of days later one of the players asked me about the game and where she could get it, because she had so much fun! I wonder what game i will bring next time. I think maybe ticket to ride.

Thread: Re: Dragon Delta is Fun!!

ipgyst — 2008-04-29T16:56:20+00:00

I like Dragon Delta as well, and I've had a lot of fun and success with it, especially with new gamers, light gamers, and infrequent gamers. It's probably a stretch to call Dragon Delta a gateway game, but it has some of those qualities.

I wouldn't play Dragon Delta with less than 4 players because the board seems too empty.

The pawns and stones are made of wood. The planks are made of thick and sturdy cardboard. My cards have held up well after 10-15 plays.

Nice review.

Thread: Dragon Delta is Fun!!

scottsnew1 — 2008-04-29T08:51:41+00:00

Dragon Delta is a highly interactive, Medium-Light game for 2-6 players. The premise of the game is you are trying to move your pawn from their home village, across wooden planks to get to the other side of a river delta in South east Asia.

What's in the box?

Dragon Delta boasts a pretty big box. You get a nice board, 6 pawns, 36 planks, and 6 identical sets of 9 different action cards. Everything is of good quality, and the board is attractive.

Gameplay

Each player has a starting village, one pawn, 6 planks in 6 different lengths, and their hand of cards. They try to get across to the other side of the delta by playing cards which will allow them to do the following:

* Place one stone
* Place two stones
* Place one plank
* Place two planks
* Move one space
* Move two spaces
* Jump over an adjacent pawn
* Remove a stone or plank (can be any stone or plank, including opponents)
* One dragon card for each specific opponent color which cancels that color's opponent's action that turn.

When trying to cross the delta, it is first necessary to place a stone which will allow a plank to rest on top of it. Stones may be placed at specific points on the board, and they are of varying distances apart, thus the varying lengths of planks.
Next is placing a plank extending from your village to that plank, and finally you have to move your pawn onto that plank. It may take a series of 5 planks or more to get to the other side of the board and reach your destination village, depending on the length of the planks, and how straight your path is. Up to 3 planks may rest on any one stone, going off in different directions.

Sounds easy enough. But your opponents are also trying to do the same thing, and both you and they are holding cards, that remove stones(could be yours), remove planks(could be yours) and cancel actions(could be yours!)

Each round is played using simultaneous action selection.
Each player chooses Five actions from among their hand of 9, and places them down on the table in front of them in the order they wish to play them.

A starting player is chosen. They will get to use their action card first. All players then turn their leftmost card face-up simultaneously.
If the action he has chosen was not canceled by a dragon someone else has played against him, he gets to perform that action. play proceed around the table each person trying to complete his action. Then the next card in the row of five is turned up and the same thing happens. Play proceeds through the 5 cards. After that you repeat the process: Look at your situation on the board, pick 5 actions you want to do, and choose the order, lay down your cards in the order you wish, and everyone plays their cards simultaneously. The next player at the table is the starting player for this round.

When placing planks, you may place your plank on any stone available, even if it was not set down by you. Also, you may move your pawn onto any empty plank, even if it is not your color of plank. When you steal somebody's plank, it cannot be the same length of plank you already have in your reserve. Also you can only hold 2 different colors of planks at one time. If you try to make a move, say move your pawn 2 spaces, but there are no planks for you to move to because someone has removed them, you go back to the beginning. Also, if you play the card jump over a pawn, and there is no adjacent pawn to jump over, you also go back to your starting village.

The game ends when you finally get your pawn across the delta to the village on the opposite side.

How is that fun?

The keys are Guessing, Bluffing and Timing. Maybe I need to lay down a plank in order to move. But my opponents know that, so they will try to play a dragon card against me to stop me from playing my plank. I will also want to stop them by removing their plank, removing their stone, or canceling their actions. So do i try to move on the first turn or the second or which? and which action of theirs should i try to cancel? first? third? fifth? how about the other opponents? What on earth are they up to and when?

So every turn you are tying to guess and outguess each other. Sometimes by shear luck you get to move your pawn a couple of spaces, but only to loose ground the next round.

The first time we played this was with 3 players, and we were going Huh? What is this about?
But by the end of that first game we understood, and we were laying our cards down like pros, looking around the board, eyeing-up our opponents, arranging and re-arranging our cards before play, and we started to have a blast!

What is the verdict?

I was lucky enough to get Dragon Delta game for only $10, so i took a chance. I am really glad i did! we have played it with 3 and 4 players and we had a great time every time we played. 2 players is not that great, but i think that with 5 or 6 it would also be a great time.

Dragon Delta is not Die Macher, and shouldn't be judged on that scale.
But if you like lighter games with a TON of interaction, then give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised!

Final score?
I give Dragon Delta a 7.5!

Image

ArtEmiSa64 — 2008-03-12T17:13:23+00:00

German box

Image

barnyams36 — 2008-02-29T09:49:45+00:00

Six player game and public in the park

Image

duchamp — 2008-02-25T16:54:53+00:00

Unpunched bridge tiles # 2

Image

duchamp — 2008-02-25T16:54:23+00:00

Unpunched bridge tiles # 1

Image

matthewoods — 2008-01-05T00:53:57+00:00

Thread: Re: A good fun game

Abruk — 2007-10-27T21:17:43+00:00

It's a kit expensive. So i need to try it first after bought.

Thread: Re: Does anyone have the rules please?

miras23 — 2007-09-04T20:17:31+00:00

Hi Roberto Fraga
My e-mail miras23@poczta.onet.pl
It would be great if you could email me the rules!
Thanks!!!!!!!!

Thread: Re: A good fun game

volnon — 2007-06-03T23:11:55+00:00

Nice review, and yes, I have this game and it is excellent! Lots of fun and I love the concept.

Thread: A good fun game

todi — 2007-06-03T08:33:05+00:00

1. The game was a big hit with a couple of kids aged 6 and 10. Both wanted to play it again after one play!

2. The game is a typical race game and reminded me of the old Chinese Checkers with the strategic euro element that makes it so much more interesting and fun.

3. The components are well produced though the box just looks a bit big for the amount of stuff in it.

4. The rules are simple and easy and can be explained in 5 minutes.

5. Pawns are moved across the delta based on a series of action cards. Each player chooses five cards out of their hand of action cards and place them face down below simultaneously.

6. The delta is filled with rocks. Stones have to be placed on the rocks, and planks across two stones to create a series of rickety bridges on which the pawn moves.

7. The dragon cards in each player's hand cancel out the action of another player and adds just that element of nastiness to the game.

8. The other interesting factor is that though the planks are colour coded, this is mainly for the initial placement. There is also a restriction that when one plays, the card that helps one to replenish a plank from the board, you cannot take a similar sized plank that you already have. You can also not hold more than 2 colours of planks.

9. The game is won when the first player moves a pawn to a village on the opposite side of the delta. This again is colour coded in such a way that specific pawns have to move to specific villages in order to win.

10. Overall a good fun game, can be used as a gateway game also, has enough strategic elements to keep everyone interested. The theme also seems to sit very well on the game.

Image

chindent — 2007-03-19T00:18:08+00:00

Nice Promo Shot

Image

duchamp — 2007-02-08T20:40:47+00:00

german overview of cards use

Thread: Review by SOS from 2001

sos1 — 2007-02-07T22:57:42+00:00

Dragon Delta is an interesting game in the guess-what-I'll-do-now category. Although listed for 2-6 players, it's not very good with just two. We've found 3-4 players plays best, although I was surprised at how much fun a six-player game actually was. The basic theme is that of racing across a river delta on planks you or other players have placed from rock to rock. Each of the players starts in the village matching their color, and has to reach the village directly opposite their own village.

Components

The game is good looking, with a mix of sturdy cardboard and wooden components, and simple but colorful cards. The board shows a southeast Asian river delta, with six villages around the edges and numerous rocks scattered throughout. There are wooden "stones" to place on the pictured rocks, and wooden pawns representing the players and the start player. The planks your pieces walk on are thick cardboard, color-coded for your home village. Finally, there are six decks of cards, identical except for backs and colors of the dragon cards in them.

A Basic Turn

Each player has a deck of eight cards plus one dragon card for each opponent in the game. Each turn you "program" your actions: lay down five cards in a row, face down. This is similar to RoboRally, with the major difference that you always start with the same cards each turn - there are no random draws.

Once everyone has programmed their turn, the "phase one" cards are all revealed. The start player performs the action pictured on his card, then the other players do the same, in sequence around the table. The only exception to this is a dragon card - if a dragon card is played, the player whose color it matches takes no action that phase.

Once phase one is complete, everyone turns over their phase two cards, and those actions are carried out. And so on through all five phases, at which point the turn is over, everyone picks up their cards, the starting player pawn is passed to the next player, and you begin programming for the next turn.

The Cards

Each player has the following cards:

* Place one stone
* Place two stones
* Place one plank
* Place two planks
* Move one space
* Move two spaces
* Jump over an adjacent pawn
* Pick up a stone or plank
* One dragon card for each opponent in the game, matching their colors

Stones can be placed on any of the pictured rocks on the board. Once placed, they may not be moved (except if actually picked up with the card that allows that).

Planks can be placed from stone to stone, or from village to stone, or from stone to village. You have six planks of your color, numbered 1-6, all different sizes. When placing a plank, you can only eyeball the distance, then pick the size plank you wish based on your best guess. If it's too short for the position you're aiming for, you have to place it in another position, or it drops into the delta and out of the game. You can't have more than three plank-ends on any stone or village, and all planks must be over a stone at both ends, without crossing another plank in the middle.

Moving is just that: moving your pawn one or two spaces, from your starting village to a plank, or from a plank to an adjacent plank, or from a plank to another village. Only one pawn per plank is allowed, and you can only jump over an adjacent pawn if you play the [B]Jump card. If you can't move or jump, you fall into the delta, and have to start over at your starting village.

Picking up a plank or stone is where the bowbing begins. Ideally you pick up a plank that another player needs to move to, hopefully causing him to fall into the delta, provoking much merriment among the other players. The plank you pick up goes into your stockpile (or a stone into the common stockpile). There are some limitations on collecting planks, though:

* You may not have planks of more than two different colors,
* You may not have two planks with the same numbers.

A Dragon card prevents another player from taking his action that phase. Your deck contains one dragon card for each opponent, in their color. You may not play more than one dragon card in each five-card turn, however. Notice that you also effectively sacrifice any action yourself that phase - your action is to cancel another player's action. Used at the right time, this is the other main bowbing card in the game.

So What's the Thrill?

Timing. It's all timing. Let's say you're on a plank two spaces away from your target village. You've already placed the stones you need to lay the planks down, but haven't yet placed the planks. So during your turn, all you need to do is lay down two planks, and move three spaces: two spaces onto the planks you'll lay down this turn, and then one space from the last plank to your goal - then you win!

This is trivial to figure out: all you need to do is play your Two-Plank card, then your Move-Two card, then your Move-One card, and the game's over. Except the other players might not let you get away with it, of course ...

Since I know that's all you have to do to win, I'm going to try to stop you. What can I do to stop you? Basically three things:

1. Cancel a crucial action with a dragon card,
2. Pick up critical plank or stone before you get to use it,
3. Interpose my pawn into your path so you have to move backwards.

Since you know I may be able to do those things, you have to plan the timing just right. (I might not be able to do all of those things, by the way. My pawn might be too far away to block your move, and I might not be able to pick up a plank because I already have ones of the numbers you place, or already have two different colors than the colors you place ...)

So it's a guessing game: when will you make your move? When will I try to block you, and how? And if there are more than two players, will someone else try to block you, too, or is it all up to me?

So the game is more psychological than mechanical. Oh, it's definitely a tactical game - don't get me wrong. There's a lot of "Hmm" going on during the programming phases, as players ponder their best options, rejecting some choices as the pitfalls become clear. But the pitfalls are just potential, not actual, and that's what brings it into the realm of the psychological.

You learn the value of redundancy, by the way: if I need to place a plank, I may actually play first my One-Plank card, then my Two-Plank card. This is because you may cancel one of them with a dragon card, but by playing both, I'm hoping to have at least one of them succeed. So that when I later play my movement card, I have someplace to move to. Hmm - maybe I should play both movement cards in case you cancel one of them ... Fortunately, the game includes two stone-placing cards, two plank-laying cards, and two movement cards.

And so on. The game is all about when to play which cards, and how many times to try an action. Will you be gutsy and just go for it in the first phase? Or will you offer a timid stone-laying card first that you don't care if it's cancelled or not?

Why Wouldn't You Like This Game?

If you hate psychological guessing games, you'll hate this game. Don't even try it. The mechanics and the board layout are too simple by themselves to offer any intellectual challenge: the challenge is all in the timing of your actions, the routes taken, and the interaction between the different players' actions.

The game can occasionally develop into an obvious end before it happens. All of a sudden, a player will be in a position to win regardless of what the players do on their next turn. This is a bit of a let-down - and though it doesn't happen often, any game with a potential anticlimax has at least a minor flaw. Games should not be anticlimactic.

It's a bit lacking with only two players. (Although if you're really good programmers, you could play two different colors each in a two-player game...) Some players might not like the chaos of a five- or six-player game, but I actually do.

There are some absurdities in the rules - you may place a plank across two stones in the middle of the delta, for example, even though no one has built to either stone. We figure helicopters come and lay them down ... And you may hate absurd, theme-weakening loopholes like that.

There are some ambiguities in the rules: If you reach your target village in the first half of a double move, do you win, or must you move off the village with the second part of your move? Can you use a Jump card when you're on a plank adjacent to a village and your opponent is in the village, and thus jump to another plank leading from that village? (The rules themselves are vague on this one, though I admit the back page summary clearly states "over another pawn resting on an adjacent plank," which doesn't really include jumping over a pawn in a village.)

Summing Up

This is pulled out pretty frequently in our group. It's short - a three-player game takes less than half an hour, usually - and we find it fun. It's a nice-looking psychological game with good replay value with a light-hearted feel to it - if this sounds like something your group would like, I recommend it.

Thread: Re: The Alchemy of a Board Game- Dragon Delta

steveoliverc — 2007-01-17T01:03:46+00:00

Nice review!

One thing to remember when you are removing planks is that you can't take a plank if it has the same number as one you already have, or if it would cause you to have more than different colors of planks in your reserve. I point this out not only because I missed it the first time, but also because it is a very important part of the game. You need to keep an eye on which planks you have (as well as your opponents) because you might be able to place a plank that no one can remove, and walk your pawn to victory.

Thread: Re: The Alchemy of a Board Game- Dragon Delta

lastalchemist — 2007-01-08T02:10:56+00:00

Thanks! I can't tell you how many great moments I have had with this game. You always remember that time you stopped your opponent beacause no one else was watching them, and they would have made in onto their island. I think I sang "Brick House" when this happened

Thread: Re: The Alchemy of a Board Game- Dragon Delta

volnon — 2007-01-08T01:24:43+00:00

You summed up this game very well! I love it, but can't get enough people to play 6 player. But it is such a great game it is worth buying and hanging on to until you can get that many to play. Thanks for the fine write up. I hope a few more people will grab this one and give it a go.

Thread: The Alchemy of a Board Game- Dragon Delta

lastalchemist — 2007-01-07T18:55:48+00:00

The Alchemy of a Board Game- Dragon Delta

In perusing The Geek I have noticed that most reviews give general game information, and what I really wanted was what exactly goes into the gameplay. Is there area control? Blind bidding? Resource production? Or maybe some good old-fashioned luck? On top of that I really wanted to know was how these elements meshed together to form the gameplay. Like was it a strategy vs. luck game? How about tough choice resource management? Or maybe something like a concealed element blind bidding game. I believe this is the alchemy of the game, the part the makes each game unique. In each review I will go over the usual elements (Theme, Components, & Gameplay), but I will also give the Alchemy of each game, and also a Philosopher's Stone (my own feelings/thoughts) score for each game. Enjoy!

]]>

The Usual:

Theme: Each year a competition among the youths of the kingdom happens along the Dragon River in Vietnam. These youths place stones and planks in a race to cross the river before their opponents.

Components: The components for this game of high quality and artwork on the cards and board are spectacular. Nice wooden bits mixed with sturdy cardboard planks.

Starting the Game: Each player starts out with 6 planks (each numbered and of different sizes) as well as 9-13 cards (depending on the number of other players in the game). A communal reserve is made for the stones.

Goal of the Game: The goal of the game is to cross the river using your planks and reaching your particular destination spot on the board.

Gameplay:
At the beginning of each round the players select five of their cards to play during the round. The players then place the cards face down in order in which they will be played, from left to right. The starting player for each round changes from round to round. The cards available for play are:

1) Place a stone, or place two stones, on the board from the communal reserve. Stones are placed on the islands on the board, and must be placed before any planks can be placed to that island. Placing stones can mean the difference between using your 5 plank and using your 6 plank.

2) Place a plank, or place two planks, on the board from players reserve. Planks must be placed directly on top of stones.
]]>
If while placing the plank you slip and the plank does not wholly connect between the two stones, the plank is considered lost in the river, and can not be played for the rest of the game. Also, if the plank chosen crosses the board, and will not fit on any available two stones, the plank is considered lost in the river.

3) Move your pawn one plank, or two planks. Moving your pawn across the river is the goal of the game, so these cards tend to be the ones most played, as well as the ones most considered for exact placement before a round begins. Movement does not have to be just forward, backward movement is allowed. Pawns can move freely across played planks, they do not have to be the same color as the pawn who wishes to move onto them. Only one pawn per plank is allowed. If your pawn is bookended between two other pawns and you have played a move card, your pawn is considered in the water and must go back to your starting island. (In example below, if the green player has played a Move card, their pawn would be considered in the water because the yellow and white players are blocking all further movements.)

]]>

4) Jump your pawn over another pawn. You must have another pawn to jump over, or your pawn is considered in the water and must go back to your starting island. This card is rarely used, but can create a watershed moment in the game. (In the exmaple above if green has played a Jump Pawn card, that player may move their pawn to either the blue 5 plank, or the white 3 plank. If the blue player has played a Jump Pawn card, they would be considered in the water, because there are no pawns which they can jump.)

5) Remove one stone, or one plank. Stones that have planks on top of them may not be removed. Planks that have pawns on top of them may not be removed. This card is used most in foiling multiple players attempts to cross the river. It can also really throw a wrench in your plans in the first couple of rounds of the game. Removed stones are placed back in the communal reserve. Removed planks are taken by the player of this card.

6) Dragon (one card for each of the other players). You may only play one dragon card per round. This card cancels out the action of the same card (in order) of the player's whose color is on the Dragon card. A Dragon can never cancel another dragon.

Ingredients:

The Guessing Game: During each round you must not only predicate how your opponents will try to move, but also where they may try to upset your own plans. This creates interesting choices when playing your cards at the beginning of the round. When you are on the last plank about to make it to your island, only one card can get you there, and you have possibly five dragons awaiting you in the next round.

Dexterity: Placement of the tiles on the board is key to keeping your pawn moving across the board. When you slip and one of your planks falls into the river, it is gone forever, and this can really affect the future of your play.

The Three Rule: Only allowing three planks per stone is the key component that makes this game fun. When everyone is trying to get through the center of the board, with only so many stones available a lot cursing can ensue.

Screw Your Opponent: One of things my group really liked about this game was the high screw factor throughout. With the Dragon cards, and the Remove cards in play from the very beginning a large dose of "not today, not on my watch" happens from the get go.

Philosopher's Stone Score:

When I first played this game it was only with one other person. I hated it! It sat on my shelf for about six months, and then when I had a gaming group of my own, I pulled this out on a whim, and everyone loved it. This game became the kick-off for every gaming session we ever had. If we hadn't played this by 11pm, we were staying until midnight just so we could get one game of this in. Going back and playing it with fewer than six made me realized that was the original issue with this game. When you play with six there is so much confrontation in the middle of the board that it makes the game a blast. With fewer players the less so this becomes. When you play with two players, there really isn't much of a game there at all.

Final Score: 10 out of 10 (with six), 8 out of 10 (with five), 6 out of 10 (with four), 4 out of 10 (with three), & 2 out of 10 (with with two)

Thread: Re: play with 2?

volnon — 2006-12-09T22:56:49+00:00

My wife and I play 2 player all the time- it is great. It is a "guess what cards I am using" thing going on, with a fair amount of plank stealing. Very nice!

Thread: Re: Planks on Stones Query?

drabel — 2006-09-14T15:56:07+00:00

I belive Michael is correct. The intent is that planks go from stone to stone and not (as in a shortcut) to anywhere it could cross or rest on another plank. There should always be a stone (or shore) under each end of the plank and sometimes that means placing it atop a plank already on the stone.

Thread: Re: Rules Question

drasher25 — 2006-09-14T15:19:36+00:00

I interpret "instantly" to mean that the next player doesn't get to take their turn - hence, no ties! I don't think you have "reached the village" until you have ended your move on the village! The designer's statement on the other thread makes more sense to me for that reason. The Eurogame rep is definitely a professional rules lawyer!

(The rules also seem to disallow moving to a village THEN a plank by specifically allowing only plank then plank, or plank then village, but I assume that is just an ommission. I see no reason to disallow moving through a village to a new plank.)

Thread: Re: Planks on Stones Query?

drasher25 — 2006-09-14T14:29:16+00:00

I also found this rule very confusing. One interpretation is that you can't place a plank on a stone that already has a plank unless there are no unoccupied stones! That would change the game considerably. Can anyone rephrase this rule more sensibly?

Thread: Re: From the Author: winning conditions

benwang — 2006-08-31T16:23:36+00:00

Brock wrote:
... well, but the (german) instruction says, that u win that moment, when u reach the other side, EVEN when u have got Movement points left...

so...

That is why we need living rules.

Thread: Re: Question about removing planks

benwang — 2006-08-31T16:20:35+00:00

Normally, a game lasts around 10-15 mins in my group.

Thread: Re: Does anyone have the rules please?

byrongeek — 2006-07-22T15:40:56+00:00

My email is byronmail2005@yahoo.com It would be great if you could email me the rules! Thanks!

Thread: Re: Does anyone have the rules please?

Roberto Fraga — 2006-06-20T15:44:31+00:00

Hi,

If you have an e-mail, I can send the English rules to you

Roberto FRAGA

Thread: Re: Does anyone have the rules please?

Bluenose — 2006-06-16T10:04:54+00:00

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/60609

The thread above is Fawkes' review of the game that has enough info in it for you to play the game.
I would happily have given you my copy of the game (Not just the rules)but it was so bad that I burnt it.
I'm not joking.

Thread: Does anyone have the rules please?

byrongeek — 2006-06-16T01:47:22+00:00

Hi!

Does anyone have the English rules for this game please?

It would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Byrongeek

Thread: Rare (for us) six player game.

Godeke — 2006-02-06T03:39:39+00:00

So we have some company in from California. Clearly, you can't allow company to come and go without bringing a game out at least once. However, what game works when four of the people are experienced game players and two novices are in the house? Well, I think Dragon Delta fits the bill very well: it takes five minutes to demonstrate the concepts, another five to go over the “edge cases” (failed moves causing a restart, failed bridge placement causing loss of a bridge, etc). Once you have the game explained and a first turn card example played out, most people understand the game well enough to play.

We played two games, both of which were won on in the fourth round by clever “quiet play” performed in excellent form by one of the novices! This is a great game for novices for this reason as well: not being a “perceived threat”, they have a good chance at winning, while the old pros get beat down with dragons and bridge removals. Although this is an older game, I have yet to find anything that replaces it as an introductory game: it is quick to teach and quick to play. The basic strategies are obvious by the end of the first game even to those who have trouble “picking up” the strategies to games or those who are not gamers by nature.

As far as the actual game play, we found that in both games stones and bridges were placed quickly in the first round, the second round was a general advance to the mid points, the third round had some devious but thwarted attempts at an early win and a final fourth round where many players were in position for the win and the winner was the player who was underestimated the most. This was a bit quicker than our normal four player games, which usually take an extra round to develop, but was perfect for the group at the table that night.

Thread: Missing bridge piece from Dragon Delta after gaming

silverthorn11 — 2005-09-04T17:43:56+00:00

brought 40 of my personal collection boardgames to a boardgames day yesterday. introduced these wonderful games to about 30 kids. They loved it! after a game of dragon delta, which they really enjoyed, the kids packed it back into the box. but when i brought the game to another table intending to teach this beautiful game to another group, to my horror, the black bridge piece no. 6 was missing!!!! tried to look around the floors, and even in bags to see if it may have accidentally dropped in, but nothing. very sad. dragon delta is one of my favorite game and now one piece is missing. i know i could probably use an ice-cream stick to duplicate another bridge, but the feeling will never be the same again.

Anyone may know how i may be able to get a replacement? any person whom i can email? someone from eurogames? an extra copy of the cardboard bridges? help...

Thread: Re: play with 2?

Moon Knight — 2005-08-03T23:26:06+00:00

I've never tried it as a two player game, but it certainly was intended to be suitable for two players. The rules list starting card counts and color selection for two players.

It would certainly change the flavor of the game since often you are trying to judge when you personally have to stop a player from making a winning move and when you think some other player will take care of that for you while you try to make a winning move. In a two player game, you'd always be responsible for thwarting your single opponent.

I'll have to try it some time. Could be fun.

Thread: Re: play with 2?

Sky Knight X — 2005-08-03T21:54:17+00:00

Sure, it plays with two. It makes a quick, light, two player strategy game where you try to out guess your opponent. It actually gets more chaotic with more players.

Thread: play with 2?

kittyangel — 2005-08-03T19:55:44+00:00

Does this play with 2 at all? Seems like a group thinking game. But it does say on the box 2 players and more. Maybe there is some kind of variant?

Thread: Re: Question about removing planks

tejasm — 2005-05-17T03:48:12+00:00

Thanks for your response.
Removing 'any' plank does make more sense and make it a better game.

We did play with only 4 players when we had the 1.5 hr playing time, so don't know about that. May be we need to try again.

Thread: Re: Question about removing planks

Moon Knight — 2005-05-15T23:19:33+00:00

In the rules describing the Remove a Plank or Stone card there are three restrictions listed. A player may not:

1. Remove a plank with a pawn resting on it.
2. Posses more than two different colors of planks.
3. Possess two planks in their reserve with the same number on them.

You'd think they would have listed "remove a plank with another plank resting on it" if that was not allowed.

We've always played any plank could be removed. I'm a bit surprised by your game length times. This usually clocks in under 45 minutes for us. Of course we are usually playing 3 to 4 people, maybe you are playing with more.

Thread: Question about removing planks

tejasm — 2005-05-15T21:11:37+00:00

We seem to have some inconsistency and disagreement in our group as to the rule regarding removing of planks - with one bunch of people saying that only the top-most planks may be removed (meaning that if plank A has another plank B resting on it, plank A can not be removed) and other saying any plank may be removed.

Any comments on the actual rules?

I've played the game both ways and my experience with the two rules:

1)Remove any plank:
The game was a lot more strategic and cut-throat, but with our competitive group, took us about 1.5hrs to complete. We felt this time length was a bit too long for what the game is worth or intended to be.

2)Remove only top-level planks:
Some players progressed very quickly, and there was very little we could do to stop their advance. The game almost ended in 20 mins, but some badly-timed 'Jump' cards delayed the players on their final leg extending the game a bit. The game was a lot less strategic as choices for removing planks and hindering others was limited. The time length of the game felt more suited to the 45min length.

Thread: Re:Rules Question

stray_flux — 2005-04-20T15:29:47+00:00

Rulemonger (#477211),

Then to further confuse things (or clarify them), here's someone quoting the designer completely disagreeing with the Euro rep.

[c] http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/54533 [/c]

Thread: Re:Planks on Stones Query?

stray_flux — 2005-04-20T15:20:20+00:00

Moon Knight (#27501),

I take this to mean that the end of the plank you're placing must be directly "above" a stone (even if there happens to be the end of another plank between your plank end and the stone) and not only resting on a plank (such as if your end was resting on the middle of another plank.)

-Mike

Thread: Re:Rules Question

Rulemonger — 2005-04-20T15:13:59+00:00

stray_flux (#477205),

It seems that the Euro Games rep has used a 50/50 split of rules pedantry and common sense (and I'm not using the latter term to disparage the former -- anyone got a less "aggressive" way of distinguishing the two?).

It seems to me that the nature of the game itself would be more toward the latter (that is, a double move can be used to achieve a single-step victory no matter the existence of other double-step moves).

But if not, then it should at least be consistent (that is, the first step can never be to a village, not to win the game (under any circumstances) nor to subsequently step onto a different plank).

Thread: Re:Rules Question

stray_flux — 2005-04-20T15:02:30+00:00

Jeshko wrote:
Nick Danger (#36734),

You quote the rule for the Move 2 card as stating:

"The player MUST move their pawn a distance of 2 planks, or to a plank and then a village,"

Now, maybe I'm just being extremely pedantic, but that rule implies to me that the first move MUST be to a plank, and the second move may either be a plank or village. Thus, you can never use the move 2 in any circumstance to move one space onto the target village.

Now I agree with you and I also this rule very literally, BUT... In the situations given above by the Euro games representative, (where you win on the first move of the move two card if you are forced to move forward), he has admitted, in not so many words, that the first move of the move two card was to an island. I still feel conflicted and I suppose I would like someone to officially state

"you may move to an island and then to a plank"

but I’m probably just being stubborn and I'm beginning to think that you may be able to do this. For example if you are using an island that is not your goal as a point on your route.

Thread: Re:User Review

chaddyboy_2000 — 2005-04-12T21:46:39+00:00

Fawkes (#467441),

Right on Fawkes!

I'm usually a fan of light, stupid games. I even like games that are pointless exercises sometimes. However, I thought this game blew big chunks and should be burned!

Thread: Re:User Review

Blackberry — 2005-04-05T00:40:08+00:00

Blackberry wrote:
- Bluffing and second-guessing does work, or it seems to when I do it and when other players do it to me;

I don't quite know how to respond to this. With 4 or 5 other players, and 5 action card slots, how you do this consistently? Care to elaborate?

Oh, I don't think you can do it consistently. I think you need to pick and choose when you second-guess and third-guess your opponents, and when we play, there's a lot of psychology that you build up in prior rounds in order to do this.

- I've never seen anyone actually lose a plank by not placing their stones well enough (and it's part of the strategy to use your "take planks" card to grab long plans from your opponents);

We have. More than once.

Well, I think it's part of the strategy of the game to have the planks in your plank pool that you will need to use to cross the distances that you want to cross, or else plan your stones around the planks that you do have available.

- The theme, sure, isn't that deep, but I have lots of games in my collection with bigger theme problems (and if there are dragons to eat you, why can't there be plank-laying magic?);

It's not the depth. It's the consistency. I like themes to be consistent. And I was under the impression that since the game is based on a real place (the Mekong Delta) the ritual as presented attempts to be realistic.

That's fair.

- Three actions would make the "cancel action" dragon cards immensely powerful;

I'm not saying that the game should have only three actions; I'm saying that with five, the last two are crapshoots since 15 to 24 actions have already occurred that turn before those come into play.

Ah. I think that's really up to the player. You can place your most important actions first and then tack on two throwaway actions at the end if it helps you plan. I find it necessary to sometimes plan my most important actions in the fourth and fifth slots. A lot of that is dependent upon which actions I'm predicting that the other players are going to do and in what order; if another player must place stones, then must place planks, then I can try to predict whether or not they will place my dragon in the fourth and fifth slots on that round.

- The "null cards" do work extremely productively, I've found: canceling someone's action at a critical point is part of the strategy, as is trying to plan your action sequence around the fact that someone is likely to cancel your action at a particular critical point;

Of course you'd need to identify that particular "critical point". And plan for five other people cancelling you at all five points. I think using the word "plan" is a bit of a stretch here.

I suppose it's just my group. When a particular player needs stopping, many of the players play that player's dragon at once. A clever player can sneak an action in on that phase while everyone else is cancelling or cancelled.

- Planks randomly toppling over: I've never seen that happen;

Not randomly. When placing a plank, and most definitely when removing a plank buried under two other planks at both ends, most especially when the other planks that the target plank is buried under are supporting pawns.

I guess it's not specifically in the rules, but we allow a player to stabilize the planks on top of it. We didn't find anything in the rules that says that planks that fall when you're trying to take a plank out from under them are gone too.

- Pointless exercise: most games are pretty pointless. How is Tigris & Euphrates more productive in your daily life than Dragon Delta is?

You miss the point completely. It's a pointless exercise because you spend more time fixing up the collapsed plank network, and you have next to no control over what happens in the game. What does this have to do with daily life? We're talking about choosing what game to play here.

Of course you should choose games that are going to be fun for you. But just because a game isn't fun for you doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Thread: Re:User Review

Blackberry — 2005-04-05T00:28:16+00:00

disclamer (#467163),

The review seems to say that the game is a pointless exercise that doesn't work. He didn't say that he didn't like it; he said the game didn't work.

Thread: Re:User Review

Fawkes — 2005-04-04T23:54:51+00:00

As stated we played with 5 and 6 players. After the second turn, the whole board was a mess of planks, which made it next to impossible to dig a stolen plank out from under the other planks without wrecking the plank network. We managed it a few times with some reconstruction, but in the end the whole exercise wasn't worth it.

Moon Knight wrote:
I'm curious as to what number of people were in your playing sessions. 3? 6? I most often play it with 3 and find it rather light and under 45 minutes if not even 30, you seem to think its long.

I also haven't experienced the messing up the entire board when removing a plank problem, and am wondering if your playing with 6, which might explain some of the reasons for your dislike which I have not found in my own play.

Thread: Re:User Review

Fawkes — 2005-04-04T23:51:15+00:00

disclamer wrote:
First to Brian - Fawkes' review doesn't claim that any of those things are broken. They just don't work for him.

I think Brian is referring to my comment and my rating of 2. he's right. I'm calling Dragon Delta unplayable, at least for 5 and 6 players.

Second - the name was changed for the American market, if I remember correctly, to prevent any negative associations with the Vietnam War. The Mekong Delta saw some heavy action, didn't it?

This is what I'm referring to, yes.

The third thing I might mention is that all players reveal their cards simultaneously, but take their actions in turn order. This allows Dragons to cancel people earlier in the turn order (but you probably played it that way, already).

The nulls are not taken in turn order. When someone plays a null on you, it kicks in regardless of turn order. Say, the fifth player in turn order plays a null on the first player on a particular action, the null kicks in. I'm sure about this because we had to look it up both times we played the game.

Thread: Re:User Review

Fawkes — 2005-04-04T23:46:26+00:00

Thanks for the comments Brian, Brett and Mark. I'll take them in order.

Note: We played this game with 5/6 players.

Blackberry wrote:
- Bluffing and second-guessing does work, or it seems to when I do it and when other players do it to me;

I don't quite know how to respond to this. With 4 or 5 other players, and 5 action card slots, how you do this consistently? Care to elaborate?

- I've never seen anyone actually lose a plank by not placing their stones well enough (and it's part of the strategy to use your "take planks" card to grab long plans from your opponents);

We have. More than once.

- The theme, sure, isn't that deep, but I have lots of games in my collection with bigger theme problems (and if there are dragons to eat you, why can't there be plank-laying magic?);

It's not the depth. It's the consistency. I like themes to be consistent. And I was under the impression that since the game is based on a real place (the Mekong Delta) the ritual as presented attempts to be realistic.

- Three actions would make the "cancel action" dragon cards immensely powerful;

I'm not saying that the game should have only three actions; I'm saying that with five, the last two are crapshoots since 15 to 24 actions have already occurred that turn before those come into play.

- The "null cards" do work extremely productively, I've found: canceling someone's action at a critical point is part of the strategy, as is trying to plan your action sequence around the fact that someone is likely to cancel your action at a particular critical point;

Of course you'd need to identify that particular "critical point". And plan for five other people cancelling you at all five points. I think using the word "plan" is a bit of a stretch here.

- Planks randomly toppling over: I've never seen that happen;

Not randomly. When placing a plank, and most definitely when removing a plank buried under two other planks at both ends, most especially when the other planks that the target plank is buried under are supporting pawns.

- Pointless exercise: most games are pretty pointless. How is Tigris & Euphrates more productive in your daily life than Dragon Delta is?

You miss the point completely. It's a pointless exercise because you spend more time fixing up the collapsed plank network, and you have next to no control over what happens in the game. What does this have to do with daily life? We're talking about choosing what game to play here.

Thread: Re:User Review

Moon Knight — 2005-04-04T22:41:06+00:00

Fawkes (#466670),

I'm curious as to what number of people were in your playing sessions. 3? 6? I most often play it with 3 and find it rather light and under 45 minutes if not even 30, you seem to think its long.

I also haven't experienced the messing up the entire board when removing a plank problem, and am wondering if your playing with 6, which might explain some of the reasons for your dislike which I have not found in my own play.

Thread: Re:User Review

disclamer — 2005-04-04T17:42:15+00:00

Interesting review. I like Dragon Delta much more than you did, but I do agree that it's a pretty chaotic game. I like the fiddliness, chaos and screwage. Sometime I don't need to accomplish much to have fun.

A couple of things I'd like to point out:

First to Brian - Fawkes' review doesn't claim that any of those things are broken. They just don't work for him.

Second - the name was changed for the American market, if I remember correctly, to prevent any negative associations with the Vietnam War. The Mekong Delta saw some heavy action, didn't it?

The third thing I might mention is that all players reveal their cards simultaneously, but take their actions in turn order. This allows Dragons to cancel people earlier in the turn order (but you probably played it that way, already).

Good review, though.

Thread: Re:User Review

Blackberry — 2005-04-04T16:35:52+00:00

Fawkes (#466670),

Interesting review! I would dispute all of the things that you call "broken", though.

- Bluffing and second-guessing does work, or it seems to when I do it and when other players do it to me;
- I've never seen anyone actually lose a plank by not placing their stones well enough (and it's part of the strategy to use your "take planks" card to grab long plans from your opponents);
- The theme, sure, isn't that deep, but I have lots of games in my collection with bigger theme problems (and if there are dragons to eat you, why can't there be plank-laying magic?);
- Three actions would make the "cancel action" dragon cards immensely powerful;
- The "null cards" do work extremely productively, I've found: canceling someone's action at a critical point is part of the strategy, as is trying to plan your action sequence around the fact that someone is likely to cancel your action at a particular critical point;
- Planks randomly toppling over: I've never seen that happen;
- Pointless exercise: most games are pretty pointless. How is Tigris & Euphrates more productive in your daily life than Dragon Delta is?

Thread: User Review

Fawkes — 2005-04-04T00:40:31+00:00

Review – Dragon Delta [ ]

In Vietnam, a traditional rite of passage has young men crossing the Mekong Delta. This is a race, and the first one to get to the opposite side wins. Unfortunately, something happened on the way from Europe to North America, and the Mekong Delta became the Dragon Delta, and now there’s some sort of dragon living in the water.

]]>

Dragon Delta is a game by Roberto Fraga, published by Eurogames. It comes in the standard Eurogames square box. The nice linen box is filled with mostly air, with the usual cardboard insert dominating the middle of the box. The nice, four-fold board is linen-finished with vibrant colors. The player pawns and flat, circular grey ‘stones’ are made of wood. The ‘planks’ are made of thick cardboard. Finally, the game comes with some smallish command cards for the players. On the whole, the package is very nice.

The Game

Dragon Delta is a programmed race game. Players choose five cards each turn, and then execute the commands one at a time in player order. The first player to reach the island opposite his starting position wins.

There are six islands placed around the edges of the game board. Each player starts on his own island, and his target island lies across a body of water that has several little outcroppings of ground scattered around it. The player needs to make his way across.

To do that, he has to place stones on the islands to serve as anchoring points for his planks. Then, he has to lay a plank of sufficient length to get from his starting island to the first stone, and then to the succeeding stones. The other players do the same until there is a veritable web of planks spanning the delta.

All of this work is accomplished by each player choosing commands from a set of personal cards. Players have cards to place stones (2), place planks (2), move their player pawn (3), remove a stone or plank (1), and nullify the actions of other players (5). From this set of 13 cards (assuming a six-player game), each player chooses five cards and lays them face down in front of him, in the order he wants them executed. Thus there are five rounds of actions per turn. Once all players are ready, the starting player flips open his first card and executes that action. Then the second player follows, until all players have executed their first action. The start player then does his second action, and the other players follow. This continues until all the players have executed their five actions. The start player pawn then passes to the next player, and the choosing of five cards is repeated.

Five of each player’s cards are colored dragons, the dragons matching the colors of the other players. If a player plays a dragon, he nullifies the action of the corresponding player for that round. A player can only play one dragon per turn.

When a player places a stone, that stone may no longer be moved unless it is removed by an action card. The stone may not be removed if there is a plank anchored on it. One of the small outcroppings may only support one stone.

]]>

Each player has six planks or differing lengths. When playing a plank, he must choose one of the planks in his supply and play it onto the supporting stones without pre-measurement. If it’s not long enough, then the plank may not be played in that spot. The player must find another place to play the plank or lose the plank. One stone can only support up to three planks. When placing a plank, it should be placed flat on the stone “when possible”.

One of the command cards allows a player to take a plank. He may take a plank of any color, as long as he only has one of each length of plank, and he cannot have more than two colors of planks (including his own) in his supply. He also cannot take a plank if there’s a pawn on it.

When moving, a player must fulfill the move indicated by his played card. If his is unable to do so for any reason, he falls into the water and must return to his start island and try again. I don’t know why the dragon, which eats any s that fall into the water, won’t eat the player.

The first player to get to his target island wins the game.

Strategy

Dragon Delta is supposedly a game of bluff and doublethink. With so much chaos, it’s nigh impossible get any kind of results from planning. Strategy? Just getting your first two actions in a turn to work the way you envisioned is a Sisyphian task.

Reviewer’s Tilt

First off, the theme of the game is really strange. You’re young men racing to get across the delta, right? How then are you able to place stones anywhere on the board? How do your guys take a plank from across the board? And how do you happen to be carrying six planks on your back? Finally, there must be some sort of magic involved somewhere, as it is not clear how these young men cancel each others’ actions. Do they chuck pastrami sandwiches at each other, which they can’t avoid eating due to the strain of carrying six planks around?

On to the mechanisms. Dragon Delta has some interesting ideas applied to the “programmed action” mechanism. Unfortunately, some of them just don’t work.

]]>

The first and most glaring is the dexterity “sub-game” of placing planks on stones. Since no one wants to lose a plank, players tend to choose long planks to anchor on the stones. Three ends of overly-long planks anchored on a stone tend to result in the topmost plank end falling off the stone at the slightest bump, upsetting a section of the board (especially if there was a pawn standing on that plank). Even worse, if someone plays the “remove plank” action and tries to take the bottom-most plank on a stone, there’s no way to do it without wrecking a whole section of the board. Imagine a plank that’s at the bottom of a stack of three plank-ends on both anchoring stones. How the heck are you supposed to take the plank without devastating that section of the board?

The plank idea is interesting, but the execution is a failure.

Then we have the programming. Five actions per turn is too much. Most other programming games stick to three actions. There’s a reason for that. Choosing blind actions takes a bit of guesswork. The first guess has a reasonable chance of being successful. Each succeeding guess built on the first has a lower probability of doing something productive or expected. By the time the third guess comes around, the board will look nothing like anyone planned on unless they were very lucky. The fourth and fifth actions are akin to sewage thrown at a ceiling fan – no one has any idea where it’s going to end up. All you know is that there is a high probability of random stinkage.

There’s also the element of directed “take that”. The null cards are another interesting idea, but in a game that’s already chaotic, they’re an unnecessary injection of direct screwage that makes the entire game a total schmozz. With up to five other players to screw, and five different actions to choose from to screw, and up to five other players who can choose to screw you, there’s just no way to use the null cards productively unless there’s a player that’s one step away from winning. By then, the game’s already in the toilet.

What eventually happens is that players take the first two turns to place stones and planks, and maybe move a space or two. Some players will start using the null cards just because they like the screwage. After two turns, the board is a mess of planks which tend to topple over. Come the third turn, players pour on movement, nulls and plank removal randomly, hoping that when their turn to move comes around they’ll be able to go somewhere in the general direction of their target island. The players have to tolerate repeatedly fixing up the board after some planks are removed. Some players fall into the drink, so move a bit, some move a lot. However, there’s no difference between the results of the guy who takes fifteen minutes to plan his sequence of moves, and the guy who chooses his actions randomly. If that’s the case then what’s the point? Everyone just choose some random non-plank, non-stone actions and let’s see the results. Better yet, let’s just play something else.

In the end, Dragon Delta is a pointless exercise. I don’t mind light games with doses of luck, chaos and screwage, but this game has too much of everything. It’s not even relatively short or light! There’s no satisfaction in winning since you know it isn’t due to anything you did in particular. It just ended up that way. Dragon Delta, sadly, just does not work.

]]>

Fawkes (4/3/2005)

Thread: Session Report

zaiga — 2005-03-04T13:46:22+00:00

The first game of the evening was Dragon Delta.

Players: Jan, Bruno, Marcel, Marije, Franke and René (that's me).

This was the first time I played this game. The goal of this game is to get your pawn to cross a lake dotted with islands and be the first to get to the other side. It's an interesting game of simultaneous action selecting, with a programming phase not unlike that of RoboRally or Wallenstein. You play a face down sequence of five cards which, when executed, build bridges, remove existing bridges, move your pawn in various ways or nullify an opponent's action. Then those cards are turned face up, one by one, and the actions are executed in turn order. You are required to perform an action if you can, even when it wouldn't be very benificial to do so. When you cannot perform a move-your-pawn action because a bridge is already occupied by another player's pawn, your pawn drops into the water, and swims back to your starting island, which means you can start all over again. As with a lot of simultaneous action selection games, there's a lot of room for bluff, double guessing and screwing each other.

The game started off quiet enough, with every player simply placing a few bridges, and taking a few ginger steps onto the bridges. Mayhem ensued in the second round, though, now that players had gotten the hang of the possibilities of the game, with several nullify cards being played, bridges being torn down and relocated, and pawns ending up somewhere completely different then where their owners had intended them to go!

The chaos continued throughout the rest of the game, with most players advancing more or less towards the other end of the board. Franke was the first player to get dangerously close to winning, needing to cross only one bridge before he could reach his destination. However, that didn't prove to be a good strategy, as that bridge was quickly removed in the next turn, and Franke was the recipient of many nullify cards that round.

In the meanwhile my poor pawn had not advanced one inch, as it had decided to spend more time in the water swimming back to my starting island than moving forward on the bridges, thanks to my abysmal guessing and planning skills. The other players were sorry for me, but not really.

Marije was the one who took advantage of all the mayhem targeted at Franke, and had advanced to the last bridge to her island. She only needed to make one last step towards her final destination, and win the game. Needless to say, everyone played a nullify card aimed at Marije in the following round. However, Marije cleverly dodged all the nullify cards by patiently waiting until the fifth turn to make a step forward, which was of course the only turn in which no one had played a nullify card on her! Brilliant play, and it won her the game.

Even though my performance at this game was horrible, I still thought Dragon Delta was a reasonably fun game of planning and second guessing. I think it works well a starter or closer of the evening and I wouldn't mind playing this again.

Thread: Session Report

Jasonofindy — 2005-01-18T20:29:07+00:00

On MLK day I got together with a great group of guys that meet on Mondays (usually Monday evenings which is a difficult time for me to meet). However, due to the holiday some members of the group were meeting during the day and I was able to attend. The players were me (JasonofIndy), Phil (P), Andrew (A), and Dan (D).

As the second game of the day, A pulled out curious game that I had never even heard of, much less played before: Dragon Delta. After a quick rules explanation, we were off. Because of our seating arrangement A and I were building towards one another and P and D were building towards one another. The first round of five moves P, A, and D built straight out. I built angling right hoping to ride on the back of D's bridges. In the second round of moves P built to the right, barely catching the unoccuppied starting island on that side of the board. D continued building straight out and A built a short bridge out from in front of my island. For the last move of the round I removed this short bridge. In the next round my intrepid pawn crossed onto D's bridge and lept over D's pawn. A completed a bridge all the way across to my island, while I completed a bridge that linked from D's bridge onto the back of A's construction creating a path for me to enter his island.

Going into the last turn A had only one space to walk in, and I had only 2 spaces. The turn order at this time was A, D, me, and P. I gambled hoping on of the other players would cancel A's first move and programmed to double hop for the win. When the cards were flipped, D and P both cancelled my move and A simgle-hopped in for the win.

Thread: Re:From the Author: winning conditions

treece keenes — 2004-12-23T04:18:00+00:00

jpbelang (#54533),
we ran into this too - we interpreted that they had to land exactly and if on the last bridge the 2 hop card wouldn't work - the reasoning might be that these cards normally if they can't be fulfilled make you start over - so we went with the spirit of the harsh consequence

Thread: Re:From the Author: winning conditions

Brock — 2004-12-22T21:51:47+00:00

... well, but the (german) instruction says, that u win that moment, when u reach the other side, EVEN when u have got Movement points left...

so...

Thread: User Review

EsotericMoniker — 2004-12-13T20:32:29+00:00

This is a very clever game that is both fast playing and moderately strategic. The overall goal of the game is to get your pawn from your island to the island directly across from it. The middle of the board is all water and is dotted with several small islands. Each round every player takes five actions (everyone has one of each) and places them in order face down. Simultaneously everyone flips over their first card and the action is resolved in clockwise order starting with the player that goes first that round. The "first player" pawn moves after each round so you have to be mindful of it as you're planning your strategy for that round.

The basic gameplay is to place stones on the islands and then lay one of your 6 planks (all of different lengths) across those stones to make a path to the opposite side. Of course there are lots of actions to screw this up as you must have a stone on each island to lay the plank down and there can only be three planks resting on a single stone. There is also a "remove plank or stone" action. Once your plank is placed you can move your pawn forward but if you play a card that you cannot carry out such as moving a space when you cannot or jumping over someone when there is nobody to jump over you fall off and are returned to your starting island.

The final twist is the dragon card which cancels the action of the player who's color it matches. You have dragon cards for every player but only one so you get a maximum of 1 out of 5 actions that you can cancel. In the endgame it becomes a cat and mouse game where the leader tries to place his actual moves in places that he suspects will not get canceled while the other players try not to overlap which action their dragons are played on thereby wasting one of them.

Overall this is a highly enjoyable game combining some light strategy and a health dose of psychology. The rules are very simple and can be explained in 5 minutes and the games typically last 20-30 minutes.

Thread: From the Author: winning conditions

jpbelang — 2004-09-14T20:21:31+00:00

One of our group played with Roberto Fraga this week-end (and beat him ). Roberto explicitly said that you had to finish on the money: if you have one move left before reaching your destination, you can't win with a two-move card.

Just though I'd mention it.