Game: Tom Tube

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Lapppi — 2008-10-03T02:58:12+00:00

Box Back, alternative version

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Shakar — 2007-06-23T05:16:29+00:00

Another tiles sheet with blank tile and 2 extra.

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Shakar — 2007-06-23T05:14:47+00:00

1 of the 3 Tiles Sheet

Thread: Re: [Review] Tom Tube

craniac — 2006-12-03T19:22:58+00:00

I didn't like how it forced me to think in ways I wasn't entirely used to.

Ack! You sound like one of my students! Actually, I felt the same way the first time I played railroad tycoon.

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curio77 — 2006-11-30T16:04:53+00:00

The front of the box.

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chiputti — 2006-09-17T19:11:15+00:00

Thread: Re: Observations

Dave — 2006-05-21T21:09:35+00:00

My experience/analysis after a few games is the same as David's.

Thread: Re: Observations

GameL — 2006-05-21T20:22:23+00:00

I agree with the aforementioned observations.

The green cubes ...
... do not add any aspects to the game. First of all you need at least 1 but probably more turns to "make" an alien sphere. Unfortunately the production is easily frustrated by an alert opponent. After that you need 2 turns to collect the alien cube which will cost you 2 energy cubes to jump to and from the sphere. Putting this together means that you need at least 3 turns to collect a 5 point cube which will also cost 2 points on energy cubes leaving you with 3 points ! If you consider to exchange the green cube for 1 blue and 2 yellow cubes the netto gain of all your work is only 1 blue cube !!!! Better move in your desired direction and pick up 3 energy cubes in 3 turns witouth the chance of being frustrated by you opponent.

One game i decided to produce and collect as many green cubes as possible, without spending any energy on collecting my solar panels. After many turns i manged to collect 3 green cubes (15) points and some energy cubes. At that stage my opponent had already collected both solar pannels (also with some energy cubes) and returned home. As the solar pannels are worth 10 points and the green cubes only 5, you would have to collect at least 5 green cubes to win the game with an adventage in points ! This seems impossible to me as an alert opponent has to spend one turn to frustrate you green-sphere building proces.

The blue cubes ...
... also do not add a lot to the game. They are also hard to get (you have to spend a lot of turns to make them and after that to collect them) and they only provide 2 points. Indeed you have to use 2 blue cubes to travel to and from the desired point.

Most of our games go as follows: start building tubes, if you have connected your solar pannels to your base in a most optimal way than stop building en start flying. Do not spend any turns on collecting useless green or blue cubes but aim at the fasted path. strange enough, the start of your travel most often coincides with the start of your opponents journey at a point that about 80% of the board is filled with tubes. Unfortunately this means that in the end there is little interaction.

Another disappointing observation of the game was that an opponent who tries to block your path always has to spend many turns to deviate your tubes, but the target player easily jumps past the obstructions at a cost of 1 energy cube ...

I feel that this game has a lot of potential but has to be fine-tuned. We have brainstormed on several possible alternatives:
- a green cube should count as 10 points
- a green cube can be changed for 2 blue and 5 yellow cubes
- introduce rhombes without any tubes on them (this will result in the possibility to seal of large areas for your opponent and may also give rise to the consturction ofmultipele alien and control points in oe turn; probably use the 2 rhombs with the logo of publisher on them)
- use more rhombs with less tubes (all rhombes provide always possibilities for both players ! I want rhombes which will only provide possibilities for myself !!!; you have to make them youself i am afraid)

Looking back, i have typed a large reply, but i really do feel that this game could have been better. If i will have tried some of the aforementioned alternatives i will post them on this site.

Meanwhile, i think that Bobobo Beach of the same makers is a more strategic game ...

Niek

Thread: Re: [Review] Tom Tube

Geosphere — 2006-04-13T20:31:17+00:00

arkibet wrote:
To make it a quick find for people:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/6508

In any review, just clicking the game name above the review, or the review link on the home page will get you to the game itself.

Thread: Re: [Review] Tom Tube

arkibet — 2006-04-13T20:26:41+00:00

I really enjoyed this game when I played it, it's nice to see your review.

To make it a quick find for people:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/6508

Thread: [Review] Tom Tube

TomVasel — 2006-04-06T07:48:12+00:00

I had a lot of enjoyment from both Lost Valley and Bonobo Beach, both done by the Goslar brothers. When I opened up another of their games, Tom Tube (Kronberger Spiele, 2004 - Roland and Tobias Goslar), I thought that it was a perfect match. Any game that bears my name must be good, and there were more rhombi in this two-player game. The space theme is one that I'm a sucker for, and thus I was excited to try it out.

After playing the game, I am certain that it is an excellent two-player game with deep and interesting strategies available. Players have a decent selection of options each turn; and while luck plays a part (in the drawing of tiles), the player who can best see in the future will win. However, even though I know all this, I just didn't enjoy the game much. The theme, while it works to some sort of degree, just failed to work with my imagination, and I didn't like how it forced me to think in ways I wasn't entirely used to. Tom Tube seems to be a game that takes several games just to understand it and was simply too abstract and overwhelming for me. I understood Tom Tube and appreciated the skill of the design; it just left me a bit cold.

The board is made up of a large hexagon made up of several triangles. On opposite sides of the board, each player has a base, in which their astronaut pawn begins. Four solar modules, two for each player, are spaced on the other four sides of the board, with tubes extending from each of them as well as the players' bases. A token is placed on each solar module. Each player is given a pile of triangle pieces that are either blank or include tubes of their color (red or orange). Three piles of cubes are placed near the board (yellow energy counters, blue control counters, and green alien counters). A pile of rhombi are shuffled and placed face down near the board. Each player begins with one energy counter, and the younger player goes first with play then alternating.

The gameplay is actually rather simple, as a player either places a rhombus on their turn OR moves their astronaut. When placing a rhombus, a player draws the top one and places it on any two free adjacent triangles on the board. Occasionally, this will cause a solitary free triangle to occur, in which case the player chooses one of their triangles to put in the spot. As rhombi are placed, the intersections form "spheres", and a network of pipes is built. Pipes are either red, orange, or "neutral" (half orange, half red). Often, a rhombus will have an energy sphere in the center of it - onto which an energy cube is placed immediately. If a completed sphere has only one pipe extending from it, it becomes a control sphere, with a blue cube placed on it. Finally, some completed spheres have no pipes attached to them, causing them to have a green alien cube placed on them.

When moving their astronaut, a player "drifts", which means that the astronaut moves in a straight line along a tube of their color. If the tube turns, the astronaut turns at it but will not turn at spheres, stopping instead if there is no tube straight ahead of them. Astronauts may only move through neutral tubes or tubes of their color, unless the player discards a blue cube, allowing them to move through tubes of the other player. When an astronaut hits a cube of any color on the board, the player takes the cube and places it in front of them.

A player can also move by making a "space jump", which allows them to move to a sphere one space away, even if there are no tubes. The player must expend an energy counter to do this. Players are attempting to retrieve both of their solar counters and bring them back to their home base. If they do so, the game begins to end - the other player counting the amount of turns needed to get back to their home base with this number added to the faster player's score. Players receive one point for each energy counter, two points for each control counter, five points for each alien counter, and five points for each solar counter. The player with the higher point total is the winner!

A player can exchange an alien counter at any time for one control counter and two energy counters. A player can also lose the game if their astronaut is lost in space, which means there is no possible way to get back to its base. Finally, the game can end if no more rhombi can be placed, and one astronaut returns home. Points are totaled as normal, but with no bonus for the faster player.

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The thin box is covered with artwork that shows tubes building a space station, although I've never seen a space station as abstract looking as this one. Beyond this, however, the board and rhombi are very sharp looking with the red and orange tubes providing a stark contrast against the pitch black background. The rhombi tiles are of high quality and are fun to use in contrast with the usual squares or hexes of most games. The pawns and cubes are the typical ones found in most games of this type, and everything fits easily into the box. The game sets up remarkably quickly and is easy to store and put away.

2.) Rules: The four page rulebook has many color illustrations and examples and explains step by step how to play. Still, I had to read it several times to grasp the rules, because they just weren't intuitive to me for some reason. I understood how to place tiles easily enough, but movement was a little harder to grasp. Not everyone I taught the game to had the same hang-ups, but grasping overall strategy eluded all whom I played the game with the first time.

3.) Experience: A player who is playing Tom Tube for the first time has a good chance of simply being overwhelmed at what to do. Yes, getting to the solar modules is a priority, but what is the best way to do so? When should a player use their cubes? I've yet to see someone lose their astronaut into space, but I've seen people come close. Knowing when to "jump", and when to go out of your way for an alien cube takes experience, and isn't intuitive at all - at least for me. Even placing the tiles isn't as simple as a task as it seems. The tile arrangement leads to a cluttered, mangled mess of pipes, and it's not just a simple matter of connecting your base to the solar modules. A player who has some idea of how the entire game fits together will have a stunning advantage over a newcomer.

4.) Strategy: That being said, the game is actually fairly deep, because a player must carefully balance where they place the rhombi. A tile that you are placing may seem like a useful connection for you but also might just set your opponent up for a long drift. Players can also deliberately form alien and control spheres, just to make the counters available; but they must also make sure that they can get there first. Placing the rhombi allows for more options, but in this game, they also make it a little harder to form in one's mind of how future rhombi and triangles will play a part. Players must play the correct triangles; these can often make the difference between a well-defined network of pipes and a meaningless jumble.

5.) Time: The game box says thirty minutes, and that's fairly accurate. Since the game has a decent amount of options, mid game turns can slow down as people fall into "analysis paralysis", and study the board - but only a few turns are usually this option-filled, so the game itself goes quickly. What may be surprising is how quickly the end game comes. Players are busy laying rhombi, and suddenly, the pipe networks come together; at which point the game becomes a race. In fact, I suppose that Tom Tube can be considered a race game, but one in which players set up a maze-like setup of tracks. One false move can give victory to the other player.

6.) Fun Factor: As much as I like mazes and space, this game just was a bit too abstracted for me, requiring me to look too far in the future, with slight mistakes being too costly. I think the rhombi/counter point system is very well done, and everything works together smoothly. But the gameplay is smoother than the player, in this case, and I feel like a clumsy fool trying to participate in ballet. It's a great experience, but one that I think is for other people.

Tom Tube is a two-player game that will be a big hit with those who like games that require a bit of futuristic playing. It's a mixture of mechanics that work nicely together - in a puzzle type of format. And since the game feels like a puzzle in which the player who solves it first is the winner, I just don't appreciate it too much. I usually like games with unusual and innovative mechanics. Tom Tube certainly has these, with a depth of play to match, but the end result just didn't bring me enjoyment - so I'll pass. Folks who like interesting puzzles and a quick yet deep two player game should check it out, however.

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

Thread: Re: Who wins in case of a draw in the number of points ?

RoGo — 2006-03-30T13:39:35+00:00

Hi Niek,
for me a draw is ok in this case as I don't like tiebreakers.
But if you like to have a tiebreaker there are two different possible.
First would be: The starting player looses, as there is a small advantage for him.
Second: The player first home wins.
I prefer the second as it is more connected to the gameplay and theme.
Greetings
Roland

Thread: Who wins in case of a draw in the number of points ?

GameL — 2006-03-30T10:52:12+00:00

Last night we played a couple of Tom Tube games at a row. Strange enough, the first two games ended in a draw (even though the end bonus had been included). We examined the rules of the game and the FAQ at this site, but we could not find an answer: who wins if both players have an equal amount of points ?

Thread: Fast becoming a favorite

Odat — 2006-03-24T06:46:44+00:00

Marisue: 20
Terence: 19

As has been our custom for the last few nights, we pulled out Tom Tube to do some space exploration.

In this particular game things got very nasty very quickly. Several tiles were played by both Marisue and myself that either totally screwed up the other's tube network, or simply just blocked access to a location completely unless a space jump of some sort was used.

In a reversal of fortune from our last game, this time it was Marisue who managed to build an unobstructed straight tube from the middle of the board back to her home base. Unforunately I was in the middle of trying to complete a couple of spheres so that I could finish my journey to my first solar module at the time, and was unable to block effectively.

Nearing the end of the game both of us were heading off to pick up our last solar module at the same time. Marisue picked hers up one turn sooner than me, as I detoured down a short length of wildcard tube to pick up an energy counter.

Unfortunately this miscalculation cost me the game. In the extra couple of moves it took me to pick up the module and start my way back, Marisue managed to make great strides towards home base using her long straight shot of tube. She made it back to base while I was still three moves away from getting home.

If only I hadn't been swayed by that energy cube! Or, if only I hadn't failed to notice that her way home was shorter than mine. Alas!

Thread: Enjoying the Tube Network

Odat — 2006-03-22T21:46:41+00:00

Terence: 26
Marisue: 14

For the third day in a row we pulled out Tom Tube as a quick mid evening game.

This being our fourth play of the game, we're really starting to get better at choosing locations for the tiles played. Although the initial games that we played were more "Kid Gloves" as far as playing down tiles to screw with the other player's network, that is quickly falling by the wayside.

In this game there were a few tiles placed which were to the total non-benefit of the opposing player. Mostly by me. I also got lucky drawing a couple of tiles with straight through tubes in my own color. As a result I was able to collect both of my modules much quicker than Marisue, and gained a 10 point bonus as she slowly drifted back toward home base.

We're really enjoying this game, and it may be a sad day when we have to return it to it's rightful owner. Maybe he'll be able to get another copy...

Thread: The tubes are growing

Odat — 2006-03-22T21:42:28+00:00

Terence: 21
Marisue: 13

The next day, we again played another game of Tom Tube. This being our third every play (and the second playing by the correct rules).

Tom Tube has a fair amount of depth to it, as you try to decide if you should play down a tile or move your astronaut along the tubes. If you are placing tubes, what's the best place to put it. You know you want to put it over there to block off the other player's tube, but you really need to have a sphere over here finished so that you can continue moving towards your next goal.

Despite all that's going on, the game plays fairly quickly, in only 15 to 20 minutes. Perfect for getting in a quick game of something before heading off to bed, for example.

In this game I managed to collect both of my solar modules and just barely beat Marisue back to home base. I got only a three point bonus for getting back first.

Thread: Introducing Tom Tube

Odat — 2006-03-22T21:41:27+00:00

Terence: 18
Marisue: 17

A couple of weeks ago we went to visit our pal Buck who owns our FLGS, to see what was new, hip and happening. While we were there he mentioned that lately his favorite two player game was Tom Tube. Later on at home I looked into the game, and decided that it sounded quite interesting. So the next week when we visited Buck again I asked about it, and he loaned us his copy to try out.

We played one game, but incorrectly, as we were putting energy cubes on all of the complete spheres with more than one tube coming out of them, instead of in the correct place (this was my fault as official rules guy).

After realizing our mistake, we started again, and played the game correctly.

Through both the first game and this one, both Marisue and I seemed to concentrate the most on laying tubes that would connect us to our solar modules the best, without doing much to interfere with each other's plans and tubes.

In the end, I just barely managed to squeak out a win. This is definitly an interesting game.

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LA_Ken — 2005-11-13T20:23:54+00:00

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Goodsound — 2005-06-16T17:09:53+00:00

control counter ahead!

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Goodsound — 2005-06-16T13:22:07+00:00

some typical tiles

Thread: First encounter with Tom Tube

Mosse — 2005-05-24T13:40:30+00:00

Tom Tube Session Report

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I recently acquired this title when filling up an order from the store. Read through the rules, and finally got to play it against my brother, mr J. This is what happened.

As we were both new to this game we stumbled a bit in the beginning, until we noticed that you need to build up a good network before even letting Tom or Dave out for a stroll. We, however, built a bit, moved a bit, built a bit, moved a bit... A few bits later, we stopped, and built like crazy, until we had connected our astronauts with the solar cells - and then the race was certainly on!

Mr J was the first one to pick up his cells, and he managed to pick up more energy cubes than me too. And he was the first one to get back to home base. I was screwed. Or so we both thought...

Mr J had used up almost all of his energy cubes to do space jumps, whilst I had taken my time to build a connection of tubes in the right color. I managed to pick up my second solar cell just before mr J got back home. However, the bonus he got for my delay was not grand, as my connection allowed me to get back in just a few turns, and I had spared all my energy cubes. It would be a tight race indeed!

Final tally: mr J 17 - me 18! VICTORY!

I very much like the game and I look forward to playing it again, this time doing it right from the get-go!

Verdict: Rating 8 out of 10, might go up after a few more games...

This is my opinion and I stick by it!

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Terraliptar — 2005-04-04T14:16:52+00:00

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Terraliptar — 2005-04-04T14:16:52+00:00

Thread: Re:Observations

DaviddesJ — 2004-12-12T19:42:17+00:00

I have played three times, and it seems to me, at this point, that the green cubes are almost useless. It seems to take too long and cost too much to jump in and out to get them. Creating and collecting blue cubes (which you can get to and your opponent can't) seems slightly more plausible, but still at most a very minor part of the game. Trying to win the race game without a direct connection in your own color (i.e., by traveling over tubes of your opponent's color, using the blue cubes, or else making a space jump, with a yellow cube, where you don't have a connection) seems fundamentally a losing approach, because you need at least TWO special moves (one to go out and one to come back). So it seems to me that the game basically reduces to building an efficient network connecting your two solar nodes to your base, and the rest is peripheral at best. That's ok, but it makes the game less interesting than it seemed at first. I also expected that the triangle limits would play more of a role than they did (i.e., neither the limit of 9 triangles nor the specific number of each type available played any role in our games, although I can see that running out could happen if people play more defensively).

Thread: Session Report

FullTinCan — 2004-11-17T15:10:05+00:00

I have been on a trading binge lately. One of my recent acquisitions is Tom Tube. Eager to give it a spin, Joel and I embarked on building Tubes in Space . After a quick read through of the adequately translated rules, we embarked. I was Tom, he was Dave. Being the younger player, I had the honor of sullying virgin space with a red and yellow space tube. With each successive play, the game felt alien. I knew that I wanted to connect to each of my energy stations. However, I didn't see the master plan. So I continued to place my rhombi, and eventually decided it was time to embark on my journey to get to each of the energy stations. At this point, Joel left his base and began his voyage as well.

I had a few quick routes built, however, in order to really utilize them, I would need to make a space jump to get back to base. In the end, I lost by 2 points, having reached my base a round prior to Joel.

With the first game down, Joel and I were both interested in playing a second game. The second game felt like we were beginning to scratch the surface of this game. We both pushed for placement of triangles. It became evident about half-way through the second game that the triangles were very critical. The board was a chaotic mess of yellow and red, though ever so slightly favoring yellow (I had played a few more triangles than Joel). Again, at one point, I finally decided, enough with building my tubes, I'm going to voyage into space and attempt to win this game.

It should be noted that Joel had done a rather good job of controlling an excellent path through the center, where my strength lied in rim tubes. I could cross the center, but not nearly as well as Joel. In the end, I reached base first, and Joel took two more rounds to get there. Which left us in a 15-15 tie.

Observations:
This game is great. The planning aspect of the game is fragile, and a defensive play can wreck a good deal of damage on an opponent. However, once the path is built, nothing tears it down. So well laid plans, with adaption, can overcome a lot of adversity. After each playing, I felt like I walked away with a better understanding of how to play the game. I felt that after the first game, I saw the rudimentary patterns that developed (those have been mentally filed for later). After the second game, I saw the importance of the triangle pieces. They are strong. They are an excellent weapon. They eliminate chance. I still don't know when to begin my journey through the tubes. I don't know if its important to float around and grab points. There is definitely a lot more that I need to explore.

Thread: Re:Alternate strategy

tloomis — 2004-09-10T04:08:52+00:00

RoGo (#53655),

Thank you very much for your responses.

Tim

Thread: Re:Observations

RoGo — 2004-09-09T20:17:42+00:00

Hi Tim,
of course you can play the game without green and blue cubes. A variant which a great german publisher would have preferred, if he had done it.
For me they are more a threat and a chance than a winning strategy. If they were stronger - say 4 and 7 points - it would be easy to win the game without running across the board and this crossing of paths was one central point for us in designing the game, so we made only the solar counter a must have to win and the others a bit ambivalent.
Greetings
Roland

Thread: Re:Alternate strategy

RoGo — 2004-09-09T20:07:17+00:00

Hi tim,
there have been two reasons to include this rule. One is the point you are discussing. The other is caused by situations where one or both players would be going to loose when they attempt to get there second solar counter. This would kill the game and so we had to have a mechanism to end the game under these circumstances.
Greetings Roland

Thread: Alternate strategy

tloomis — 2004-05-23T04:29:33+00:00

By no means an expert on this game, I am interested in comments regarding the strategy to end the game without a bonus. For those of you with more experience: if you are in a situation where you are likely to lose in the "end with bonus" scenario, is it really a viable strategy to try to force the end and win by picking up the most cubes? If so, when would you make this decision and under what circumstances can you pull this off? It would seem to be a difficult strategy because you would need to spend more turns toward the end completing the board then acquiring cubes.

Thanks,

Tim

Thread: Observations

tloomis — 2004-05-23T04:07:55+00:00

I've had a chance to play this intriguing game a few times, and am interested to see if my observations regarding blue and green cubes are consistent with others. I appreciate any feedback.

First, there seem to be very few blue and green cubes added during the course of the game (by contrast, we actually ran out of yellow cubes during the last game). Since the tiles have many tubes drawn on them, it seems as though a player really must make a conscious effort to build a zero or one tube sphere, as opposed to being "forced" to plant a blue or green cube.

This leads to the question "Do you want to create blue and green cubes to pick up?". My impression today is that they don't make a very significant difference one way or another when you consider the associated "costs" ... turns needed to create them, turns needed to travel to them, and cubes paid to make the special moves needed to acquire them.

Depending on the game situation, I can see situations where they can give you an advantage if they move you in the direction you want to go, as opposed to being a "sidetrip". I can also see how a blue cube can be valuable in using your opponent's tubes for a long drift after the yellow cubes along the ride have been plucked.

Still, the blue and green cubes don't seem to me to be a major game element at this point. It could be that the central focus of the game - creating and traversing a quick route while picking up yellow cubes along the way - is similarly a game of "small advantages". Maybe this is just a game of subtleties where most turns add very little incremental advantage. I do agree with the geek comment that this game feels similar to Streetcar.

Tim

Thread: Session Report

jbluestein — 2003-09-11T15:31:36+00:00

Mark and I played Tom Tube, a two-player game. This one is kind of neat -- I liked it just from looking at it. The board is a rough hexagon shape, and it's a tile-laying game using 'rhombs', which are two equilateral triangles fused together. Each player also has a set of nine smaller tiles
which are just triangles.

The object of the game is to retrieve your two 'solar counters' from remote portions of the board and return to your space station. Along the way you have the opportunity of also picking up energy counters, control counters, and alien counters, all of which are worth points.

On your turn, your choice is to either draw and play a rhomb or to move. Each rhomb has some number of tubes on it, going in various directions. The tubes can be red, orange, or a swirled-together color which indicates that they're neutral. Each corner of a rhomb fits together with other rhombs to form a sphere which, when complete, can
have some special abilities: a sphere accessible by only one tube has a control counter placed on it, and a sphere accessible by no tubes has an alien counter placed on it.

When a rhomb is placed, there's also the possibility that triangles on the board will become isolated so that a rhomb can't be played on them -- in this case, the triangles are filled in with a player's smaller tiles, so long as any remain.

Moving is short but painful. You can move through as many completed spheres as you want in a turn as long as you can do so in a straight line. If you have to change direction, you must stop moving. If you hit a counter, you must stop moving. And, to make matters worse, you can't move through your opponent's tubes unless you're willing to sacrifice a (fairly rare) control counter. You also have the option
of executing a space jump, which allows you to move along the edge of a tile from one sphere to another. This is how you can reach alien counters, and they're worth the effort -- a space jump costs you an energy counter (worth one point), and alien counters are worth five points.

The game ends in one of three ways:

1) An astronaut becomes stranded and unable to move. (They lose.)

2) An astronaut retrieves both of his solar counters and returns home while it's still possible to lay rhombs on the board. In this case, a bonus is awarded of points equal to the number of moves it will take his opponent to return to his base. This can be substantial.

3) An astronaut returns to his base once the board has been filled in such that no more rhombs can be laid. In this case no bonus is awarded.

Players then count up their points, and the high score wins.

Mark got his paths laid down a lot faster than I did, and managed to return to his base with both counters two turns after I retrieved my second solar counter. Thus, being seven moves away from home (and having to sacrifice a control counter to achieve that), Mark's seven-point bonus (and a nine-point swing) was sufficient to earn him
a substantial victory (Final score: Mark 23, Josh 17). In retrospect, I think I might have been able to win if, rather than pursuing my final solar counter, I had focused on filling in the board to eliminate Mark's shot at a bonus. I don't remember the final layout well enough to say whether this would have been possible, but such
thoughts keep me awake at night. Ah well.

All in all, an interesting game and one that I look forward to playing again.

Thread: Re:Session Report

RoGo — 2003-09-11T08:36:30+00:00

Hi Greg,
just three more things.
First, of corse you couldn't have heard of Kronberger till Tube is our first release, but in Essen there will be two more. Second, as Tube is now available at funagain we are hoping to convince some more geeks in outer europe space of this little space run.
Third, I think the blue cubes are much stronger then yellows. Easiest, if you are connecting two neighboured stations by a long tube, threatening to use the opponent´s tubes drawn on the board.
Nice dice
Roland

Thread: Re:Session Report

RoGo — 2003-09-09T13:25:32+00:00

gschloesser (#19156),
thanks for your nice report.
It sounds to me like you haven´t used the triangles to threaten your partner, like we have done in our first - mmh 20 games. They are really strong and the best way to overcome the luck in drawing rhombs.
Regards
Roland

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2003-09-08T20:51:16+00:00

I had never heard of this Krönberger Spiele release until it was brought to my attention by a few folks on the International Gamers Awards committee. They were enthusiastic about the game, so I sought out the opportunity to play it while attending Gulf Games in Williamsburg. Frank Branham was kind enough to teach the game to me. I figured I would be thoroughly smashed, as Frank tends to excel at such abstract games. However, I somehow managed to earn the victory. I enjoyed the game so much that I immediately purchased a copy.

The game is designed by Roland and Tobias Goslar, a team with whom I am not familiar. Further, the company releasing the game, Krönberger Spiele, is also new to me. Finally, the name of the game is actually, well, unusual. “Tom Tube”. Sounds like a silly Hollywood movie starring Eddie Murphy. Or was that “Pluto Nash”?

Still, the high recommendation from fellow IGA committee members was enough to entice me to try the game … and I’m thrilled that I did. Although fairly abstract in nature, I find the “thinking” required in the game to be quite intriguing. It reminds me of a cross between Twixt and the Very Clever Pipe Game, both games I thoroughly enjoy.

The theme is futuristic in nature. Tom and Dave, two gung-ho astronauts, are constructing a space station. Their task is to construct tubes, travel through them, grab their two solar counters and return safely to their home base. Along the way, they can collect valuable energy spheres (wooden cubes) which can be used to either perform seemingly impossible space jumps, or saved as victory points. Arriving back to base before your opponent costs him valuable victory points. Ultimately, the player with the most energy spheres is victorious.

The board depicts a hexagonal grid upon which diamond shaped tiles (called “rhombs”) will be placed to form a network of tubes through which the players may travel. Also depicted are the player’s home bases, as well as four stations – two for each player – which houses the solar counters the players must secure.

A player has two options on his turn:

1) Place a rhomb. The rhombs depict tubes in either the color of one or both players, or neutral tubes that can be traversed by both players. The idea is to place these tiles so that you make a path – preferably a short, straight route – from your base to your two solar counter stations. You also want to hinder the efforts of your opponent of accomplishing the same task, so making his route as difficult and long as possible is also an objective.

Many of the tiles contain special “spheres” where energy spheres (wooden cubes) are placed. Most of these are yellow, but blue and green cubes are also placed if a tube dead-ends (blue) or if a sphere is formed that has no access (green). I’ll explain how these cubes can be used a bit later.

2) Move your astronaut. Astronauts (wooden pawns) move through tubes that are either the same color or neutral. Movement is in a straight line and can continue until the astronaut reaches an intersection where he desires to change direction. Astronauts cannot move through or onto another astronaut, so it is possible to block or delay an opponent’s movement. Further, a sphere must be completed in order for an astronaut to move onto or through it.

If a pawn is moved onto a space containing a cube, the player takes that cube and can either use it to make a special movement later in the game, or save it for victory point purposes.

When a player successfully reaches one of his solar counters, he places it back onto his base. The idea is to secure both of your solar counters and return your astronaut to his home base prior to your opponent accomplishes the same task.

So just how are those special counters utilized?

Yellow cubes may be surrendered to allow a player to move along the edge of a rhomb (tile) as opposed to through the tubes. This allows a player to get around a normally impassable area, or to reach another area of the tube network more quickly. However, yellow cubes are worth 1 victory point at the end of the game, so use them judiciously.

Blue cubes may be used to travel through an opponent’s tube. These are worth 2 points apiece if they are conserved to the game’s end. I find the yellow cubes far more useful, but there are occasions where the blue cubes come in handy.

Green cubes have no special functions, but do earn the player 5 victory points apiece at the end of the game. Since green cubes are placed on spheres that have no access, the only way to reach them is by using one of your previously collected yellow cubes.

As mentioned, the game ends as soon as one player collects both of his solar spheres and returns his astronaut to his home base. At this point, if further rhombs could still be placed on the board, his opponent must count the number of turns it will take to return his astronaut to his home base. No further rhombs may be placed for this calculation. The number of turns it takes is awarded as a bonus to the player who arrived home first.

Alternatively, if no further rhombs could be placed on the board when the first astronaut returns safely to his base, the game ends immediately without any bonuses being awarded. The game can also end if an astronaut is stranded and has no possibility of returning home. That hapless player is “lost in space” and loses the game.

After any bonuses are awarded, players tally the value of their cubes and solar counters:

Solar counters: 5 points
Yellow cubes: 1 point
Blue cubes: 2 points
Green cubes: 5 points

The player with the most points is victorious.

I find the game to be immensely challenging. Developing a quick, relatively straight-forward route is the key. In the three games I’ve played so far, I try to hold off moving my astronaut until my route is complete or just a tile or two away from being complete. However, I will begin moving earlier if my opponent begins moving his pawn. Otherwise, this will give my opponent the opportunity to scoop too many of the vital cubes.

I also try to conserve the cubes I’ve collected as opposed to using them. Those cubes are worth victory points at the end of the game, so spending them too liberally during the course of the game will cost you points at the end.

When placing a tile, if it is not conducive to constructing a quick, short route for me, then I will attempt to use it to hinder or obstruct the network of my opponent. So, I look first to see if the tile will benefit me and, if not, then will seek to hurt my opponent’s network.

Once I begin moving my pawn, I will usually attempt to head directly for the solar counters as opposed to taking longer paths or tangents in order to collect cubes. Moving swiftly around the tube network and being the first to return to base will earn me bonuses from my lagging opponent. The amount of the bonus is usually more than enough to make up for any difference in cubes collected from the board.

So far, my strategies seem to be working, as I’ve managed to win all three games I’ve played. Either that, or I’ve been very lucky. In any case, I’m thoroughly enjoying the game and the type of thinking required in order to play it well. So far, the game is only available from overseas, but hopefully American game shops will begin carrying it soon. It really is a gem.

I used the strategies outlined above to complete my network before Jim, and was able to scurry around the board more efficiently. I had thrown a few road-blocks in his way, which forced him to use some of his cubes in order to reach his solar counters. I finished several turns ahead of him and earned the victory.

Finals: Greg 9, Jim 6

Ratings: Greg 7.5, Jim 7

Thread:

mthomashow — 2003-08-03T13:30:53+00:00

Played Tom Tube for the first time this evening. It's an original and interesting connection game, featuring the use of rhomboids and a neat scoring mechanism. I'll need to play it a bunch more times to understand its depth and staying power. However, on first play, I am very compelled by it, and look forward to playing it regularly over the next few weeks. It's one of the more unique path building games that's come along in quite awhile.

Thread: User Review

yapma — 2003-07-29T13:59:37+00:00

2 player tile laying game.

lay rhombuses (like a square, but angels dont meet at 90 degrees) drawn at random from the pile. rhombuses contain "tubes" in 3 colors: your own, your opponents, and neutral. if by laying a tile a space is created that can only be filled by a triangle tile, then you place a triangle of your choice from your pile.

once the tube system becomes established, you begin to slide your astronaut through the tube system, using your own and neutral tubes. you must pick up 2 chits, and then return to your home base.

along the way, you will have the opportunity to pick up a variety of energy spheres place at tube junctures which can either be cashed in to gain special movements, or conserved and counted as victory points at game's end.

well produced and fairly priced.

for me, it wasn't a super game, but it was not bad. i dont regret having spent the money on the game, but it is not a game i will play over and over. similar to "the very clever pipe game", but better. it's difficult to specify the problem, other than to say this is just not a genre that i particularly like. if you like very tactical games that require careful scrutiny of the board, and dont mind the randomness of the draw, then you will probably like this game.