Zack Stackurski
United States
Mankato
Minnesota
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Overview: I recently aquired my first Treehouse set of icehouse pieces and started trying out games. Treehouse itself wasn’t my cup of tea and two player Martian Coasters was pretty boring (though four player was a hoot). Then I tried out Twin Win and found what I was looking for in an introductory Icehouse game.
Components: A Treehouse set of Icehouse pyramids and 10 goal cards. Any stackable icehouse pyramids will work so long as there are 5 differently colored nests, but we’ve found using all transparent pieces aid game play. There are two goal cards for each color, each stating a different formation: tree (small on top down to large on bottom) or nest (large over medium over small). There are some nice cards to download at LooneyLabs website, but we just used folded over sticky notes. A 3x3 board may be used, but I found it unnecessary after a play or two.
Rules: Five trees are set up with none of the same colors and placed as shown.
On each player’s turn they may move one piece twice or two pieces once. Only the top piece of a stack may move and pieces may only move as shown in the diagram.
Additionally, a player may forfeit one move to exchange a goal card. A player wins when they have achieved either of their goals (their “Twin Wins”…)
Playing the Game: For a game that takes about a minute to explain I have been surprised by the depth of strategy involved. The hidden objectives make bluffing moves very effective, but you have to be careful not to overdo it or you will find yourself having moved your opponent into a winning position. Additionally, since you might be playing the same color as your opponent, but in a different formation, you have to be patient and set up your future moves so they can’t simply win by reversing your moves.
Its much harder to plan in 3 player and feels quite random at times, but its still enjoyable. With the stacks and colors constantly moving it can be a bit difficult to really set up long term plans (particularly in three player) so this and the unknown objectives may be deterrents for people that prefer perfect information abstracts, but compared to many of the dice driven games for one Treehouse set, Twin Win does a fine job capturing the feel of the most popular games for the Icehouse system without needing to buy a full 5 stashes.
Conclusion: I have found this to be a great little game to play on breaks at work and while waiting for noodles to boil at home and it has gotten other people interested in trying out some bigger Icehouse games. It plays fast and gives just that little bit of brain burn I need to keep me going. I would definitely recommend this as a entry level game for people getting into the Icehouse “system”, and rate it a solid 8 as a two player game.
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William Reed
United States
Galloway
Ohio
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I, too, enjoy Twin Win. I tried a four-player game a few weeks ago and it was crazy hard. Eventually someone made a careless error and another player won.
Nice review!
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Zack Stackurski
United States
Mankato
Minnesota
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I've found that the game really shines for two players, but with three (and four... really?) too much usually happens between your moves for you to manage much of coherant strategy. Mostly you end up hoping someone hands you a win...
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