Matt Calkins
Z-Man Games
2 Players
30+ Minutes
Category: Abstract Strategy
Magnet is one of those games that has no hype, and next to no information about it. Luckily it's from Z-Man games, from which I've bought 99% of their offerings since their inception; so this one will be a purchase in the near future.
The Goal
To capture your opponents king, or have your king occupy the central space on the board at the end of your turn.
Wood Lovers Rejoice
In the box is 24 chunky wood blocks (12 red, 12 blue) and a LARGE black hex-shaped pawn. Now if only the board had been wood J
This game seems like Stratego
The first thing you might think at first glance is how similar this game is to Stratego and in a faint way I suppose it is; they might be VERY distant cousins.
Here's why I felt that way:
Each piece starts with a value of one, but has a range of values; 1-4, 1-3, 1-2, and your king is a mere 1. After each piece moves it can increase its value by one, which in turn increases its movement.
“So special movement and the numbers seem familiar, but that still doesn’t sound like Stratego.”
Here’s the rub:
The “front” side of each piece shows a value of 1-4. The back shows it’s “true” value range as described above. They’re printed in the same orientation on each side, so as each piece is increased past it’s base value of one, your opponent gets a clue as to what piece it might be. For example, your king is only a value of 1, and can never be increased. This means that the more pieces you increase, the more exposed your king becomes.
How's this thing play?
1 - Place the Magnet
You've got this big black hex-shaped chunk of wood that they call the Magnet. You place it at any one intersection of the vectors.
2 - Move the Pieces
Move EVERY friendly piece that shares a vector with the magnet. You get to choose the order.
Each piece moves equal to its current value. Each piece starts at a value of one.
After moving you can/may increase it’s value by one; but you don’t have to.
That’s part of the strategy, and something I’ll explain in just a bit.
There are three more movement rules:
1. If the piece enters the space with the magnet it stops there regardless of the movement it had left.
2. Friendly pieces cannot share the same space, nor can they move through spaces occupied by friendly pieces.
3. If your piece moves into or through a space occupying an opponent’s piece, then the opposing piece is captured and removed form the board.
IT’S A TRAP!
There are two traps; one value range 1-2, and the other 1-3.
What the heck is a trap?
If your opponent captures your trap, then their piece is also removed from the board. This is a major strategic element. You might end up giving away a 4-move piece to a 1-2 value trap. Traps are a huge threat not to be overlooked. The flip side of this is that it’s VERY easy to be overly aggressive with traps since they take a piece with them when they go. You want them to last as long as possible, in my opinion.
Each in it’s own turn
You resolve the action of a given piece, including captures/counter-capture from traps, totally before the next piece would be moved. This means that you might either open spaces that weren’t available, or create a “road block” that limits the movement of another piece. In this way you might be able to move a piece less than it’s full value; another major strategic point. Combine that with the magnet movement rule (#1 above under Move the Pieces), and you have some high strategy.
Play Time
The box says 30 minutes. We played two games in just over an hour; the second of which was slightly longer than the first since we “understood” the game. Your experience might vary and I’m certain AP prone players WILL make this longer but it can easily be shorter if you catch someone’s king unaware.
Conclusion
There’s decent board and lots of wood. I do have concerns that the numbers on the blocks could potentially wear off over time.
I gave this one 8/10, and could easily see it climbing higher.
If you like abstracts, give this one a go, you won’t be disappointed.
Posted Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:18 pm
