John Farrell
Australia
Aspley
Queensland
Averagely Inadequate
Buster Keaton from 'Go West'
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One of the advantages of organising a game group on boardgamegeek is that when visitors from overseas come to Australia and are looking for a game, they can find you. That's how last night we came to be playing new releases from Essen with Tom from Switzerland.
Zack & Pack comes in a large square box, the same size as Memoir '44 or Lord of the Rings or Zooloretto. We got a rough translation of the name, and decided that in English the game might be called something like "And the Kitchen Sink Too", or maybe "Stow And Go". For some reason, we're taking all of our belongings and packing them onto a truck. This reminded me a great deal of the Grapes of Wrath, but the game is lighthearted and not depressing at all.
The components consist of a pile of wooden blocks similar to the wooden rods that I had a school when I was small. In Grade 1 we always wanted to play with them but we weren't allowed. In Zack & Pack you're allowed! The rods represent the family's belongings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods
Unlike M. Cuisenaire's invention, white = 1, grey = 2, brown = 3, teal = 4 and purple = 5. There are also 5 dice, one of each of those colours. To start the round each player rolls the dice and takes as many rods of each colour as the number on the die of that colour. You will receive from 1 to 5 white cubes, and from 0 to 2 purple rods, and graduated numbers in between.
These rods are to be packed into trucks. Trucks are tiles showing a picture of a truck and a shape in which the rods may be packed. There's also a number from 1 to 4 telling you to what height the rods may be packed. The largest available tray is a 3x5 space, and the smallest as I recall is a tiny cross with the two cross-beams each 3 long (hence only 5 spaces). If you;
Each player receives a face-down truck tile. The next phase of play after rolling for rods is for each player to flip over their trucks simultaneously. You may then grab someone else's truck. The last person to take a truck may not choose a truck at all - they get the top one from the draw pile. In fact, you can volunteer to take one from the draw pile. Yes, that's a speed element I just described, but you can relax because it's over now. Players now take their time to pack as much of their stuff as they can into their truck.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/388173
Now comes the scoring. Every player started the game with 75 points. For every cube you have that doesn't fit into your truck, you lose 2 points (so a purple rod that doesn't fit costs you 10 points). For every unfilled space in your truck, you lose 1 point. Whoever loses the fewest points gains 10 points. We had a couple of cases where players had 2 purple rods but chose a truck that had an annoying sofa in it, and couldn't fit any purple rods in at all - that's -20 points, and it's a mistake you don't make too many times.
You play rounds like this until someone doesn't have any points left, and then whoever has the most points left wins.
We played this game twice, with 6 players, and I thought it was great, and look forward to playing it with my niece and nephew some day. Other players at the table weren't so enamoured of it, but some people don't like Gulo Gulo either. I suppose, the interesting part of the game is the choosing of the trucks, as the packing is not so hard, and if there are no trucks available that meet your needs you're doomed. I can laugh it off in this game as I'm having fun playing with the little rods. With fewer players there will be less choice of trucks, and it might be more difficult - if so, I'm sure the rules could be tweaked a little.
In summary: a game that is probably designed for kids, but which I'm happy to play. There's some room for skill, and some drama when someone's forced to take a bad truck. Sometimes even the smallest players can make a great move. This game appealed to me from the moment the box was opened, and I'm very happy that after 36 years I'm finally allowed to play with the rods!
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Andreas Krüger
Germany
Krefeld
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Nice filler game.
Regarding the speed element: Often the difference between the players is so small that you cannot make out who has to take the random truck. Does not matter much, so everyone gets the truck they picked but of course there is still the pressure to be quick.
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