My son and I decided to check out the local thrift shops to see what treasures we could unearth. The first game we found was this gem, which looked like it had been donated to Lifeline along with a large batch of kaftans and fondue sets. I figured for $A5 (translation: $US3) at least I could write about it on the 'geek. And I wanted to see how they made the 3D board. And I wanted to own a game Tom Vasel has not reviewed.

Trimula is 3D Noughts and Crosses, but it is not the (more) interesting 4x4x4 version, it is only 3x3x3. This game is solved - it should last 7 moves before first player wins. Last time I played it was at university - another tutor and I started a game "in our heads", describing moves with 3D coordinates. Now that was a challenge - when you can see the board, it is not.

The components are really quite nice. The 3D board is 3 plastic levels and 4 poles with tiny notches cut in them. Given that these components were probably made when Gough Whitlam was prime minister (translation: Richard Nixon was president), they have stood the test of time fairly well. The "noughts" and "crosses" are 25 large marbles - 13 clear and 12 dark blue, which I think is overkill. Can someone do the maths and tell me the absolute maximum number of marbles required to play a game? I suspect it is less than 25.

As for the game, let me spoil it for you. Play in the centre - any other opening play is suicide. In response to the play in the middle, do what you like, it doesn't matter, because you should lose. The attractive yet apparently terminally stupid couple on the front of the box seem to be struggling with this concept, which is really very charming - I guess they designed the box like that so that if you're a total goose you still feel like you are playing the game right. I'm thinking LSD must be involved here somewhere: "Hey no fair man, I run out of marbles! Woh! Was that a golden camel I saw there? Trippin', man!"

In summary, Trimula is a game that only a marketing department could invent, but it drips nostalgia - it takes you back to the days when people thought cigarettes and sideburns were cool. Just goes to show you how much we have evolved since then.

or not quite anyway.

You were not allowed to move into the center until you had got three in a row somewhere else, and I think getting three in a row allowed you to move one of the opponents pieces to a new location. I think the winning condition was two intersecting rows of three, but then again maybe it was a three in a row through the middle. It must have come out in the 80's (or maybe thats just when it was on sale in Australia) because it was one of the games I played lots of with my grandmother as a boy.

Even with all the fudges I seem to remember the game was flawed somehow, but not as blatantly as 3d O&X.

Ooh, sensible rules. Now that's an interesting concept. Let me know if you remember the details.