M C
United States
Orem
Utah
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Lately (like the last six months) I've been approaching boardgame burnout. I haven't had time to meet with my group, and when I have had time I've felt like there's nothing new out there, just variations on variations, and endless array of four or five different base games. So while trading away games and thinning out underplayed items in my collection, I happened to receive Dvonn. I like Tzaar, so I figured I've got nothing to lose. It sat around for a couple of weeks then my kids saw the nifty cover and wanted to play.
So I played my nine-year-old who is *really* good at spatial relationships. He stomped me. I played him again. I lost. I played his eight-year-old sister. One move occurred that cleaned of half the board. It was cool. I won, but just barely.
There has been a lot of chatter about Ameritrash vs. Euros, theme and narrative vs. dry mechanics, but those binarisms don't take into account fresh-feeling abstracts like Dvonn or Tzaar, that even though they don't have a pasted on theme, create nifty playing experiences that are mini-narratives of a sort.
What I like about Dvonn is that it's this minor pile of plastic discs and a flat board, but when you play it you feel like it was designed by aliens. Aliens who may not like you all that much. It just accesses different parts of my brain that don't get used alot, and kicks those parts around for a while. Good times, and a rejuvenating experience.
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Todd Redden
United States
Manchester
Connecticut
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I like that analogy. Yes, the GIPF games kick your brain around a little.
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Björn Hansson
Sweden
Jakobsberg
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Great story! Thanks for sharing.
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William Bekking
Canada
Kanata
Ontario
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It's also great you have a good opponent to play against.
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Josh
United States
Oakland
California
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thumbed for snobby aliens.
gotta try tzaar now. i love dvonn but the other 3 or 4 gipf games that i've played don't come close.
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M C
United States
Orem
Utah
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Oh, I like Tzaar a little better, but that may change with more plays of Dvonn. This sounds stupid, but Tzaar feels like you're engaged in fast-paced, tactical combat, albeit with abstract pieces.
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Björn Hansson
Sweden
Jakobsberg
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craniac wrote: Tzaar feels like you're engaged in fast-paced, tactical combat, albeit with abstract pieces.
I agree. Of all the GIPF games, TZAAR really throws you straight into the action. It's full blown tactical war from turn one. The other games have more of a strategic feel. You slowly build up to the final victory.
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Thijs Lauwbierkoffie
Netherlands
Nijmegen
Gelderland
Advertise here!
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Yes Tzaar is war: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/375767
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M C
United States
Orem
Utah
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Mr Thijs wrote:
Excellent review, thank you!
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Stephen Tavener
United Kingdom
London
England
The overtext below is true.
The overtext above is false.
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taragalinas wrote: Of all the GIPF games, TZAAR really throws you straight into the action. It's full blown tactical war from turn one. The other games have more of a strategic feel. You slowly build up to the final victory.
You can get this feel with DVONN. Skip the set-up. Have one player set up the board, and decide which colour goes first; the other player then chooses a colour.
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Björn Hansson
Sweden
Jakobsberg
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mrraow wrote: You can get this feel with DVONN. Skip the set-up. Have one player set up the board, and decide which colour goes first; the other player then chooses a colour.
But it's still not the same. In TZAAR once you stack up you become dangerous - you literally kill stuff every move. Stacking up in DVONN isn't very dramatic at all. Quite the contrary.
That being said, DVONN is probably my favorite GIPF game. I'm definitely not trying to say anything even remotely bad about it. Two different styles of play. TZAAR feels more tactical, DVONN more strategic. But, I guess there is a lot of strategy in TZAAR as well, it's just that my brain can't seem to understand them... 
[edit: grammar]
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Francis Bergeron
Canada
Québec
Québec
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craniac wrote: Lately (like the last six months)
There has been a lot of chatter about Ameritrash vs. Euros, theme and narrative vs. dry mechanics, but those binarisms don't take into account fresh-feeling abstracts like Dvonn or Tzaar, that even though they don't have a pasted on theme, create nifty playing experiences that are mini-narratives of a sort.
My though goes as same as your... that's why i loooooove abstract, There's alaways a rich "story" behind each games,
The famous "it's tooo dry"... too dry! ???... some people need fancy thing to stimulate their child imagination (mini and and other themed are cool don't get me wrong)
Look at a child who play in the sand with only a shovel his surely on a colorful world.
Abstract always stimulate a kind of themed without theme for me.
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Spencer C
United States
New England
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Tchan wrote: craniac wrote: Lately (like the last six months)
There has been a lot of chatter about Ameritrash vs. Euros, theme and narrative vs. dry mechanics, but those binarisms don't take into account fresh-feeling abstracts like Dvonn or Tzaar, that even though they don't have a pasted on theme, create nifty playing experiences that are mini-narratives of a sort.
My though goes as same as your... that's why i loooooove abstract, There's alaways a rich "story" behind each games, The famous "it's tooo dry"... too dry! ???... some people need fancy thing to stimulate their child imagination (mini and and other themed are cool don't get me wrong) Look at a child who play in the sand with only a shovel his surely on a colorful world. Abstract always stimulate a kind of themed without theme for me.
Agreed! All these theme-heavy games just don't quite do it for me. Give me some beautiful, stark, colourful polygons and they can be anything, give me some mediocre medieval art, and suddenly the game has to be very good to capture my interest.
Some people need a lot of theme to enjoy a game; Less theme works better for me.
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Todd Redden
United States
Manchester
Connecticut
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taragalinas wrote: ...The other games have more of a strategic feel. You slowly build up to the final victory.
In my favorite, ZERTZ, you QUICKLY build DOWN to the final victory.
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