Steve Bernhardt
United States
saratoga springs
Utah
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THE GAME
The game is DVONN, the fourth game in the Gipf series by Kris Burm. This series includes GIPF, TAMSK, ZERTZ, DVONN and YINSH with the sixth game due sometime in 2005. The games stand alone, but are designed to link together either by themselves or with small expansion packs. Each of the GIPF games introduces a new concept, or "potential." In DVONN, this concept is that of isolation, in that isolated pieces are eliminated from the game.
PIECES AND BOARD
The contents include a nice, sturdy, rectangular game board. The game board is light in color and has circular outlines where the pieces are placed. My only complaint about the components are that these outlines are faint, but, that might be a design choice so that the pieces are emphasized.
The pieces are 3 red DVONN discs, 23 white disks and 23 black disks. This disks visually appealing, as they are mottled with spots, very smooth and have a snug fit when stacked. No signs of bad injection molding.
GAME PLAY
DVONN has two phases, the first being set-up, the second is the play. The players take turns placing the DVONN pieces and then alternate placing their pieces on the board. There are not too many critical decisions during the first phase, but one has to be mindful to
place pieces near the DVONN pieces, place disks on the edges and not cluster too many friendly pieces together.
Once set-up is complete, the players alternate moving the their pieces. Pieces may move only to occupied spaces and move in a straight line. The range of movement depends on the height of the stack; one piece moves one space, two pieces may only move two spaces, etc. Pieces count intervening empty spaces, but may not land on empty spaces.
Pieces may not move if they are surrounded on six sides, which makes the initial placement somewhat important, because the pieces on the edge are the only ones that can move in the beginning of the game.
One owns a stack by virtue of having their color on top.
Pieces must trace a route to one of the DVONN pieces or they are removed from play. The game is won by the person who has the most pieces under his control after all of the possible moves have been exhausted. Being aware of the DVONN pieces and where they can move is very important, as your opponent may move in a way to isolate your stacks, which can lead to disaster.
CONCLUSION
This game has simple rules, but has a lot of strategic depth. The set-up phase is not hugely tactical, but can be important. It goes fast, as everyone wants to start moving pieces.
Because of the ease of play, the quickness of the game (30 min at most, YMMV), and the multitude of decisions, this game should have wide appeal. I have had good luck roping non-gamers into this.
This game should appeal to chess players as well, as it is basically a game of mutual zugzwang (move compulsion) going into the endgame. As the board shrinks, managing the last few moves is increasingly important, as the last move of the game might be a single piece moving to cover your big stack of eight!
Enjoy!
Steve Bernhardt
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Steve Bernhardt
United States
saratoga springs
Utah
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After playing this game quite a bit more, I have concluded that the set-up is more important than I initially thought. It is important to place pieces near the Dvonn pieces, of course, but it is also important to place your pieces where they have moves that will cover enemy pieces. A savvy player will make moves to take away your targets, forcing you to cover your own pieces to save them.
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Mario Aguila
Chile
Puerto Montt
Chile
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I think that the initial placement is very important. You need to defend some spot.
For instance you need to know the amount of your pieces to defend a red piece.
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Posted Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:12 pm
