Robin
United States
Wilmore
Kentucky
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My Game: My husband gave me this game for my birthday. After playing this game once, I believe that this game was made specifically for me. This game has everything I could have wanted in a Shakespeare game. After my bias intro, we shall move to the review.
Game play: This is not a trivia game! This game is a strategic game where each player is a play manager who must put on plays at various theaters. The game lasts the span of time agreed upon before the game starts by the other players. The object of the game is to collect acclaim points by putting on a play. To put on a play, you must buy a script from Shakespeare and collect the correct number of props, actors, and patrons for that script. After you collected all your items, you must go to the theater of you choice (you can perform at the globe only once). Each theater has a different value depicted with the number of dice on the side of the theaters. This value is important in calculating acclaim points. For example, the Globe has five dice. Roll five dice, one die for each patron, add the cost of the script, and add the rating of each actor you use for this play. If you have a great actor, add another die. This is how you calculate your acclaim points if you perform at the Globe. That is a simple summary.
Everything has a price: You begin with 40 shillings. You must pay for each prop at five shillings each, an actor is five shillings which is chosen at random, and a patron is requested without cost at a great house. You may gain a second patron or ten shillings at a great house by answering an easy question correctly. Each script must be bought from Shakespeare if he is not busy. Draw a tile script and pay the cost on the tile for that script. You must pay the cost he is asking or you have just insulted Shakespeare.
Now, you may be asking, how do I make money in this game? This is the heart of the game and also why the game was specifically made for me.
1. You may either recite a speech where your audience decides how much you gain (1-10 shillings) based on your performance. This is a great idea because Shakespeare recited is very hot and my husband is a great performer. I particularly enjoy trying to guess the play it comes from and who is talking. This is a good choice for those who are not as interested or possess knowledge of Shakespeare.
2. You may show your knowledge by answering an easy, medium, and difficult question about Shakespeare and gain 10, 15, or 20 shillings. These questions can be multiple choice or true/false. I always choose this option because I like answering the questions. Since they are multiple choice questions, it is not just a shot in the dark if I am having trouble. If I do not know the answer, than I have learned something. This is so perfect because I hate reading aloud. The summaries inside the instructions would be helpful for those finding the trivia hard. As I say trivia, I must also say THIS IS NOT A TRIVIA GAME.
3. Lastly, you can Busk. Busking is an impromptu performance where you gain five shillings and a fate card.
Little perks of the game: You can gain a fate card after a Busk or by rolling an f on either or both six sided die. A fate card is a positive or negative fate. Like, “Your greatest actor dies. Discard him and remove him from the game” or “Gain 20 shillings for performing for the Lord Mayor”
You may also trade, brawl, or flirt with your opponent. A trade has very loose requirements but both opponents agree on the terms. A brawl is battled by dice rolls. The winning picks an item from the looser. Flirt is like a forced trade. To flirt, you offer and item. In turn, your opponent must give you an item. Money is not to be used during a flirt. It’s really a funny concept.
There is a jail. If you cannot pay a fine, which is found on the fate card, you are thrown into jail. You loose all your money and loose a turn but you do not collect debt. You also loose a turn when passing throw the gallows. You must stop and miss the next turn because you are watching an execution.
You can gain turns by rolling double but only up to two times. You automatically gain an extra turn passing through the Cathedral. If you roll doubles at the Cathedral, you gain three turns.
Appearance: This game is of extremely great quality. The board and tiles are sturdy. The illustrations of the many locations on the board are beautiful. The actor tiles have names of actors with their ratings. The trivia questions (even though this is not a trivia game) have three questions front and back. This helps with space and I don’t think I’ll ever run out of questions. There are many little compartments inside the plastic tray to organize the game. Since there are so many pieces, I bag them which made it difficult to fit into the tray. I am still uncertain about the rhyme or reason to the organization of the game in the tray. This would be my only complain and is more of a complaint because I can’t figure it out.
Conclusion: I love this game. Yes, I’m bias. I’m an English major who dreams of teaching Shakespeare. But I must say over and over THIS IS NOT A TRIVIA GAME ITS A STRATEGY GAME. If it was a trivia game, my husband would not have played the game with me. Actually, no one would play this game with me. My husband would not have won the game if it was a trivia game. And he did win! But I love a good challenge. I can’t wait to play again. Time just ran out.
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You can call me Foob
United States
Deale
Maryland
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Quote: This is a great idea because Shakespeare recited is very hot...
Yup! 
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Kieron Mitchell
United States
Indianapolis
IN
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Helenoftroy wrote: [snip]
Conclusion: I love this game. Yes, I’m bias. I’m an English major...[snip]
Thanks for the review! I'm surprised that, as an English major, you are bias. I don't find you bias at all! I think you are completely unbias.
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Bill H
United States
Absecon
New Jersey
You can't take the sky from me!
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Helenoftroy wrote: Shakespeare recited is very hot
Tangentially-related story:
Twenty years ago a friend and I were queued outside a stadium for the Rolling Stones amidst a group of bikers. Ahead of us, one of them in a tubetop and tiny jean shorts was standing with her hand down the back of her pants (not sure how, they looked awfully tight).
I had just re-read "Romeo and Juliet" a couple days before, and said "See how she leans her cheek upon her hand? Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand that I might touch that cheek!" It amused those around us who knew right away who I was talking about.
Then my friend, who apparently was quite a fan of the Bard and R & J in particular (and perhaps waiting for a moment like this for years), burst into an enthusiastic Juliet. I stumbled through Romeo's lines, still fairly fresh in my mind, while she did an excellent rendition of hers (and silently prompted me when I ran dry) and we got scattered applause from the bikers (including Tubetop) when we finished our little scene.
When we got inside the stadium, they happened to be seated in the next section and invited us over. We had brought a big bag of snacks, they had sandwiches and wine, and we all had a merry picnic in the sun listening to the Stones, united by an appreciation of Shakespeare.
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Robin
United States
Wilmore
Kentucky
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Bill,
That is an awesome story. Shakespeare rocks wherever you go!
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Virre Linwendil "Now go look at my photos and thumbs the once you like" Annergård
Sweden
Stockholm
Forza Bajen!
... and still sober
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So, with how many people have you played it? Because I found when playing it, just with a friend from school ( and as systems are quite diffrent, that would be around high school age... 16-19 years old we were). This really didn't work, and not just because his grasp of both English and , well The Bard was quite low.
I got the feel that you really need at least 3 to get a good game going, with flow and everybody dareing to acctualy do stuff.
Then we also missread/translated[0] the rules on tradeing and flirting. I feel that might be the case as giving away your 0 point actors seemed wrong.
I wonder if I ever will find more persons to play it with me in this country, through.
/Virre
[0] = Well, not exactly I had done a good serious kind of translation of the rules, but just half of them. I most finnish them off. So private translated rules to Swedish is on my harddrive, but...
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Robin
United States
Wilmore
Kentucky
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virre wrote: So, with how many people have you played it?
I got the feel that you really need at least 3 to get a good game going, with flow and everybody dareing to acctualy do stuff.
I am sure that a three player would probably work best because the game is much like a party game but I have only played with two-players and it worked well.
This game would be very difficult to translate completely because of the performances involved in the game. So, I could understand the confusion.
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Virre Linwendil "Now go look at my photos and thumbs the once you like" Annergård
Sweden
Stockholm
Forza Bajen!
... and still sober
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acctually the rules aren't that hard to translate. If one takes a way all quotes and such like that is. I am as I think I said doing this too be able to explain it to others a bit easier. (I might post it here if there is intrest, and em that is legal and so on)
edit: Some realy bad spelling fixed (the clock was 02 am when I first posted...)
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Posted Wed Sep 7, 2005 1:42 am
