Boardgame News

Convention Report: Origins 2006: June 29, 2006 - Part 3 (Day 1)

By Rick Thornquist
June 29, 2006

Now here’s my report on the games I played at my first day at Origins.

Toppo
My first game of the day was Toppo - a new game from Rio Grande Games. This one could be described as ‘Speed Set’ - it’s a real time game where players are trying to match cards with patterns. In the game, players are dealt a hand of cards which have symbols of different colors. Three cards are dealt face-up on the table and then the game starts. At the same time, players deal three cards in front of themselves and try to match those cards - by symbol or color - with those in the middle of the table. If they match, they cover the cards in the middle and you get rid of them. If they don’t match, you put them back under your pile and deal three more.

This is a fast and furious speed game. It’s very simple to learn, works well, and is quite quick. If you are looking for a fast and furious game with some thinking involved, you may want to check out Toppo.

Tempus
My next game was Tempus. Yes, I did indeed play a final production version of the game. Tempus has a storied history, mostly having to do with very good early buzz coupled with some delays in getting it published. Well, I’m here to tell you that it actually exists! Add to that, it’s pretty darn good.

Tempus is a conquest game. Each player gets a bunch of wooden disks representing his people. Three of them start on a board which is made up of hexagons of different terrain. Players take turns doing actions such as moving their guys, making babies (brining new guys onto the board), attacking other players, drawing cards and building cities. At the end of each round, some players will gain improvements that will allow them to move more guys, more them farther, create more babies, etc. At the end of the game, the player will get points from the hexes he occupies plus points from cities that he built - whoever has the most wins.

This is a civilization game stripped down to the basics. The rules are not complicated and though the game is rated as 14 and up, this could easily be a 10 or 12 and up game. It has the usual pitfalls of conquest games - one player can get beaten up on and be out of it (as happened it our game), for example. The cards can be lucky as well. We had a few rules questions which were quickly answered by Ron Magin, the publisher, but a FAQ might be required to answer these questions for others.

All that being said, I found this to be a very good game. It has all the fun of a conquest game without the length, cumbersome mechanics or dice rolling. It plays fairly quickly and has lots of strategy. Those looking for the fabled ‘Civ Light’ game should definitely check it out. I liked the game very much and am looking forward to playing it a lot.

Dead Man’s Treasure
Dead Man’s Treasure is a new game from Playroom Entertainment. Actually, it’s not completely new - it’s a redo of an older Reiner Knizia game called Der Schatz des Kapt’n Flint. It’s a pirate game where you are bidding to get treasures.

The board is six big island tiles set in a circle. On each island are some treasure chips valued from 1 to 7. Players have numbered pirate cards which they use to bid. On a player’s turn, he places one of his pirate cards face down next to an island. If there is another pirate card on that island (usually from another player) it’s turned face up. That way, the last card on an island is always face down and the rest are face up. The game continues with players playing cards on the islands.

When the game ends, all the cards are turned up. The player with the highest sum of cards on and island gets the highest treasure there. Second place gets the second highest treasure, etc. Whoever gets the highest sum of treasure wins.

There are a few other wrinkles, but that’s basically it. It’s quite a light bidding game with some blind bidding and bluffing. It’s simple to teach and plays in about 20 minutes. This one would be good as light filler and I think it has enough there to make it interesting for gamers. I thought it was pretty good but I’d like to get in another game or two before rendering a full verdict.

Wits & Wagers Game Show
My next game was the Wits & Wagers Game Show. Now Wits & Wagers isn’t really a new game and I actually hadn’t planned to get into the event, but I wandered into the Board Room while the game was underway and got dragged into it by Chris Brooks and Kevin Nunn. They forced me to play on their team. I had no choice but to play!

The game was basically Wits & Wagers played in teams and publisher Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri of North Star Games were running the show. It was great fun with lots of yelling and groaning as everyone ridiculed the other team’s answers as well as their bids. My shining moment came when the question was ‘What percentage of Canadian citizens live within 100 miles of the southern border?’. Being a Canadian I thought I should know this and I answered 90%. I was exactly right. Thank you, thank you very much!

Our team was doing very well and had a great shot at winning but we blew it on the last question. D’oh! It was great fun anyway - thanks to Dominic and Satish for putting on a great show.

Ramparts
My last game of the day was Ramparts, another redo of an old game (this time it’s Spiel der Turme). We played a prototype that had the final box art and a los-res version of the final board. The pieces we used were prototype plastic pieces - the final version will have wooden pieces.

By the way, the box for this game was labeled ‘#2 The Café Collection’. Which is number #1? Well, it’s Tempus - I never noticed it on the box before but it is indeed labeled ‘#1 The Café Collection’. It seems people have learned a lesson from Alea.

Ramparts is basically an abstract game - there is a theme, but it’s veneer thin. The board is a grid. Players pieces are flat squares that have one of four symbols on it and each player controls one color. The pieces start on the board - one on each space.

On your turn you get to move one of your pieces orthanganally - either to an empty space or on top of another piece with the same symbol (it can be your piece or another player’s that’s covered up). If you make a stack, that stack now can move as one piece - controlled by the player with the top piece.

The idea is that you are trying to create stacks with your piece at the top and move them into the scoring areas (which are the darker squares on the board - see the picture). When the game ends you count up the pieces in your stacks in the scoring areas and whoever has the most wins.

The game is medium weight and somewhat of a thinker. Analysis paralysis is possible because there are so many options and good players will also be thinking ahead. This game is likely to appeal to those who like abstracts and want a game with quite a bit of strategy. I enjoyed my first game, but it is a very thinky game - I would play it if I’m looking for something deeper but doesn’t take that long to play.

And that’s it for today! Tomorrow I’ll be getting the scoop from Days of Wonder and Rio Grande Games among others. I’ll also be playing more games. Stay tuned!

Pictures - Click the picture for a larger version
	Toppo with Tom Vasel
	Tempus with Valerie Putman, Paul Skrabut, David Fair and Calvin Fisher
	Tempus
	Dead Man’s Treasure with Valerie Putman and the Playroom Demo Guy
	Dead Man’s Treasure
	The Wits & Wagers Game Show
	Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri run the Wits & Wagers Game Show
	Team ‘Les ROBA-FETTS’, soon to be renamed ‘Team 42’
	Team Tom Vasel and Josh Adelson
	Ramparts with John Buttita, Jeff Chunko, publisher Ron Magin and Paul Skrabut
	Ramparts prototype - at the beginning of the game
	Ramparts prototype - close to the end of the game
	Ramparts box art