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Gone Cardboard News: Colosseum - The New Kramer/Lübke Game from Days of Wonder
Days of Wonder has launched the website for its newest game, Colosseum, and now the secrets can be revealed. Colosseum is designed by Markus Lübke and Wolfgang Kramer. (Boy, we have seen a lot of his name this month!) Here’s a brief description of the game from Days of Wonder:
| In Colosseum each player is a Roman impresario—producing great spectacles in his or her arena in the hopes of attracting the most spectators. Players earn wealth and glory for each event run, using it to create ever more ambitious events. They will need to improve their arena, find the best performers, lure the Emperor and his nobles, and manage assets for long-term success to be granted the title of Grand Impresario.
Colosseum includes: a large game board representing arenas in cities across the Roman Empire where events are produced; 5 arenas; 10 arena expansions; 6 unique painted resin pawns representing the Emperor, Consuls and Senators; 5 Emperor’s loges; 10 Season Tickets; 2 Roman dice; 90 Roman coins; 30 Event programs; 152 Event asset tokens; 7 Star Performer Awards; 18 Emperor Medals; 6 Event Summary sheets; 1 Storage bag; and a detailed Rules booklet. |
Colosseum is for 3-5 players, ages 10 and up, with a playing time of 60-90 minutes. The game will appear in English, Spanish, French and German editions in March. The game will retail for 45 € in Europe and US$ 50 in North America.
You can view the complete press release online at Days of Wonder’s Colosseum website. The website also includes a four-page Q&A with Kramer and Lübke, in which the describe the game in a bit more detail:
| In Colosseum the players take the role of Roman spectacle organizers. Each player gets his arena in which he performs his spectacles. For that he has, for example: gladiators, artists, lions, chariots, priests or torches at his disposal. He has to buy them or gets them by negotiation. With those persons, animals and props he equips his spectacles. The bigger the spectacle is, the more efforts are done for the preparations. There are more persons, more animals, more props, but also more spectators are coming. So revenues increase correspondingly, with which the player can finance further, even bigger spectacles and get the rights for their performances. And if the emperor or other members of the nobility show up, the number of spectators increases again.
The goal is to organize the biggest of all spectacles and to attract many thousands spectators in the arena. Easier said than done as competition is large, and of course there are other fantastic spectacles in other arenas as well… Colosseum is a game where luck, tactics, strategy and negotiation skills are well balanced. It is a sophisticated game in rules and material but easy to play and the player has a lot of possibilities to influence the game play. It is perfect for players who like to immerse themselves in a fantastic world full of adventures where they can prove themselves. It is above all a game for players who like demanding family games but who are not so fond of complex strategic games. |
And Wolfgang Kramer adds this enticing note:
| Although being simpler with more elements of luck and an additional element of negotiation, Colosseum is somehow similar to the ‘Princes of Florence’. |
You can download the author interview in English, German or French from the Colosseum website. Here’s the cover for Colosseum (click for a larger image); more images will follow soon.
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Source: Days of Wonder
Posted by W. Eric Martin on Jan 29, 2007 at 12:00 PM in Game News, Game Announcements / 1347
Comments:
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Oh yeah. The first few months of 2007 keep sounding betterer and betterer. Now that Wolfgang has played the “Princes” card, let’s hope the design can live up to the comparison (c.f., Tempus and Civ Lite). But I’m more than a little interested. And yes, 2007 is shaping up to be a Very Kramer kind of year. Posted by Larry Levy on Jan 29, 2007 at 03:21 PM | #
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As I wrote on the Days of Wonder Website: And with one fell swoop, Days of Wonder has me immensely interested in them again. Just when I thought that Days of Wonder was going more and more into a deeper “gamer’s type game format"… along comes a surprise. Nothing makes me more delighted than to be proven wrong. Especially with Days of Wonder. And I think this game may do just that. Negotiation! I love it. Plus, this game has a very, very interesting theme. I am so happy it went beyond the tried and true but “limitedly themed” gladiator combat scenario. The premise presented is something that I think male OR females will enjoy and the fact that it gives the inital appearance of not being too deep is something that I think a more broad-based “wine and cheese”, “beer and pretzels” audience can get behind. The more I hear, the more I warm to it… and so far this looks like a game I can buy.... without any reservations. We now look to the board and components.... Posted by Ryan Bretsch on Jan 29, 2007 at 07:56 PM | #
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By the way.... I LOVE this line: “Days of Wonder has made a strong commitment to produce games where the design supports the theme so well that as a player you feel you are an actual part of the story” says Colosseum co-designer Wolfgang Kramer. Could not have been said any better… Posted by Ryan Bretsch on Jan 29, 2007 at 07:58 PM | #
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And I love THIS line: “Although being simpler with more elements of luck and an additional element of negotiation, Colosseum is somehow similar to the ‘Princes of Florence’.” With any luck, we’ll have a game we can both love! :-) Posted by Larry Levy on Jan 29, 2007 at 08:42 PM | #
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A game we can both love. (LOL) Imagine that. : ) Although, I don’t doubt for a moment that you have excellent taste, Larry. : ) Anyway, I want to love this game and after reading the interview with Messers. Kramer & Lübke, I can get even more excited about it. A very interesting interview in its own right… the interview really strikes a chord with what the considerations and purpose of game design should be. Posted by Ryan Bretsch on Jan 29, 2007 at 09:38 PM | #
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I agree about the interview, Ryan; this very revealing glimpse at game design, combined with Jonathan Degann’s wonderful interview of the principals behind Silk Road have given us quite a window into the creative process behind the production of a game. Posted by Larry Levy on Jan 29, 2007 at 10:12 PM | #
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Kramer and DOW great combination. The luck factor worry me.... Posted by Mario Aguila on Jan 30, 2007 at 11:33 PM | #
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