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ings should be wasted for the majority of players who were unable to get enough turns and hoard enough goods. At least everyone has the same problem.
Significantly more exciting is how a scoring is actually triggered. To prevent the disc towers on the map from rising to unstable heights, they reach their limit with disc number four. The three topmost ones are dealt with as usual, before the bottom disc (without taking any actions) wanders into the city council, where it triggers the next of the, initially 15, scor- ings. Accompanied, of course, by the tear- ful protests of all affected parties.
In each scoring, you earn victory points – three, two and one, which does not sound like much. But in the end, you gain an additional five, three and one for the scoring of specific cities that players have secretly determined at the beginning of the game, by selecting one of two cards. So, make sure that during the game, you always keep an eye on the whereabouts of the other players, for that is where you
might grab a bonus at the end of the game.
The mechanics Lopiano came up with are original and very elegantly integrated into the gameplay. Almost everyone repeatedly faces a dilemma, starting to believe that they cannot get anywhere, lag far behind, or do not stand a chance at all. But the outcome is always tight, which speaks volumes about the skills of author and editors.
I Unequal participation
Still, player numbers need to be taken into account. With a full complement, some players, whose turn it is later, may experience that those who go before them are already happily employing their full warehouses, while they themselves hardly get to do anything. Alternative plans do not always work out when networks begin to emerge around the table. Although the final round is played all the way through, the entire thing reeks of start player advantage when many spaces are already filled up with cubes. And while there are hand cards available for consolation, these are not always helpful. Especially the above-mentioned feeling of getting a raw deal is almost palpable in the five-player game, when every player only gets 12 actions – in a fast
game, sometimes even less.
If you want to
give Calimala a try, you should know that late players will feel
chronically unwell – even in rounds of four. An intro-
ductory game of three is therefore highly recommended, although it is still not going to offset that latent feeling of being left behind.
There is also one rather bad combina- tion of resources. If the tiles for wood and bricks are located next to each other on the city map, then that will literally gen- erate a rush for these resources, for they allow you to build trade houses,
ships and more workshops that produce a lot of cloth. In general, everyone will go straight for this
combo, leaving the players fur- ther down the line with signifi- cantly less resources. For them, the first
scorings will seem rushed, leaving a feel- ing they have wasted time. So, make sure you keep these two tiles separate.
Apart from that, the flat Blackfire box contains an impressive game with very original mechanics. Not everyone may like working through 15 scorings in less than 90 minutes. But I have found this agenda thrilling. In addition, Calimala allows for multiple strategies, with double turns triggered by neutral discs and the generating of speed by build- ing workshops, ships and warehouses en masse. I, for my part, will be happy to continue playing – despite the fact that I am a sibling.
Stefan Ducksch/cs
Title: Publisher: Designer: Artist: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Calimala Blackfire Games Fabio Lopiano Harald Lieske 3–5
about 10+ years about 75 minutes about 50 €
Reviewer Playing appeal
Stefan Ducksch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Christwart Conrad* . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Wieland Herold** . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Alan How. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
* Pleasantly straightforward, elegant couplings.
** It seems that the game gets a lot of things right. It has high variability, scor- ing can be clearly planned and it also offers interesting action mechanics. But my enthusiasm is still limited.
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