Page 64 - spielbox_0717_EN

enables you to avoid taking a trick, and you may even use it when you still have a card of the current trick color in your hand and would actually have to follow suit. The “Golden Sickle” as part of a trick you win makes you set aside your most valuable card pile. On one hand, this is aggravating; but on the other hand, it can sometimes be life-extending – if you are in dire straits, one color less gives you new
Zooloretto Duell
Ten years ago, Michael Schacht lured pandas, camels, and kanga- roos into a zoo – and, with this, hundreds of thousands of players to the game board. His clever way of animal dis- tribution was based on the basic idea of Coloretto. And since then, Schacht and Abacusspiele have expanded the basic game with about 20 variations of Zoo- loretto – most recently, with the inde- pendent game Zooloretto Duell. Even
breathing space. But if you already have the fifth color in your trick, the Sickle can’t save you anymore.
All this provides good entertainment for a number of games in which you can try out the new ideas. The pleasure in the “sudden death” and the malicious joy – that’s quite something. But after experiencing it several times, the joy of this effect diminishes. Then, Druids is no
but just as cardboard strips that can transport one or two animals or vending stalls.
The course of the game is well-known: You reveal a card from the draw pile and connect it to a transport truck. Once an animal or a vending stall have been con- nected to a truck, the second player may take the truck including its contents and quit from the current round; alternatively,
he reveals another card. This continues until the maximum loading capacity has
been reached. As soon as there are as many animals overall of one species lying in the enclosures of both
players as the appli- cable target value determines, the player who has more
animals gets a scor- ing marker; the first markers are worth three victory points in most cases.
In the struggle for majorities, new sym- bols (besides known ones) and money are essential. Bears, tigers, and hyenas can produce offspring. The latter two species and the antelopes bring the zoo dona- tions. If you have the donation symbol twice in your enclosure, you may addi- tionally select an animal card or a vend- ing stall card from the discard pile.
The lightning symbol, however, comes up on the cards more often. It signals trouble in the enclosure. If you place two grumbling animals in one enclo- sure, you’ll get a minus point at the final scoring. This applies also if you have to take an animal with the same symbol for the third time; this animal has to be dis-
longer an unusual trick-taking game – but still a good one.
Stefan Ducksch/sbw
though many things feel familiar, the 1:1 constellation has a novel kick.
The game does without a game board. Instead, the enclosures for six species and the vending stalls are simply allotted to puzzle segments, and both players fight for majorities on their side, in the style of Caesar & Cleopatra. The enclosures need to be filled with animals – from three gorillas to eight hyenas – in order to trig- ger interim scorings. As for the vending stalls, a player needs to have four differ- ent ones in his area before he can trigger a scoring. The transport of animals and vending stalls is done by the well-known trucks – not in the form of wooden trucks
carded immediately. Some scoring mark- ers and double vending stall symbols give you coins. Money helps you with your actions in two ways: First, you can pay two coins and dispose of all your minus points. Second – and this might be even more appealing – you can pay the same amount of money for stealing an animal; that means you can take any animal from your opponent’s side. This can change majorities and maybe even trigger addi- tional actions, such as producing off- spring or making a donation to the zoo.
When the “final round” card or the “final round” marker turns up, the end of the game is triggered. After that, a final scoring takes place at which the majority of each species in all enclosures is evalu- ated and rewarded with one victory point; plus, each player gets one point for every two of his remaining coins. The player with the highest total score wins.
Schacht sticks so close to the original that all those who know Zooloretto can immediately start playing. But thanks to the special actions and the aggrava- tion components, the duel for enclosure majorities provides enough new suspense. Narrow majorities are fully sufficient. At least from the second game on, both play- ers know that a quick first scoring is more profitable than waiting for the second one that gives you fewer points. Zoolo- retto Duell extends the basic appeal of the transport truck management in a reasonable manner and supplements the Zooloretto portfolio with a really good
two-player game.
Wieland Herold/sbw
TOP
GOOD
FAIR
POOR
62
Druids (Amigo) by Günter Burkhardt and Wolfgang Lehmann; for 3–5 players,
about 10+ years; duration: aboout 45 minutes; price: about 8 €.
Zooloretto Duell (ABA- CUSSPIELE) by Michael
Schacht; for 2 players, about
8+ years; duration: about 20 min- utes; price: about 17 €.
spielbox