NST311009 - SPIEL'09, Designer Game Heaven!

THINK: Designer game heaven

2009/10/30

EDWIN WONG

Last week saw the 27th edition of SPIEL, the world’s largest and most popular designer games convention held in Essen, Germany. EDWIN WONG tells us more.

ONCE again, the latest edition succeeded in breaking records: 763 publishers presented their games at the show, 20 publishers on the waiting list could not get a stall, some 44 per cent of exhibitors were foreign publishers, over 600 new games were presented to visitors and more than 200,000 visited the convention over four days.

It’s all well and good if you have the spare cash to actually fly to Essen to try those games for yourself, but what about the rest of us poorer enthusiasts? Are we destined to only read about these games and how the rest of the world enjoys them? Well, fret not, for that’s what the recently launched Games Meetup is for! Playing every Sunday from 2-6pm at a Borders/Starbucks near you, it’s a great way to try the hottest games with your family and friends, and meet other enthusiasts.

FEATURED GAMES

Hurry Cup! (Hurrican)

 

Hurry Cup! is a popular leisure activity among those in high society, where the rich and famous hop into their beloved classic cars and race through the many picturesque towns in Europe. Speed, cunning and guile are needed to stay ahead of your fellow racers. Rapid decision-making, dexterity and risk-taking are also required.

Each round, a number of dices (equal to the number of players) is placed in a dice cup by one player, shaken and the cup placed upside down on the table. The cup is then removed, and every player grabs a pawn (located in the centre of the table) corresponding to the colour of the die he/she wants.

The number on the dice (which represents your fuel tank) has two effects. Firstly, it represents the maximum number of spaces your car can move. So the higher the number, the better (eg. “6”).

However, it also determines the speed (in km/h) at which your car is travelling, as players must multiply it with the roll of another die (which represents the accelerator). In this case, the lower the number, the better (eg. “1”).

Café International (Amigo Spiele)

 

In Café International, the 1989 Spiel des Jahres winner, you play the role of a waiter trying to earn tips by seating customers according to their likes and dislikes. The trouble is, most customers have more dislikes than likes! Such is the life of a waiter.



There are 48 customers to be seated (represented by tiles), two males and two females for each of 12 nations. In addition, there are two male and two female “jokers” (customers who don’t mind sitting with any nationality!).

Players start with five tiles faced-up so that others can see your customers. Seating your multi-national group of clients will always be a challenge given their dislikes and limited number of tables, not forgetting too that your other fellow waiters are also fighting to do the same.

In the end, the one who best satisfies his fussy customers will earn the most tips!

Baker’s Dozen (Playrooom)

 

Designed by Reiner Knizia, Baker’s Dozen is the kids’ cover version of Poison (sorry, no pun intended!).

I say “cover” because the game-play is still the same challenging strategy version as the original, and only the theme and graphics have been made over to appeal to kids and doughnut lovers (we’re all really still kids when it come to doughnuts).

If you can count until 13, you can play Baker’s Dozen! The game begins with each player given an equal share of cards that comes in three different “doughnut types” and are valued “1-7”. Beware for some may draw “bad” doughnuts (numbered “4”)! Each round, players choose one doughnut from their hand to bake in any of the three ovens (note that each oven bakes only one type of doughnut). “Bad” doughnuts can be tossed into any oven. Of course, the master doughnut maker is the one who is the sifu of one/more types of doughnuts and makes no “bad” ones — i.e. the player with the least penalties!

Wits & Wagers (Northstar Games)

 

The game that swept all the party game awards between 2007-2008 is now here!


Billed as the trivia game for people who don’t know much, Wits & Wagers is in essence a betting game disguised as a trivia game, since the questions are designed in a such a way that no one is really expected to know the answer, and all answers are in the form of a number.

So, what happens when the following question is read out, “In what year did the bikini swimsuit make its first appearance?” Well, first, everyone writes their guess on an erasable card. Then all the guesses are revealed and arranged from lowest to highest sequence on a betting mat.

Remember, the answer to every question is always a number.

Next, players have one minute (using a sand timer) to place their bets. Players may bet as little or as many chips as they have, but can never bet on more than two different guesses at any one time. Finally, the correct answer is revealed. The winning guess is the one where the number is equal or closest to, but not exceeding, the correct answer. Winnings are then paid out. As a bonus, the player(s) whose wrote the winning guess earns three chips.

The entire game lasts seven rounds, but trust me, everyone will find it too short!