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Jet Set by Kris Gould
It’s nearly Christmas and Roz, Derek and Gary enter Kendall’s be-decked home as waif’s might visit Aladdin’s palace, yet … they make no comment. Gareth follows a few minutes later, but pays no heed to the giant singing Santa by the fire-side. Perhaps the company is already weary of parties and the social round (Derek did greet the Santa and shake his hand on entering the festive halls of the Kendall household, he’s either short sighted or drink had already been taken on board – ed.). No matter… a games-night needs no further excuse. Beer, assorted crisps, humus and salsa, together with a new game on the table – what could be better?
And tonight’s game is Jet Set. It looks good. Kendall has played solo and is all set to explain the rules, when (to some astonishment) Roz is found to be reading said rules in advance and Derek is pouring over his player reference card. With such enthusiasm, what could possibly be easier than to flesh out what is a conceptually appealing theme? It almost explains itself, just by the layout; map of Europe, cities connected by flight-paths (‘What do the colours signify?’ – ‘Nothing’), flight cards showing destinations, little plastic aeroplanes (one colour per player).
And away we go…. With lots of appropriate, meaningless banter. Freddy Laker, Virgin, air hostesses, many allusions to the Easy Jet ‘extras’ that plague cut-price travellers etc. Some difficulty is encountered with working in Euros rather than Pounds – but hey, sign of the times! But … much more difficulty with those simple rules.
There are two parts to a player’s turn; the filling up of Flight card rows (of which there are two rows and two ways to fill up), and player actions (of which there are five). Nothing particularly difficult about any one ‘fill up’ or action; but every single one is royally misinterpreted at some time or another.
For example; action 3 - ‘Place planes on another player’s link’. Roz doesn’t realise that this can be done at all, and later that it can be done when another player’s plane is on that link. Derek wants to play on more than one person’s link in the same turn (but can’t) and Dicken … well, not sure anyone understood his problem, but it included at least action 2 - ‘Place planes on links you already own’ and action 4 - ‘Claim a Flight card’ (you didn’t tell me that I could claim Flight cards on routes that I didn’t completely own! – indignant ed).
The Flight Cards not only provide income but also victory points ranging between 1, 3, 5 and 7 but the more victory points the more complicated the route is to be able to collect it.
Through all this the person that is Gareth assists in everyone’s confusion. Fulsome re-explanations of rules follow upon every query. Sometimes these explanations are wholly accurate, but by containing numerous examples of play they quickly conspire to befuddle further. At other times, Gareth simply hasn’t quite got it right (amen! – ed).
The map is filling up, ‘un-owned’ routes are grabbed, planes skim along the flight paths, Flight cards are being taken. Money is in short supply, but at least the company have adhered to the rules advice of collecting at least one ‘1 point’ Flight card. To not do so is to court disaster, with the prospect of a long evening with no money and no chance of ever doing anything else in the game ever again (quite unusual in today’s hobby, but not unfamiliar to players of a certain generation who got used to ‘being knocked out early’- if you are referring to the pre-emptive strikes on you in Panic Station, then ‘get over it dude! – ed.).
The beer is good, the crisps are fine. The angst is ratcheted up and the suspicion is that the decibel noise of aviation has risen to a disturbing level. Routes are being snatched from under player’s noses under the banner of ‘I’ll take this on spec…’ and the Final Flight cards are being continually inspected as players attempt to figure out how the hell they can afford to complete either of the two designated 10 point routes that completion of will herald the end game phase! Dicken manages a cake based pun when the Madrid to Vienna route is ‘stollen’ before he can claim it – (groans of horrified delight erupt from the others – ed).
The first ‘Vacation card’ appears – it’s a ‘timing device’ explains Kendall. Roz doesn’t remember being told about this and what does it mean? Gareth to the rescue ….
The second ‘Vacation card’ appears. Hurrah! The game end is nigh. From now on the ‘Final Destination’ card (sounds disturbingly terminal) may be played. Players each have two at game start and one of these can be played, at which point that player stops playing and waits to see if anyone else will join him / her. This can go on for five turns, but each turn missed is rewarded with 2 bonus points for those who have completed their Final Flight.
Kendall is not hanging around. His planes have been positioning themselves for some time; Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Seville, Madrid, Rome, Vienna, Munich. 10 points – Ching! Ching! Time for in-flight refreshments – de-caff, white, no sugar. Dicken quickly plays his Final Destination card. Gareth meanwhile, is desperate for Euros. Kendall and Dicken collect more bonuses. Derek Final Destinates (is that grammatically correct? – ed). Roz remonstrates about the rules and not being told the rules. Gareth has enough Euros! Kendall collects his fifth round of bonuses – and Gareth doesn’t get time to spend.
A win for Kendall, followed by Dicken, 2 points behind and then Derek, Roz and … Gareth, lots behind.
Plenty of après jouer. A game that draws players in, but doesn’t quite do what they would like it to. Derek fumes that not one, ‘Not One!’ of the longer Flight cards (5 points or 7 points) has been taken. Roz finds it ‘un-natural’ that the income for any Flight card collected beyond the fifth, will be less. And why do longer Flight cards generate the same income as shorter Flight cards? And why is money always in short supply? And is it a good thing that some players’ turns are protracted to several minutes, but then others have turns of ten seconds or less?
Who knows? It could be a Ragnar thing, but this is a game that deserves tweaking, as it has the potential to be very good and it plays with 6! Dicken and Kendall vow to tinker and play again (always ominous – ed).
The guests leave in good spirits – and with seasonal best wishes. ‘Til the next time.
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