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'Tikal' by Kiesling & Kramer - 03/08/00
Phil is down for a few days and has negotiated an evening without the wife and kids. He arrives at Dicken's house staggering in with a broken carrier bag packed with 'More Backpacks and Blisters' and a Fax machine. Dicken is sending e-mails.
Dicken's e-mails are concerned with fantasy football. Nine managers this year, each team being made up of 11 players unique to the team. The selection process uses the system dreamed up for the cricket. Thanks again to the Daily Telegraph who provide the stats, which Dicken will then co-ordinate on our behalf. Spiller points out that Dicken has already been cheating. "They forced me to tell them my team" pleads Dicken. "It was more than ten days ago" . Its going to be a long season. Will Dicken throw in the towel before Spiller starts attending a Ceefax addiction clinic?
Kendall has had a birthday, which means everyone has bought him the game that they would have bought for themselves. Kendall never complains, as genuine gratitude tends to ensure a healthy amount of cash being spent. 'Tikal' is out of the Rio Grande stable, refreshingly designed by Kiesling & Kramer to give a good feel to the theme. Not that any of us have led an expedition of archaeologists into virgin rain-forest or stood guard on the top of a Mayan temple or been tele-ported along secret paths to jungle encampments - but we've all cracked a bull-whip with Indiana Jones.
Having sorted out the game components by committee, Kendall embarks on explaining the rules.... The jungle is explored by laying out hex tiles, whereupon Dicken (the eldest ) takes the first tile and attempts to launch into his turn, having not the faintest clue as to .... well, anything really! More rules follow and the air becomes treacle with mis-understandings. Compounding the problem is the Ragnars' inability to listen simultaneously to the same piece of information - just as one person gets his head round a rule, another realises that this could be important and would Kendall mind repeating what he just said, whereupon another Ragnar.....
Its not a difficult game, but there are plenty of elements. Phil and Dicken forge ahead collecting treasures, whilst Spiller and Kendall assume that temples will be more important. The blind are leading the blind. Come the first Volcano it is becoming obvious that some form of brain disease is starting to take hold. Manfully, Kendall tries to re-explain how the Volcano means there is a scoring round, that each player will play and score, and that the game will then re-start from the player who first drew the Volcano. Dicken is furious that he will miss his turn, Phil panics that he won't have a chance to score, Spiller barks heatedly (he appears to have no comprehension what-so-ever at this stage). Kendall has 13 points, everyone else is 5 or 6 points behind. Kendall's Camp deep in the jungle is looked on with envy and the others reach for their tent poles. Phil and Dicken just can't resist those treasures though, and after another short while it begins to dawn on the combined addled psyche that collecting three identical treasures is a lot easier than generally assumed. Spiller will not be tempted.
Then, Phil spills his beer.
We should have seen this coming. Two glasses of wine at dinner, three cans of John Smiths, the excitement of delivering the Fax machine, a new game hotting up - all too much. A neat tidal wave sweeps through the stock of treasures and temples, surges around the deck of hex tiles and floats across the board. Worse still, there is evidence of ink running. Green ink. (Questions need answering in Rio Grande). Kendall, Spiller and Dicken take turns verbally pummelling Phil - its turning into a great evening!
Fierce whinging from Kendall about Dicken's luck in going first in 3 out of 4 scoring rounds, fails to convince the others that he (Kendall) is not winning. There is nothing the others can do to stop him and they are not helped by recurrent bouts of rules amnesia - Spiller is astounded to find he can move his workers to an encampment for one point (rule 2). Still its Kendall's birthday, its his game and (as Dicken says) "Winning a game the first time we play it doesn't really matter" . Really?
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'Tikal' by Kiesling & Kramer - 19/10/00
We are at Dicken's house and are joined by Ian. A minor miracle, as his house is sand-bagged against the rising floods of Old Woking. Petrol wasn't a problem. He arrives somewhat late, so there is only time for a few pleasantries before launching into tonight's game. We have re-visited 'Tikal' several times and are about to brave the Auction rules. In general there is something about 'Extra' rules. It often feels like either the Basic rules are not really a finished game (anyone remember 'Anzio' by Avalon Hill?) OR that the 'Extra' rules are bolted on to try to chirp up a weaker design (Euro-rails ). We have several games waiting to tangle our brains with bits to add on, most notably 'El Cabalero' but who wants to be the evil Spanish Governor? The Auction in 'Tikal' might have lain dormant, but for Spiller's ill-luck in the last outing. Seven out of the nine tiles he drew were jungle clearings. No sign of Temples, Treasures or Volcanoes. He was like Harrison Ford at Centre Parks - "Where shall I pitch my tent this time?". The rules are routinely explained to Ian, who clearly hasn't a clue what's in store. Carol, meanwhile has finished her beer and very kindly printed out a story by Tim (Kendall's son), a section of which is pasted here for your interest and delight:
'We were in a jungle. We saw Marti. He said, "This is a dangerous place. Come with me." And he took us to his tent. Rakish said, "Where are you going?". "To find Zac, on top of the mountain" , I said. When I got to the top of the mountain, I saw Zac waiting for me. He had green teeth and a red cat, and a green and red dog. I said, "Why did you break all the lights?" "Because I'm a baddie", said Zac.
Zac laughed and laughed. So I punched him and kicked him and he fell down the mountain. Then all the lights in the town came back on. We were saved and lived happily ever after.' Small world.
Each player has been given an extra bit of tackle for the Auction. It's some sort of pendulum thingy, that might or might not be upside down - fortunately, the word 'phallus' did not spring to mind. We start off somewhat bemused as to its usage. Dicken wishes to place it face down to begin with, but Kendall insists on following the rules and has everyone put their token face up. Even at this early stage there is a hint of Marti and Zac in the proceedings. Spiller bids first, "1" . You bid with accumulated victory points and you are bidding to play next. This will involve selecting one of the four tiles which are face up. Dicken bids, "2" . Kendall bids, "3" . Ian bids,"2" ...... the game grinds to a halt, and not for the last time. It’s definitely a lot slower this way, but you do feel you've got a fairer crack of the bullwhip. Going next gives you the choice of tiles, going last costs zero Victory points. Bidding a lot of points early in the game doesn't seem too clever, so naturally everyone (bar Spiller, who goes last) is profligate.
Bidding when the Volcano is available is a teaser. The player selecting the Volcano completes a scoring round as normal, and the other players follow in turn. Its tempting to think that having the Volcano is a BIG advantage, but we found that later players scored better. Playing the Volcano tile as opposed to one of the other tiles is a bit of a damp squib.
Having tussled to the first scoring round, Kendall sets about marshaling his expedition. Strange how everyone tries to help. When the dust clears its discovered that the coveted 2 point Temple has only got two men occupying it as opposed to the three needed. Kendall is spitting tacks and calls for a re-count. There's still only two present ..... so he takes his turn again. This doesn't go down too well. Dicken says its Kendall 'Mulligan' (Mulligan - a quaint golfing custom in which a player is allowed to take one shot again without penalty), which means he'll also be able to cheat at some point.
Ian has had a promotion at work and has come along for an evening of light entertainment. He's one of those people who can't take a game too seriously, yet he's not flippant. He's going to be in charge of Health and Safety at a big London Hospital. Rules are important. Spiller leads handsomely. He spends his advantage in the next few bidding rounds; just when we thought he'd outplayed us. Dicken is also bidding big - 4 points for a three point Temple. To everyone's amazement, he places it on that half of a hexagon which is not a hexagon; that is, off map and overlapping the score track - hoots of laughter. Dicken announces that he won't be bidding after all - stunned indignation, if not silence. This is more than a Mulligan! Kendall and Dicken go at it hammer and tongs. Zac would have had his lights punched out by now. Spiller - ever a sea of calm - shuffles the tiles and announces that Ian will be given the privilege of bidding first. No-one, least of all Ian, is certain if this is an advantage.
Crawling on all fours now, we reach the next scoring round. Kendall and Spiller chalk up big points, Dicken scores even more heavily to come within a couple of points of the lead, Ian is miles behind - presumed missing. And its 10.30. Time to finish, but with two rounds and a scoring round still to go! Kendall and Dicken, like two old fighters, bludgeon each other as to who might have won. Is it worth it? This is a good game, no mistake. But, sometimes you have to wonder if there is a point at which a game starts to defeat its raison d'etre - a bit of fun; 'Tikal' Tickles . Saints would struggle with so many options, so many opportunities to wreck other players' opportunities. The theme is a good one, but has it the strength needed to carry this amount of angst? Ian declined the offer of another game next week. We shall have to tone it down next time.
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