Quick Look: A LOT of games bundle: print&play
Designer: Radek Ignatów
Publisher: Radek Ignatów
Year Published: 2021
Overview:
Roll and writes have been my new obsession over this pandemic. They have allowed me to play games with my friends and family members over video conferencing. I am always on the lookout for new ones to add to my library. There are five games in this pack, and I tested out two of them: Alpakaland & Electriko.
Rules & Setup:
Alright, out of the gate, I am already a fan of both of these games. Being a print and play, you are asked to bring six six-sided dice (D6) to the game. But, only one person needs to have these. This makes the game much easier to play. Not everyone has dice just lying around, but they should. The set up is simple: print off the score sheet and grab six standard D6. For those of you who know me, I will be laminating my scoresheets. The rules are bit hard to follow. It is obvious they have been translated, but not well. ( Note: this is what the Kickstarter is to help fund, the translation) I had to work harder than I should have to figure out both games. Once I made it through the first few dice rolls of each game though, it was easy to play.
Theme and Mechanics:
Alpakaland puts you in the seat of owner of an alpaca farm. After the roll of the six dice, you record them on your sheet. Now, you must decide how to utilize your dice to maximize your score. You can spend two to start constructing alpaca fields. You can then add alpacas (depending on their value) into closed fields. You can then upgrade these alpacas on a later turn to increase their value. You can advertise. You can build roads. Roads are important because you must connect every alpaca field to a road and every road to an entrance. You can also add clowns to your roads to increase your park’s value. Lastly, you can place buildings. This was the hardest concept for me to figure out. I will see if I can do it justice here.
Each type or shape of a building has a cost in a circle. You must pay that amount (in pips) for the building. The catch is, you must have the one set number on a die, then the remainder of the cost must be paid or exceeding, giving the amount of dice there. So, for the square building, you have to pay 4 pips, and one has to be a 1. The other die then must be a three or higher. That will then score you the points in the blue star, as long as the building is connected to a road. Later in the game, you can assign other dice to the building to upgrade it, marking off the squares. If you mark them all off, you score the upgraded point value in the yellow star.
After six rounds, the game is over, and you add up your points. Highest score wins.
Now, for ELEKTRICO , again, you must supply your own six D6, but again, only one person needs them. After the roll, each player records 4 of the 6 results, and adds the last two together. This sum may not exceed 7, even if you add 5+6, it is only 7. Strategy plays a large part in Electrico. You are trying to power up a motor via the generators. Now, with the dice results, you fill in a path from one generator to the centralized motor. How you place these numbers depends on how you can strategically score the highest amount of points. There are eight different ways to score your dice placement. You can choose any of these ways on any turn. After placed and scored, record your points in the blue square at the end of the row, and throw the dice again.
Gameplay:
After the initial confusion, the games are simple and fun to play.
Artwork and Components:
The artwork works for me. I feel that the games are light and not so serious that the alpacas need to look like the ones at the zoo. Both games are very bright and colorful as well. The components, well, they are supplied by you. Your paper or cardstock and your dice. The components are as nice as you want them to be. I will be reprinting my scoresheets for these on a decent cardstock and laminating them for longevity.
The Good:
The best part of these games, you can play 1 – ∞ players. Just make sure that everyone has a scoresheet, and one of the infinity players has 6 dice. I mean, if you own Farkle, you have the dice. My buddies and I will be playing these games for sure over lunch, as neither of them takes longer than 20 minutes. Caveat: Electrico could take longer if you have the person that wants to run every single iteration for every single roll. This could slow your game down considerably.
The Other:
The rules are kind of a mess. ( Note: this is what the Kickstarter is to help fund, the translation) They take some time to get through. The examples are good for Electrico, but they are lacking in Alpakaland. I hope that I interpreted them correctly. If not, well, these will be my house rules.
Final Thoughts:
As a huge roll and write player, I love these two games. The single set of rolling, and everyone working off the same dice makes the game smooth. There is no downtime between turns either. The only downtime comes from that one person that cannot make up their mind! I have a large folder of PnP and Roll & Writes, and I plan to add these two games to that collection!
Players Who Like:
Roll and Writes, Dice Games, Playing via Video Conference with friends and family far away, alpacas
NEED DICE? You might check here!
Adam Collins – Reviewer
