Tactigon – Kickstarter Review

All of the pieces, including the board, are a thick, quality plastic construction. They feel solid and didn’t budge under a quick pressure test. I am satisfied this product will stand up against years of play. I am attracted to the shapes of the pieces and how the shapes are actually used to represent their abilities. For example, a square can move 4 spaces while a triangle can move 3.

I’m going to say one about the game, and one about the campaign.

About the game:

I love the sturdy construction, but the quick-to-play and accessible rules combined with the overall look make this game a very safe choice when picking out a game to play with any audience regardless of age or skill. Like many deceptively tactical games, the difficulty will scale based on the strengths of your opponent.

About the campaign: 

I already have a copy of the game (Thank you for the chance to review!) but I would back a project based on this quote alone that shows how much they care about their backers. Here’s a direct quote from their campaign page. “Our promise is this:  We will NOT release any copies for retail until a minimum of 90 days after we have shipped all pledge rewards to those that put their faith (and hard-earned dollars) behind this team and this product”. As a serial backer, and someone fully emerged in the gaming community, this resignates with me strongly. I know that retail has their own struggles, but I miss the traditional days of Kickstarter which was for small developers and really catered to those initial backers. A lot of projects today feel like pre-orders to afford large print runs and then little thought is given to the backers that helped make that happen. Anyways, I’ll cut that rant short, and just say that I really appreciated seeing this.

I think the rulebook could benefit from some examples and sample tactics. It’s perfect as is for veteran players but I’m concerned for beginners. They do have a fair amount of content available online so that would help out anyone with any questions.

– Grid Movement / Hexagon Grid

– King of the Hill (2 control points as one path to victory)

– Movement points (vary by shape)

– Point to Point Movement

–

– Player Elimination

– They listed “single loser” as a mechanic on the BGG page, but as it’s a two-player game, I don’t apply that classification

The rules of Tactigon are super simple and I can sum up most of them in a few lines. Objects move up to the amount of sides on their shape. You can attack any shape equal or more sides than you successfully, just less than you while losing your own piece, and cannot attack it at all if it’s two less. Combat ends your movement. You win if you defeat your opponent’s pentagon or hold both of the gold spaces on the board for a full round.

• Quick setup and play

• Very immersive – if you aren’t paying attention, a single careless move will probably lose the game.

• Quality components

• Excellent use of Shapes as part of their visual appeal and in relation to the ruleset. Makes it intuitive to learn.

• Attractive to kids and adults

• Short gametime is perfect for skirmish games

• Wanted to play again after playing

• As my first play the game was over immediately when I moved both Triangles into the gold spaces unhindered. Of course, we just reset, but how often does that happen on the first play for people? Generally, you might see some tip or rule to prevent that.

• Feels bad that the pentagon is useless unless attacking the other pentagon which also seems unlikely.

• A more fleshed out rulebook with some scenarios

• A modular setup could be an interesting advanced mode. They did have 2 optional advanced rules but I think modular setup on your field would be pretty cool even if the opponent mirrored it. (I’ll be trying that next)

I was pleased with the quick but punchy game that is true to its play time and can be played in 10-15 minutes even as a first play. This is a true unpack and play game. I even convinced the wife to play! You’d be impressed if you knew how picky she was about games, game length, difficulty, appearance, etc. Suffice it to say she’s agreed to play about 1 game per every 100 I’ve played. This one got a pass. So Tactigon, if you’re reading this, that’s the sticker of approval you should be aiming for: a non-gamer being satisfied after trying the game.

This game is fully funded and about to enter its last week of the campaign. If you are interested in learning more, head on over to their page and get some more details. If you do miss the campaign, I’m fairly certain this publisher intends to head to retail after their project so you can keep an eye out there as well. Good luck on the rest of the campaign, and I’ll be keeping this company on my radar for any future projects. Thanks!

I’ll see you next time, back here at The Game Table,

Brad Hiscock, aka Zerility

Here’s a link to their Kickstarter page and website:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewshaw/tactigon?ref=discovery&term=tactigon