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ISLAND UP FOR GRABS

Die Insel der steinernen Wächter

Giants And Witches And Goblins – Oh My!

Situated in the centre of the island group of Lutao, lies the city of the magicians, guarded by heartless golems. The central island itself is no longer safe to enter, since the magicians destroyed each other, but they left the stone guardians behind, without having revoked their order to defend the island against everybody. But now, long after the demise of those wizards, the neighbouring peoples plan to take possession of the main island – each on their own.

That's the background story of "The Island of the Stone Guardians". The game certainly is a nice twist on the classic "Risk"-game. Players control nations (armies), trying to create a solid and secure base first (to gain more armies and supplies), and afterwards set out for the ultimate goal, the capture of the central island. There are many differences to the boring dice-rolling game of "Risk" that make the island-hopping by Claus Kuderna entertaining and not so completely dependent on luck.

This starts with the game board – the islands can be arranged differently and entirely new for each game, as long as three basic rules are observed: Lutao has to be placed in the middle of the play mat representing the ocean (quite large, by the way), the other isles grouped around it may never overlap, and the distances between the individual island pieces must never be so large that any one part may be outside the blue play mat.

The players choose their colours. The cardboard pieces are, unfortunately, extremely simply designed and not very attractive to behold, only just O.K. for their purpose, and remind us of the cheap looking markers of the first edition of "Civilization". Then take your nation-card (draw or choose one of twelve cards) and that nation’s special ability (called "Rune"; again, either drawn at random or selected; the rules booklet gives both options).

It is absolutely advisable to thoroughly read the card texts. In fact, peoples’ attributes and Runic powers constitute the main difference to other, similar games. The basic game has twelve peoples / nations and twelve runes (additional cards are announced as expansion sets). There are, by the way, peoples that would qualify rather as Professions or Classes in other fantasy worlds. So you could be Dwarf, Elf, Orc or Giant, but also Bard or Witch. Some cute combinations result from the Runes. Commonly known as not-magically gifted, Giants could suddenly conjure up Ghost Armies here (Rune of Spirits) or Druids could unleash the Plague against enemies as a surprise (Rune of Diseases).

In addition, Spell Cards may be purchased (paid for by revenues; that is, control of provinces and cities), regardless of whether it fits the (traditional) character of your people.

The sequence of play is unfortunately rather unspectacular – try to invade enemy provinces with your armies (even across the sea by means of a somewhat questionable aquatic transport system), occupy them and incorporate them into your own sphere of influence and thereby strengthen your realm – so you gain more resources, more armies, more magic. If you think you are strong enough, try then to capture the main island of Lutao, protected by neutral, powerful golems (not particularly pretty pieces, either). On the central island, players are not allowed to use their special abilities (either of the People or the Rune). First they have to occupy certain provinces to gain back their powers. The first nation to hold on to Lutao’s capital for a fixed number of rounds (normally three) wins the game.

The combat system is noteworthy – you try to win against your opponent not by means of dice rolling, but by Combat Cards. Depending on the size of the army (and sometimes varied by a people's attribute or Rune or Spells), combatants draw a number of Combat Cards, choose no more than four of them (again, this number may change by means of other cards), and hope to cause more damage than the enemy nation. Here's a tactical element to the game that was missing with “Risk” all along.
The rules booklet is detailed and rather clear, but, as has been mentioned often before with other games, an index would be very welcome and helpful. Illustrations and graphics are remarkable only on the Nation Cards and on the game’s box, otherwise they are very sparse and not really great. But those who seek an alternative to strategic dice-centred games will be quite happy with "The Island of the Stone Guardians”. Lovable or even threatening, in any case fairy-tale inspired qualities make the game’s peoples interesting, almost likable, even if the final battle boils down to old issues. But even that does not happen to be a Secret Mission like: "Destroy all yellow armies!"

Martina & Martin Lhotzky, Marcus Steinwender

Spieler         : 2 – 4

Alter            : ages 12 and up

Dauer           : approx. 2-3 hours

Autor           : Claus Kuderna

Grafik          : Artur Fast, Heiko Eller

Preis            : ca. 50,00 Euro

Verlag          : Elfenherz 2010

                     www.elfenherzspiele.de

Genre                    : tactical game on majorities

Zielgruppe             : With friends

Mechanismen         : achieve majorities, use card texts to advantage

Kommentar:

Simple, plain components

Similar to Risk, but offers more tactical possibilities

People + Runes combinations offer interesting possibilities

Vergleichbar:

Risk – without dice, but with Fairy Tale elements

Martina, Martin & Marcus:

In this rather charming Risk variant you need not necessarily eliminate your opponents – to be the first and alone to achieve your goal is sufficient

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