HIGHLIGHTS AMONG GAMES

Billabong

KANGOROO HOPPING AROUND THE WATERHOLE

Dear reader! I am very much tempted to name „Billabong“ a classic among the tactical movement games. And yet, the game has been on the market for not even 20 years yet, to be precise, it has been published in several editions. This alone is a certain mark of quality. If you are reminded of Halma at a first, quick glance, you will be pleasantly surprised during the first kangaroo hops, because Billabong contains several game elements which can entice the tactician, who has a preference for pondering, from the first move! The rather stately game flow of the classic Halma (Greek for “jump”) that was created in 1883 by Howard Monks, where you use your own chains for jumping from start to finish, has in Billabong made room for a real interlock of forces from the first moment. This has been the declared intention of the London computer expert Eric W. Solomon (*1935), who has provided many of his games with clear but not at all simple structures. First and foremost, Black Box and Hyle come to mind as examples for this. Despite the purely tactical approach Billabong has been surrounded with an interesting topic or background story: Up to 20 kangaroos must hop around a water hole (Billabong in the Aborigines language) and move forward as fast as they can. Solomon has presented his idea for the first time in 1984 in his book „Games Programming“, an unexpectedly modern opus on programming of games. If reading these lines has made you acquire a taste for Billabong, you can look forward to a hopping orgy of enormous jumping power at the Österreichische Spielemuseum at Leopoldsdorf. www.spielen.at

A Billabong of size 2x4 squares on an empty board of 14x16 squares is all that first appears in the light of a spectator’s lamp. Oh yes, there is something else, a blue strip of water, which represents the start and finish line, as we learn later from the game description. Two to four players are given five kangaroos each - which in the new edition of 2002 are really nicely and lovingly styled kangaroo figurines - and a so called “referee kangaroo” is kept ready in the Billabong. As we will soon see this unicum, the referee kangaroo, is one of the most ingenious ideas of Eric W. Solomon. What is the purpose of those “leaps and bounds” actions? Very simply said, if you are first to let your kangaroos hop once around the Billabong and thereby cross the start/finish line twice, you win. Twice? Yes, correct, because at the start of the game each player must place all his kangaroos behind that line, anywhere to his liking. Then the jumping competition starts: You have two basic possibilities to move your kangaroo: (A) “Saunter” one square horizontally, vertically or diagonally or (B) jump over your own and opposing kangaroos. But this is governed by two “iron” rules: When the distance between the kangaroo you want to move and the one you want to jump over is two squares, then you land at a distance of two squares behind the jumped-over marsupial, should the distance before the jump be three squares it is three squares after the jump, too. And you can never land on an occupied square after a jump. The wonderful thing is: Serial jumps are possible, even better, they are necessary to get quickly around the Billabong. To serve as a memory aid, if you should miscalculate such a serial jump, is the job of the referee kangaroo: It is placed on the starting point of your chosen jumper and - if the jump was successful - put back in the Billabong after the jump. A final remark on this: You can jump over this referee kangaroo, too! I do not make empty promises by repeating the cover text on the original edition: “A race with a kick!”

Comments to: hugo.kastner@chello.at

Homepage: www.hugo-kastner.at

RECOMMENDATION # 77

Players: 3-5

Age: 10+

Designer: Eric Solomon

Time: 20+

Price: not available

Year: 1993

Publisher: Franjos

Tactic: 9 von 9

Info±: 0 von 9

Chance: 0 von 9

Maybe a tactical mark of 9 surprises you in a game that is considered suitable for ages 10+. But indeed, there is no chance factor at all in Billabong and also no head start as regards to information and no hidden bluff element either. Therefore, a computer could find the optimum move for each situation on the board. For a human player on the other hand the tactical reactions of their fellow players pose a real challenge. Contrary to games like Chess or Go there is no demand for long-term strategic concepts.

Hugos EXPERT TIP

If you have gained some basic experience with Billabong after one or two games, play the game with 4 times 5 kangaroos also in a game for two and move the kangaroos in the two different colors alternately. The turmoil on the board simply offers opportunities for more beautiful and longer chain jumps. For experts among kangaroo fans the use of a timer might be recommended, as this puts the pondering on the enormously varied possibilities of moves under a certain time control.

Hugos FLASHLIGHT

„Billabong“ must be classified as a tactical masterpiece with a very high suitability for families, due to its lightness and and at the same time surprising profoundness. And, quite deservedly so, Billabong has been nominated Game of the Year in Germany. The rules are explained with a few sentences only, but from the first kangaroo hop on the real problems start! On is in danger to become addicted to the search for the optimum way around the Billabong. Smartish with a kick!

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