PLAYED FOR YOU

Azteka

Rivalry in the Circle of Life

The perennial fight between Life and Death continues, here enacted as rivalry for dominance in the Circle of Life. At the start you align the circle segments and take all 14 pawns of one color, for a game of two. In two rounds you try to meet your special or a general target. If you are first to meet one of them you win. Life must place a pawn in every segment and every ring; Death must fill a ring or segment completely; general target is to place all 14 pawns on the Circle of Life. You place a pawn - for both Life and Death a new pawn must be placed adjacent to a Life pawn - or you turn a ring by one segment in clockwise direction. Pawn placement can activate special abilities: If as Life player you place a Life pawn and a segment is then completely filled with Life pawns, you can place a second pawn. If as Death player you place a Death pawn and a Life pawn is then completely surrounded by Death Pawns, the Life pawn is replaced by a Death pawn. At the end of the round the winner counts his pawns in the Circle of Life and then roles are swapped for a second round. If you win both rounds, you win the game; otherwise you win if you needed fewer pawns to win your round. In an aggressive version for two you can turn a ring by two segments if you have more pawns placed in the Circle than your opponent, but there are no special abilities.

In a game for three the Mummies are introduced. All players have 12 pawns and now need either one pawn per segment and ring or a completely filled segment or ring to win.

Azteka is a very attractive game with few, simple rules and lots of challenging tactics and can be recommended wholeheartedly!

Players: 2-3

Age: 8+

Time: 20+

Designer: Andrea Mainini

Artist: Sabine Kondirolli

Price: ca. 23 Euro

Publisher: Huch! & friends 2014

Web: www.hutter-trade.com

Genre: Abstract, placement, position

Users: With friends

Special: 2 players

Version: multi

Rules: de fr nl + ru

In-game text: no

Comments:

Good, attractive components

Few, simple rules

Lots of tactical depth

Good spatial thinking is helpful

Compares to:

Abstract placement games with position targets

Other editions:

Zvezda, Russia, 2014

Chance (pink): 0

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 1

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0