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1984: Animal Farm

ARMS RACE AMONG ANIMAL POWERS

Loosely based on the novels by George Orwell, this game picks up the topic of Cold War, but with animals as protagonists: In 1984, they have taken over from humans and begin an Arms Race; you embody one of the main powers and use influence and agents in unstable regions to acquire advantages, represented by victory points.

You play in rounds comprising the phases of Moves, Alliances, Spies, Revolution, Buys and End of Round. In the movement phase you can move one agent from one region into another or you pass. The main action of the game happens in the alliance phase, you negotiate and debate and can use any assets but victory points in those negotiations. This phase is not resolved in playing order, but along the arrows leading from one region to the next, beginning in Region One.

For an alliance each agent in the region carries a strength of 1, and you can use basic and advanced action cards to strengthen the alliance; each player can only be in one alliance at a time and there can only be all players minus one in an alliance.

If no majority is achieved or no alliance is forged, nobody gains influence markers from the region. In the Revolution phase you use influence to start revolutions with your neighbors, again you can debate and negotiate. Successful revolutions earn victory points, the used influence markers go back into the respective regions.

Whiffs of Diplomacy, but modernized and much more multifarious and also much more interactive due to open negotiations - a very good negotiations game for experienced players who know when it pays to not keep a promise made in negotiations.

Players: 2-4

Age: 12+

Time: 90+

Designer: Rafał Cywicki, Krzysztof Cywicki, Krzysztof Hanusz

Artist: Karolina Burda, Dominika Chudzio, Maciej Zasowski

Price: ca. 35 Euro

Publisher: Kuźnia Gier 2012

Web: www.kuzniagier.com

Genre: Negotiation game

Users: For experts

Version: multi

Rules: en pl

In-game text: no

Comments:

Interesting, unusual topic

Very heavy emphasis on negotiations

Good mix of bluff and tactics

Compares to:

Topic and basic mechanisms in analogy to Diplomacy

Other editions:

Currently none

Chance (pink): 0

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 2

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 3

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0