Frederic Moyersoen

New sales figs Saboteur

2012-01-20T14:43:00.003+01:00

As I'm a fan of statistics, especially when the figures are good, here are the new sales results for the game Saboteur. About 130 000 copies of Saboteur were sold in 2011, which is twice as much as in 2010. The total sales have now reached 480 000 samples! The successful launch of Saboteur 2 is probably the simpliest explanation of this exceptional result.

Also interesting is to evaluate how the sales are distributed over the 8 years. France is leading with 24 %, followed by Germany 19%. The Benelux represents 14% of the worldwide sales, which is not bad for a population of 28 million people. After the USA, we have the Baltic States on the 5th position, which is in fact an extraordinary result because its population is only 6,6 million people.

Actually, there are 21 different language versions available.

Besides these official sales numbers there are also numerous pirate Chinese copies for sale, but as these generate no royalties, I can't include them in the graphs.

Thanks for your interest in the game.

White Water for Spring 2012

2011-11-28T22:15:00.001+01:00

Mayfair Games has announced the 3rd release of one of my games (after Bacchus' Banquet and Nuns on the Run):
Danger and excitement lurk around every bend of the river in White Water.

Race down a deadly river carefully navigate your rafts through the obstacles, trying to keep your paddles and your crew inside the raft.
In the game White Water each player directs the actions of four courageous rafters. Each raft in the race contains four crew, with two crew from you and two from another player. Players control the crew within a raft, but also may use Energy cards to additionally help one raft or the other.

Dice represent the effects of hazards you encounter, and even your best-laid plans can be spoiled by another raft pushing you a direction you don't want to go.

Pirate version of Saboteur

2011-11-22T09:20:00.001+01:00

Someone has detected a pirate version of the game Saboteur.Besides the logo of Z-man Games, you see Chinese characters on the box. This proves that the version is a pirate one.Apparently, the rules contain a lot of translation and typing errors and the cards are cheap reproductions.

A friendly game designer has consolated me. Only very popular games are pirated. It's better to consider it as a free promotion than to be sad about it.Let's hope that the more fortunate Chinese custumors will prefer the original game.

Game aid for Ninja

2011-11-07T09:21:00.004+01:00

The lantern (painted)

A handy game aid is now available to download. It gives a summary of the game set-up and of the turn order. I hope that it will enlighten your mind (and memory).

Le pont du Rio d'Oro

2011-11-07T09:11:00.003+01:00

La règle de jeu est désormais disponible en français sur le site de Ludigaume.
Clickez ici.

Erratum Ninja rules

2011-10-27T15:00:00.000+02:00

There is a small printing error in the rulebook. The right illustration should be this one.

The rule mentions that you must note the turn number on EACH zone that you move through.

This is especially important when searching zones. You may only search zones that you have passed.

Back from Spiel in Essen

2011-10-23T13:40:00.000+02:00

Each year I go to Essen to meet the publishers. This year was particularly hectic as I had no time to look at other games which were presented. I've read that there were about 750 new games. This means that you must play each day 2 new games in order to know all the new games of the year!

So, let's limit my comments to my own games.
On the fair 2 new games were released and I was very proud with the presentation of it. Amigo Spiele (with the biggest booth on the fair) opened no less than 14 boxes to allow playing "Die Brücke am Rio d'Oro" simultaneously on their numerous playing tables. Above this, they reproduced the bridge to allow playing the game "live".

The bridge (before the fair opened)

The Amigo booth during the day

The other new game was "Ninja" which was presented on the AEG booth. On Saturday afternoon, when I left the fair, only one copy of the game remained. The rest was sold out. The game was already showed in the US on Gencon (in August- and there were a lot of positive comments to read on Board Game Geek. So, I suppose that the game was a little bit expected by the European players who rushed to buy their copy, as they have no patience to wait upon a European release in their own language.

The stock of games on the first day

Demo of Ninja on the booth

About my contacts with publishers, I can announce that there is now a Korean version of Saboteur. A Finnish version is in preparation. The extension will also become available for the German market. Besides, I signed 2 new license agreements on the fair and I have a good hope that a few other agreements will be concluded after the fair.

So, was the fair succesful for me? Yes, it was very successful.

Dutch rules available

2011-10-12T09:29:00.002+02:00

You can download the Dutch rules for "Die Brücke am Rio d'Oro" via this link.

Here you see the original prototype. Notice that the game has been rethemed from Chinese rice farmers to adventurers in South America.

New versions of Saboteur 2

2011-09-02T12:54:00.000+02:00

Saboteur 2 is now available in 6 new countries.After France, the Netherlands and the US, you can find the extension of the game in Poland, Baltic Republics, Hungary, Japan, Spain and Belgium.Each of the 9 countries has his own version.

Upcoming release

2011-08-16T12:32:00.003+02:00

Amigo Spiele, the German publisher of Saboteur, has announced the launch of: "Die Brücke am Rio d'oro". The purpose of this family game is to cross a dangerous bridge with gold stones. You try to move quickly over the rotten planks and to avoid falling into the water.
You can download the German rules via this link.

Ninja rules online

2011-07-24T22:06:00.000+02:00

The publisher AEG has put the rules online on their website .

Besides, demos of the game will be given on Gen Con Indy 2011. Some samples will be available for sale.
European customers, who are not planning to go to Indianapolis, will have to wait for the Essen Fair...

Ninja announced for fall 2011

2011-06-18T12:04:00.002+02:00

AEG, from Legend of the Five Rings, has announced the upcoming release of my next game. Once again a game with hidden movements, but in a different setting and with a new game experience.

More info on their website and on Board Game Geek.

Overview clans

2011-06-08T12:11:00.001+02:00

Here you find a handy overview of all clans in the game.

As the colours of the clan Cards are less saturated than on the Member cards, this addition can be a great help. Copy the image to print it as a handy extra card.

Variation

2011-04-26T11:56:00.000+02:00

According to the rules, all vampires must announce in which direction they flee when leaving a room with a hunter.
To give Dracula and his minions a small advantage, you can agree to skip this rule.

In this way, a vampire can use his last movement point to disappear. The hunters will have to guess where the vampire moves to.

Game aid + extra note pads

2011-04-26T11:35:00.012+02:00

On Boardgame Geek, I've posted a handy game aid in order to help Dracula reading the zone numbers secretly without revealing his position. Besides, you find a summary of the most important rules.

You can also download extra movement log sheets to print out.

Saboteur collection

2011-04-26T10:19:00.000+02:00

Nearly the whole Saboteur collection:

Lower row: French metal box, versions for Australia, Poland, Spain and Japan.

Second row: Belgian metal box, versions for Baltic States, Germany, China & Greece.

Third row: versions for Singapore, Hungary & Czech Republic.

Upper row: Italian metal box, version for Italy, Extensions for US, Holland & France.

Cherokee

2011-04-18T10:15:00.003+02:00

This new card game, published by White Goblin Games will be available end of May.

Here you can see the trailer:

Where is it about?

2011-04-12T15:27:00.001+02:00

After the dead of chief Yonaguska, the Cherokee tribe gather together in order to designate a new leader. All clans (the Birds, the Blue, the Wild Potato, the Deer, the Wolf and the Long Hair) compete.

As usual by the Indians, the old and wise members have the most influence (represented by their feathers). However at the top of the hierarchy, they are also vulnerable due to their high age. Young guys are very competitive and will try to move upwards, tackling their opponents.

Which clan will gather the most feathers and can nominate the new leader?

Players : 2 - 4

Age : 10 and up

Duration : 30 minutes

Game components: Rules of play + 106 cards

Saboteur 2 for Benelux

2011-03-30T09:06:00.001+02:00

The Dutch version of Saboteur 2 is ready and on the market (999 Games).
The Belgian version of Saboteur 2 is in preparation and may be expected for this summer (Asmodee Benelux).
Both games are presented as a pure extension and require the basic game.

Two extra cards for Cherokee

2011-03-28T18:37:00.001+02:00

Upcoming release

2011-03-24T21:59:00.000+01:00

Here is a first sample card for the new game "Cherokee".

New game release

2011-02-16T10:26:00.004+01:00

The ink of the Saboteur extension is still drying as I can announce a new release for end of May. The name of the game is Cherokee.
It will be an exiting card game for 2-4 players.

Soon more info.

New sales results

2011-02-14T17:52:00.000+01:00

The total sales for Saboteur has now reached 350 000 copies.
France has beaten Germany with 90 000 against 83 000 sold copies.
The third place goes for the Netherlands with 38 000 sold copies, which is not bad for such a small country.

Note that the sales numbers of the extension is not included in this graph (as the extension is just launched).

To compare: my next best selling game Lari Safari, which is nearly out of stock, has reached 21 000 sold copies since 2005. Nicht zu fassen, which has been launched in 2009, has reached 17 000 sold copies. As the game is only available in Germany and France, this explains the big sales difference with Saboteur.

Clarifications

2011-02-08T15:30:00.005+01:00

English version:

When a saboteur, boss, geologist or profiteer creates the connection to the gold, he makes the gold-diggers wins the round.

If there is no blocking door, both teams win together.
If there is one blocking door, the team of the blocking door, wins.
If there are 2 blocking doors (green and blue), the boss and profiteer can win (together or alone). All the other gold-diggers have lost. If none of both is not present, nobody wins.

If the boss wins alone, he gets 4 points. If the profiteer wins alone, he gets 3 points.

Version française:

Quand un saboteur, boss, géologue ou profiteur atteint la pépite d'or, il fait gagner les chercheurs d'or.

S'il n'y a aucune porte qui bloque le chemin, les 2 équipes gagnent ensemble.
S'il y a une porte qui bloque le chemin, l'équipe dont c'est la bonne porte, gagne.
S'il y a 2 portes de couleur différente qui bloquent le chemin, le boss et le profiteur peuvent gagner (ensemble ou seul). Tous les autres personnages ont perdus. Si aucun des deux est présent, personne ne gagne.

Si le boss gagne seul, il reçoit 4 points. Si le profiteur gagne seul, il reçoit 3 points.

Nederlandstalige versie:

Wanneer een saboteur, baas, geoloog of profiteur de verbinding met het goud maakt, doet hij de goudzoekers winnen.

Als geen enkele deur de weg blokkeert, dan winnen beide teams samen.
Als er één deur de weg blokkeert, dan wint het team van de betreffende deur.
Als 2 verschillende gekleurde deuren de weg blokkeren, dan kunnen de baas en de profiteur (samen of alleen) winnen. Alle anderen hebben verloren. Als geen van beiden aanwezig is, dan wint niemand.

Als de baas alleen wint, dan krijgt hij 4 punten. Als de profiteur alleen wint, dan krijgt hij 3 punten.

More translations in preparation

2011-02-08T14:06:00.000+01:00

Several distribution partners agreed to publish the Saboteur extension, either as a pure extension, either as a stand-alone game or as a collection box including the basic game & the extension.

Here you see the American version.

First peak at the extension

2011-01-17T13:33:00.004+01:00

The new French edition of Saboteur is ready and will be launched soon.
The large box (right) contains the basic version and the extension.

In the extension, the game is playable from 2 to 12 players (and always perfectly balanced).
One of the new ideas is to add new roles: from left to right, you see the boss, the profiteer and the geologist.
Besides, the miners are divided in 2 groups: the blue and the green, who compete against each other!

There are a lot of new action cards: you can peak at the role of another player, change your role during a round, put someone in prison, steal gold and more.

There are also new path cards: bridges, ladders providing short-cuts, doors, which blocks the opponent team and cristals for the geologists.

To conclude: a lot of new ideas to add more variety and fun to my best-selling game. My best reference: the playtesters loved the extension.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-20T20:59:00.003+01:00

Lock markers

2010-11-23T11:25:00.004+01:00

The Lock markers are rather big and risk to cover counters and zone numbers.

My fellow Eric Hanuise proposed to use matches instead of the markers.

Vinciane on the other hand proposed to use plastic bases from another game. Now, the locks fit better in-between two zones.

The figures

2010-11-16T11:39:00.004+01:00

Zvezda, the publisher of the game, has sculpted very nice figures. Of course, they come unpainted in the box, but look here how expressive they become with a quick brush of colour.

Example : How to paint Dracula in 10 minutes?
1) Use acrylic colours : they dry quickly.
2) Paint first the figure in black.
3) When the colour is dry, add some delicate grey tones with a dry brush in order to lighten up the details.
4) Clean your brush and add red details on his cape.
5) Clean your brush thoroughly and paint his face white and add dark eyebrows (in brown or black).
6) Put some brown on his boots. It's dirty in his castle.
7) If you are as clumsy as me, correct now your mistakes.
8) Stop your stopwatch. You are ready!

How to attack?

2010-10-27T15:34:00.008+02:00

See the trailer by clicking on the label Videos!

Case 1 : Van Helsing enters a room and discovers Dracula. He can immediately attack, using his last 2 action points. He uses his pistol and needs a 2 or less to succeed. Unfortunately, he rolls 3 and 6. He misses both attacks.

Case 2 : Dracula fights back using his claws. He has still 5 Blood points and requires a 5 or less to succeed. He attacks 3 times and rolls 2, 3 and 6.

Van Helsing gets 2 hits and lowers his Blood points from 4 to 2. Above this, he must drop one of his objects (at his choice).

Next Dracula tries to bite Van Helsing. In contrary to a claw-attack, Van Helsing must roll the die. He needs 2 or less to remain unharmed (equal as his actual Blood points). Van Helsing rolls 3 and loses 2 extra Blood points. He becomes undead and transforms in a vampire. He loses all his objects in the zone.
Note: if Dracula would have failed his bite-attack, he would have lost one Blood point.
Finally, Dracula disappears in an adjacent room.

Actions

2010-10-14T17:14:00.007+02:00

As explained earlier, you have as many actions points as your actual blood points. Each action costs one action point. In your turn, you can :
- move
- search
- use an object
- attack

Examples:
You have 4 Action points. Van Helsing moves 3 times and searches the room. You flip over the marker and find the master keys. Now, you can open any locked door.

Dracula has 5 actions points. He moves secretly by noting the arrival dots on a log sheet. Nevertheless, at the start of his turn, he must announce where he is standing. So, the player reveals that Dracula is standing in zone n°20. Dracula enters the room of Van Helsing (1 action). He attacks him twice (2 actions). Then, he moves away to zone n° 19 in order to be hidden again (2 actions). He notes n°19 on his log.

Next: how to attack?

The castle

2010-10-01T15:19:00.007+02:00

Here is a 3D view of the castle of Dracula.

The gameboard consists of 3 parts, each part showing one level of the castle.

Each zone has a number, which is useful for the vampire player, as he will move secretly (more or less in a similar way as in "Nuns on the run"). Zone n° 34 indicates the coffin of Dracula. He will start there and he must try to reach it back after finding his brides.
You can move from one level to the other by using one of the 5 small towers.
The dotted squares indicate the places where object counters will be put down. The characters will be able to pick them up and add them on their sheet.

Next: what can you do in your turn?

The characters

2010-09-30T10:17:00.011+02:00

There are 5 characters in the game: Dracula and the 4 hunters : Van Helsing, Mina Murray, Jonathan Harker and Lord Godalming.

Each character has one sheet. On this sheet, you see a row with Blood points and a row for objects (bats for Dracula). The Blood points indicate your life points, your action points and the number of objects that you may carry.

At the start of the game, each character starts at the maximum number of Blood points, which is 4 for the hunters and 5 for Dracula.
This is indicated by placing a Blood marker as a diamond on top of the right square.

The hunters get 6 initial objects to divide: a crucifix, a dagger, a pistol,a lamp, an antidote and a first aid kit.

The first problem emerges: who gets which object(s)? The hunters must find an agreement. The objects are placed facedown on the character sheet. Dracula does not need to know who is carrying which object.

The small number on some objects indicate the chance that using the object succeeds. The higher the number the more chance on success.
The asterix indicates that the object can only be used once. After use, you must discard the object.

Soon : the castle and its 3 levels.

Trailer Van Helsing

2010-09-27T10:14:00.006+02:00

Here is the trailer for the new game.

I hope you like it as much as we had fun to make it.

The game will be released in the first week of october (in Europe).

Many questions...

2010-09-09T16:50:00.007+02:00

Where are these people going to?

What will Lord Godalming chose?

Where is Mina so scared about?

Why is Jonathan Harker holding a rifle?

What is this stake for?

So many questions...
Soon, you will know the answers by looking at the trailer or by playing the game "Van Helsing"!

Teaser trailer

2010-08-31T21:00:00.005+02:00

The shooting of the trailer is finished and now I'm busy with the editing.
Here is a first picture as a teaser.

A few interesting facts:

- The trailer was shot close to Borgo Pass in Roumania.
- The actors were selected among the most talented Belgian stars.
- The crew was the "crème de la crème" of the professional filmmakers.
- The original budget was surpassed ten times.
- The producer has expended all his savings due to excessive extras, like a private jet for Van Helsing.
- The director, which is the same person as the producer, got big family problems as his wife had to clean all the mess at the end of the shooting.
- The release of the game is postponed to october in order to allow finishing the editing in time.

Van Helsing

2010-06-30T12:19:00.006+02:00

Early September the new game "Van Helsing" from Sirius will be launched.

To promote this game, I'm preparing to shoot a trailer (like for Nuns on the Run).

You may expect the trailer around mid-september.

FAQ Nuns on the run

2010-05-18T09:33:00.007+02:00

Here are the answers on a few commonly asked questions:

1. In the first game-turn, do the novices roll for noise?
Yes

2. When do the guards have to select their first path cards?
At the start of their game-turn.

3. Can you chose to re-use the same movement card?
Of course, you can.

4. Do you have to select your movement card before moving?
No, you move first and show the movement card in relation to the distance that you have moved.

5. When does a guard turn after or before moving?
At the start of each movement step, the guard figure is pivoted in the new direction.

6. Can a guard immediately leave her path and start running after seeing a novice?
Yes, she can.

7. When I'm caught, when can I disobey and start moving in another direction than my cell?
As soon as the guard does not see you anymore, you can move in any direction at any speed.

8. When do I flip my card back to the "on the run" side?
At the end of your turn in which you have disappeared.

9. When do I have to roll for noises again?
In the next turn after being back "on the run".

10. When do I risk being caught again?
Once, you are back "on the run". Although you do not roll for noise, the guard player will do at the end of his move!

Tactical hints

2010-04-14T15:28:00.005+02:00

First of all, a French translation of the rules is now available. You can download it from Board Game Geek, but also from Ludism.

Errata: I've discovered a small missing detail in the English rules. In the first game turn, novices must also roll the die for noises, even though the guards have not moved yet. In this way, guards can detect novices which remained too close to the abbess' cell.

Here are some tactical hints for the guard player :

You need a keen plan to trap the novices in order to catch them easily. First, check were the keys are. Most of them are in the gardens and the chapel. So, there is a big chance that most of the novices will run in that direction at the start of the game. No need to run behind them. Their advance is too big and you will arrive too late. So, you will try to shortcut their plans and run towards the Pharmacy and the Scriptorium. If by chance a novice needs key 7 or 8, he will be surely trapped and caught.
When you arrive at your destination, you are sure that all the undetected novices are in the chapel or gardens. So, now you select paths to cross the whole convent from right to left. When you reach the garden's gate, you will have caught a lot of novices, because most of them will have few escape options.
The game is now halfway and if any novice was still uncaught and undetected at this moment, you must head towards the abbess'cell to block all novices on the way back.
Victory will be yours!

Here are some tactical hints for the novice player :

The guard player thinks that you are stupid, but he is terribly wrong. Instead of moving his guards in opposite directions, he kept them together, leaving a large part of the convent unsearched.
So, at the start of the game he went in the wrong direction. Now you have plenty of time to pick up your key in the gardens or in the chapel. If your key is at the opposite side of the convent, you just need to wait until the guards are gone and you walk quietly behind them, picking up the key without any problem. Then, you go towards the garden's gate and back to your cell, still behind the guards. You win without any problem.
When you are in the chapel or in the gardens while the guards are coming in your direction, take the path outside the convent to pass the guards safely and to reach the kitchen. From there on, you can reach easily your destination and run back towards your cell.
Normally, you should arrive there before the guards. If not, you wait until they move away (without having any idea where you could be) and sneak quickly back in your cell.
It is that easy!

Poker Middelkerke 2010

2010-04-05T20:09:00.007+02:00

Saturday April 3th, I've participated together with my sun at the poker tournament in Middelkerke.

Alexander, the youngest player, became 20th on 65 participants. He lost with a straight against a higher one.

Here, I'm sitting at the final table.

My stack of chips is increasing together with my confidence.

The winner of the tournament. She won with a full house of kings and sixs, while I stalled with sixs and kings at the river. Damned!

As d'or - Jeu de l'année Enfant

2010-03-07T12:02:00.011+01:00

Cache Moutons, alias Nicht zu fassen, has been awarded again.
After Spiele hit in Austria and a nomination for the Kinderspiel des Jahres, the game has won the prestigious As d'or - Jeu de l'année Enfant. The gala evening took place in Cannes. This new award will surely give a strong boost to the game, and not only in France.

On the picture above, you see from left to right : Jean-Christophe Girez, the French publisher from Gigamic, Albrecht Werstein, the boss of Zoch Spiele (German publisher) and myself.

On the picture below, on the front row, you see all the winners together : myself, Philippe Keyaerts, winner of the Special Jury Prize with Smallworld and finally Emilie from Asmodee with Identik.

Trailer and how to play

2010-03-03T17:00:00.012+01:00

Here are three videos to promote the new game "Nuns on the Run".

For the best effect, watch the trailer full screen with dimmed lights and at the highest quality level (480p instead of 360p). Enjoy!

First demos

2010-02-15T12:05:00.003+01:00

The first demos are very promising. Apparantly, people are intrigued by the theme of the game.

On the picture, you see the abbess and prioress walking away after having detected and caught novice Theresa (me) in the chapel.

Nomination As d'or

2010-02-12T18:24:00.005+01:00

Cache Moutons, the French version of Nicht zu fassen has been nominated for the As d'or award.

The game is still in competition against 9 other strong games, like Smallworld from my Belgian friend Philippe Keyaerts. This will be a tough decision for the jury and big suspense for me.

Sales Saboteur Burst

2010-02-08T09:33:00.006+01:00

The international release of Saboteur in new markets as Canada, Australia, Japan and China gave a new push to the game. The game is actually distributed in 18 different language versions.

Compared to last year the sales increased by app. 40 %. The counter is now at 290 000 sold copies. Big sales for such a small game.
Let us imagine that on average 5 persons played the game per sold copy. This means that probably 1 450 000 persons already played the game. Isn't it amazing?

Nevertheless, half of the sales are still for the account of only 2 countries : Germany and France. In Belgium, sales must be around 20 000 copies. I've no exact accounts as the game was first distributed by Holland and France.

Look at the graph below and judge yourself.

Nuns on the run is ready for shipping

2010-01-07T16:45:00.009+01:00

On March 11, Mayfair Games (USA) will release one of the games, which I cherish most. The title tells really where it is about.

During the night, the new novices run around in the convent instead of sleeping in their cell. They want to fulfill a secret wish. The abbess "mother Benedicte" and prioress "mother Clara" start their round in order to capture the naughty girls.

Soon more info about it.

Comment from an enthusiastic player

2009-11-14T16:45:00.002+01:00

I've got a lovely comment on Batt'l Kha'os. Here is the full text in Dutch. Translation at the end.

Ik heb je nieuwe spel "Battl Khaos" al een paar keer gespeeld. Inclusief een paar solo-partijtjes.
Om eerlijk te zijn...
Ik vind het erg goed.
Het simpele idee en de duidelijke setting geven dit spel veel charme.
"Saboteur" is waarschijnlijk je grootste hit maar niet mijn favoriet.
Dan heb ik dit liever.
Het is ook één van de weinige spelen waaraan mijn vriendin wil meedoen. Dat is al een verdienste op zich.
En ik moest ook zeggen dat ze al twee keer gewonnen heeft.
Ik apprecieer de combinatie van het puzzelsysteem (à la Carcassonne) en de strategische dimensie van de power tokens.
De variabele mogelijkheid van power tokens en de extra tegels maken het spel gevarieerd genoeg om het te blijven spelen.
Je kan het moeilijk een zwaar spel noemen. Het is licht van regels en beperkt in tijd. Een halfuurtje volstaat.
Een gouden tip voor de casual gamer en een leuke hebbedingetje voor de hard-core fan. Er zit een snuifje geluk in (welke tegels trek ik en welke power tokens heb ik?), maar je moet toch het hoofd erbij houden als je wil winnen (als ik die tegel zo zet dan heb ik nu drie man voor mij, maar dan staan er ook 2 groepjes van 2 voor hem klaar en als hij dan een nieuwe toren aanlegt, dan heb ik wel die eerste, maar niet die nieuwe van 3 punten en hij.....)

In mijn verzameling van 300+ board- en cardgames heeft dit pareltje zijn plaats verdiend. Het past perfekt in de lijn "Spiele für Zwei" van Kosmos, ooit een verdienstelijke poging om speelbare en boeiende spellen te publiceren voor koppels.

Arno

Translation (abbreviated) : this game is great!

Saboteur in Chinese

2009-11-01T21:24:00.005+01:00

To promote the Chinese version of the game "Saboteur", I've made a video "how to play?".
The video is exclusively Chinese spoken (it was hard) with English subtitles (if you do not understand Chinese, but still want to know more about the game).

Please note that I've been assisted by Swea Tea, which helped me for script writing, camerawork, sound recording, lighting, dressing, schmink, coffee, moral support and last but not least pronunciation tips. Although she is a lovely pretty girl, she was too shy to stand in front of the camera. Therefore, we had to switch roles at the very last moment.
Maybe next time...

How to play?

2009-10-25T22:51:00.009+01:00

Mayfair Games has made an excellent video explaining how to play "Bacchus' Banquet".

Spiele Hit in Austria

2009-09-27T13:08:00.003+02:00

Excellent news.

Nicht zu Fassen, alias Cache Moutons, has been rewarded with the Austrian prize for Childern's games.

Tips & Tricks

2009-09-16T12:13:00.005+02:00

Suggestion :

As Batt'l Kha'os requires some tactical insight, it can be a little outbalanced between an experienced and novice player. The balance can be readjusted by allowing the experienced player to start with only 3 or 4 power tokens instead of 5.

Tactical advice :

Once you control the first 2 corners of one tower, you have a great advantage. When your opponent tries to capture the third corner, you can easily take the 4th corner and the majority.

Thus, when your opponent controls 2 corners of a tower, it is better to give it temporarily up and distract his attention by placing a new tower at another spot of the battlefield.

Placing new towers is an excellent way to open the game. If you fight tower per tower, the outcome depends much more of the tiles that you keep in your hand. If there are several towers to capture, you force your opponent to make choices as he can not attack on all places at the same time. Thus, if you think having a weak hand of tiles, place a new tower.

Use your power tokens to take control of towers and not of corners. If you use a power token to get a corner and you do not manage to capture the tower, your power token has been wasted.

Use your power tokens before the end of the game. Frequently, the game accelerates towards the end, giving you not enough opportunities to use your power tokens in an efficient way.
Towards the end of the game, you can count how many turns each player needs to win the game. The player who has the advantage at that moment, is very difficult to beat.

Good luck with these few tips.

How to play?

2009-09-11T20:14:00.003+02:00

Eric Hanuise has made a nice video to explain the basics of the game Batt'l Kha'os.
You will recognize my son as an orc (the smallest one). Enjoy.

Il a également réalisé une version française.

Batt'l Kha'os release

2009-08-06T15:39:00.003+02:00

Z-man Games, an American publisher, has released Batt'l Kha'os, a new game which I've co-developped with Eric Hanuise.

The game is an abstract duel with square tiles containing knights and orcs. The objective is to control towers by gaining the majority of the corners.

Check the website of Z-man Games for the full rules or Boardgame geek for a translation.

Designed as a 2 player game, it is nevertheless quite easy to play it with more players.

Here are the special rules to adapt the game for 4 players :

The players form 2 teams of 2 players. Each player gets 3 tiles in his hand and 3 power tokens (instead of 5).
Players alternate turns. First, one orc player plays his turn, then one knight player. After this, the other orc player plays his turn and the other knight player last. Then, a new turn begins, always in the same order. Power tokens can only be used by the controlling player.

With 3 players, the special rules are quite similar.

Now, there is one team of 2 players and one of one player. The single player gets 6 power tokens instead of 3.
The single player plays twice per turn while his opponents only once per turn.

Pressconference in Berlin

2009-06-30T09:53:00.011+02:00

Here a few pictures of the pressconference on July 29th 2009.

The president of the Jury hands over the nomination award to the editor and myself.

All nominated games in a row. As you can see, Nicht zu fassen is standing very close to the winning game (at the right).

The wolf and myself in front of the presentation stand of the game.

"Nicht zu fassen" can still compete for other prices.

Particularly interesting is the Deutscher Spiele Preis, where the public can vote.

So, if you think that "Nicht zu fassen" deserves a price, please participate in the voting.

You must fill in the name of the editor, which is Zoch. Attention, the site is only in German language.

http://www.deutscherspielepreis.de/p040.php4

Nomination for "Kinderspiel des Jahres"

2009-05-25T22:12:00.007+02:00

"Nicht zu Fassen" alias "Cache Moutons" for the French, has been nominated for the German Children's Game of the Year. At the end of the month, the final decision of the Jury will be known.

Among all contests, this one is the most prestigious, especially for the "Game of the Year". To give childern's game a chance, the organisators have added a childern's price too, since 2001.

A nomination and even better the first prize is much envied in Germany.

In contrary to contests for game designs where authors are rewarded, this contest is a reward for the game as a final product : not only the concept of the game, but also how the game is realised : the clarity of the rules, the design of the game box and its components.

In this regards, Zoch Spiele, the editor, did an excellent job and I'm very glad about it.

Saboteur in Japanese language

2009-05-05T14:40:00.009+02:00

From now on, the game is also available in Japan.

How to playtest your game designs ?

2009-04-09T15:44:00.007+02:00

You have a brilliant idea and you want some feedback on it.

Here is a step-to-step plan how to proceed :

1. Go to your local pub and tell everyone that you are looking for some smart guys. Skip the first volunteer. He is drunk and useless for playtesting purposes.
2. Offer all your victims a drink. It is important that they start the test with a positive attitude.
3. Important : do not begin explaining the rules of the game right now. The folks are not paying attention anyway, they can't memorize all the details and they don't care a sh**t. Instead just start playing the game and explain what players must do when it is their turn to play.
4. During the game, interfere as much as possible. Give suggestions how to play, give strategical hints and explain why you love your own game so much.
5. Do not to forget telling some good jokes in order to create a happy feeling and relieve the tension (if someone gets upset from your ticks).
6. When you are hobbling behind, do not hesitate to suddenly change the rules in your favour. However, do it in a clever way. Tell the other players that you are just reminding an important rule. If they start complaining, just tell them that you are not playing, but playtesting a game and that changes are very common during a testing session.
7. When you have won the game (which should be evident, as you alone know the dirty little tricks how to win), offer everyone a new drink and ask in general how they have liked your concept. However, now you must be very talented. If they want to express a certain reservation, it is important to explain why the playtest has been a little outbalanced and is not representative : they had bad luck with the die rolls, they did not follow your advise in turn 1 or they simply do not have understood the key elements of the game. Do not tell them that you have expected to play with some smarter guys and that you are the one who is disappointed most. At this moment, you must use all your diplomatic skills.
8. Don't take notes. As you seldsom gets a usefull suggestion, it is not worthwile to spoil ink and time writing down some silly comments. Remember that you are the designer, not them.
9. Next, thank everybody for the nice evening and express the hope that they will buy your game once it will be published, which will occur soon. Do not tell that you will never ever want to play with those losers again. They just participated at your playtest for the free drink.
10. Finally, go the girl at the bar who was smiling at you during the whole evening and ask her : "Do you like playing games?". She might answer : "Depends which game...". Now, you can reply : "Follow me, sweetheart". When you hear the tickling of her high heals behind you, you can say to yourself "mission accomplished!".

Conclusion : for a successful playtest, check first if there are some nice girls at the bar, waiting upon a handsome man with brilliant ideas. If not, go to another pub.

Spellenplezier Poker Championship 2009

2009-03-22T12:31:00.010+01:00

Saturday March 21th 2009 :
While my opponents are joking, I'm wondering if I will call or raise. Ace-King. Let them laugh, I take the next pot.

My son (the youngest participant among the 70 competitors) had bad luck. He is sitting next to a pro, who has already taken most of his chips.

My son is out of the game due to his neighbour. Time for revenge.
I've just managed to kick off the pro from the table, which costs him 50 € for losing a bet with another pro. With a big stack in front of me, I'm ready to join the final table.

There, my luck ran out and I stranded at the 6th place. Nevertheless, I won 2 positions compared to last year (where I finished 8th with 50 competitors).

It's 3 o' clock in the morning and time to drive home to my lovely wife who is chilling in bed, waiting upon me.

How to play?

2009-02-27T18:15:00.008+01:00

My kids and I have made a video where we explain how to play "Nicht zu fassen" alias "Cache Moutons".

Enjoy!

Advanced game play

2009-02-24T15:17:00.005+01:00

The first reactions on the game are very enthusiastic.

Here are some suggestions how to improve the game fun (chaos) when playing with "big" kids :

Play the game with the most players as possible : even 7 players work fine.
Select the most "wolfish" player to start playing as the wolf.
Place the finger-puppet on your little finger as your forefinger will be too large. Use the puppet in any case. It adds an extra "fun" dimension to the game.
The wolf may count faster from 1 till 10 or counts only from 1 till 5.
When he has finished counting, the wolf must quickly turn his head back towards the table.
He must growl like a wolf when sniffing against the hide-outs (use your imagination).
Play the game in rounds to allow each one to become the wolf once.
The goats require only 6 stones instead of 7 to win the game (especially suggested with 5 to 6 players).

Have fun!!!

How to sell a game concept?

2009-02-19T15:54:00.014+01:00

You have worked hard on a game and now it is finished. You want to get your brilliant idea in a box and you do not know how...

It is not as difficult as you might think.

Here, for the first time, I explain how you must proceed. It works well, as I can testify. Even better, it works always if you follow exactly the following steps.

Step 1 : Identify a publisher which might be interested in your concept.

Step 2 : Send a brief description of the game to the big boss. Do not waste your time with employees. You go for the quick hit.

Wait a week.

Step 3 : As you got no answer, call the boss to check if he got your description. He will say "no" (which means that he has thrown away your description) and you tell him that you will send your brilliant idea right away. Hang up the phone before he can say "no" again.

Step 4 : Send your game and wait 3 months.

Step 5 : Call the boss again and ask him when he is going to publish your game. He will answer : "I'm very sorry, but I passed your game to the "chief game concept acquisition manager" and I got no feedback yet. He will contact you as soon as he has some info." In fact, his wife (who is also his secretary) has intercepted your game and she has tried to put your box on top of the shelf, which resulted in an avalanche of not-evaluated gameboxes. Several components were mixed, but she managed to fill up the boxes again as "equal" as possible.

Six months later...

Step 6 : You get your game (at least some components) back with the message "Unfortunately, the game does not fit into our collection. We wish you luck...".

Step 7 : On a game fair where your publisher has a booth, you decide to launch your secret weapon : your attractive girlfriend will force a breakthrough. The meeting lasts long. You start to panic and see her (in your mind) performing a lap-dance in front of the boss. Of course, you must accept some sacrifice and you wait the outcome of the meeting. At your surprise, the guy who is smiling at your girlfriend when she is leaving the meeting box, is not the boss, but his son. The whippersnapper.

Step 8 : Next year, you change your tactics. Seduction has not worked. Therefore, you invest in strong-arm methods. Flanked by 2 friends (recruited among the doorkeepers of your local dancing), you arrive in force at the booth of your favourite publisher. You ask with a calm and self-assured voice to the pretty lady at the reception desk : "How do you like my game?". She answers : "I don't know. I will ask the boss." When the boss arrives, he answers to your question (after looking in the eyes of your 2 fellows) : "Very interesting, I will have a second look."

Step 9 : Next year, you still have no news of your game. By despair, you participate at a game designer's contest. By chance, you get the first price among 200 competitors.

Step 10 : A week later, you get a phone call from your friend (the boss) : "Your game is brilliant and I take it. Why did you never showed it to me before?". You are too astonished to find the right answer and stammer : "Thank you very much, mister. I do no know what to say, mister".

Conclusion : To sell your game idea, you just need to have one publisher who finds that your game is brilliant. It might take a few years, but who cares...

Test your game designing skills

2009-02-19T11:57:00.010+01:00

You want to know if you have the potential to become a good game designer?
This simple test gives you the answer.

Question 1 : What is your favourite game?

a) Goose game

b) Monopoly

c) Saboteur

Question 2 : You have lost a game. What do you think?
a) I made more mistakes than the others.
b) The winner had a lot of luck.
c) This game sucks. Never again.

Question 3 : You won a game. What do you think?
a) Who cares? Let's play another game.
b) I had a lot of luck.
c) I'm so brilliant. Excellent game.

Question 4 : What is your favourite dish?
a) worst met rode kool (sausage with red cabbage)
b) steak nature
c) grilled lobster

Question 5 : You go on holiday. What don't you want to forget at home?
a) Your laptop
b) Paper and pencil
c) Your sexy bikini suit

Question 6 : What's your sex?

a) None of your business

b) Male

c) Female

Question 7 : What's your age?
a) Older than 35
b) Between 25 and 35
c) Younger than 25

Question 8 : What are your sizes (bust, waist, hips)?
a) 120 - 101 - 125
b) 100 - 85 - 110
c) 85 - 59 - 81

Question 9 : What is your dream?
a) To become rich
b) To design games
c) To meet you as quickly as possible

Answers :

You have the most A's : Go playing darts, game designing is not your thing.

You have the most B's :
Go playing with the other pal. He doesn't like to play alone.

You have the most C's : Please contact me on Facebook. We need to talk, sweetheart.

The original prototype

2009-02-17T11:51:00.001+01:00

Here you can see a picture of the original prototype. Like you can see, the final components are very similar to the original concept. The graphics are improved. The foam goats has been replaced by wooden pieces and the footprint counters by stones. A nice finger-puppet has been added. The editor has done a wonderful job.

What's inside the box?

2009-02-12T13:55:00.001+01:00

You get 7 furniture pieces in cardboard, 1 Wolf box, 1 Wolf finger puppet, 31 wooden cubes and 11 cute wooden little goats.

Sales Saboteur are booming

2009-02-12T13:03:00.000+01:00

The sales figures of the game Saboteur have arrived and I'm very glad to announce that the cape of 200 000 copies have been rounded. The game is on the market since 2004.

Last year, the sales have increased by 60 % compared to the sales of 2007. More than 60 000 copies have been sold during one year, which means an average of 170 copies per day or 7 copies per hour. Not bad for such a small game, isn't it.

Of course, the sales have boomed thanks to the worldwide distribution of it. The latest new market is South-Africa.

The bulk of the sales (60 %) have been achieved in Germany and France. The first thanks to the excellent distribution of the editor Amigo Spiele and the latter thanks to the nice presentation in a metal box of Gigamic.

Back from Nuernberg

2009-02-09T11:20:00.002+01:00

Nuernberg is the biggest Toy Fair of the world where all professionals gather together to make business in the game industry.
This time, I was very proud to attend the fair as two new games were presented : one being published by Zoch Spiele with an excellent reputation for quality games and the other being published by IQ Ideas a smart publisher of New Zealand starting to conquer the world from an unexpected direction (from a European point of view).
The feedback on both games appeared to be very positive, which confirmed the enthusiastic response of the people who got the opportunity to play-test the games.
So, you will soon hear more about it.

The Toy Fair is also an opportunity to present new game ideas and to check how far existing projects are progressing. Despite the crisis and the difficult economic situation, which is also affecting the game business, I got very encouraging feedback and I can inform you now that new games are coming to the market in the near future. Unfortunately, it is not my task to communicate about it and you will have to be a little patient until the concerning publishers start promoting their future releases.

The Game box

2009-01-27T13:19:00.002+01:00

Here you see the game box. Note that the German title is different from the French one.

The game will be released next month simultaneously in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France.

Three little goats?

2009-01-23T13:23:00.001+01:00

Seems like a childern's game...

Second hint

2009-01-14T14:03:00.001+01:00

Any idea ?

Where is this about?

2009-01-10T21:04:00.001+01:00

This picture shows a part of a new game-box illustration. As the game is still in preparation, you can start guessing where the game is about.

What can you do in your turn?

2008-12-01T17:46:00.000+01:00

In your turn, you can perform 2 actions out of the following choice :

Climb upon a crate : you must pay the right food tokens.

Get a food token : draw one from the sack.

Exchange a food token in order to get the right type.

Place a new crate : roll crate as a die and add it to the tower.

Chase a monkey away in order to get rid of one opponent.

Order info

2008-11-21T13:13:00.000+01:00

Porto Seguro is not available in ordinary shops, but you can order it at a very cheap price 5,5 € (+ 1,44 postage for Belgian people).

Mail to : pers@acw.be

As this game is published in a limited edition, do not wait too long...

Popularity overview

2008-11-20T12:18:00.000+01:00

On this map (from Google Analytics), you can see who has visited this blog already.

A picture tells more than thousand words.

How do you climb?

2008-11-20T11:04:00.000+01:00

Each crate has 6 coloured sides. Each side shows one of a monkey's favourite foods : bananas, strawberries, nuts, grapes, blueberries and leaves. You pay a food token per side that you use to climb on the crates.
In this example, you must pay one blueberrie and one banana token.

Idea of the game

2008-11-04T15:26:00.000+01:00

You are one of the four monkeys in the Mount Simian Zoo.
During the night, you try to escape from the enclosure by building a tower with some scattered fruit crates. From the top of it, it should be possible to leap into the nearby banana tree and head towards the closest disco of the town.
However, only one monkey can escape. The others must cover his flight by hiding his tracks.
Will you be the one who will spend the night in the town or do you have to stay behind until the next escape attempt?

In the coming days, you will get here more info on this game.

Monkey Mayhem

2008-10-28T14:15:00.000+01:00

I'm very proud to announce the upcoming release of Monkey Mayhem. The game will be launched first in New Zealand and will be available in the rest of the world, probably in spring 2009.
It is possible to order the game directly from the editor IQ Ideas at Iqideas.com

Porto Seguro

2008-10-16T15:06:00.000+02:00

This new game has been released in Belgium. The game is only available in Dutch and has been especially designed around the theme of social security.
It can be played if you know someone who is a member of ACW, ACV, CM, KAV, KWB, KAJ, OKRA, Familiehulp, Groep Arco, Pasar, Wereldsolidariteit or Ziekenzorg CM.
If you do not live in Flanders, you probably miss an unique opportunity to play this wonderful game. I'm really sorry.

Saboteur in Europe

2008-08-19T15:50:00.000+02:00

The game is now distributed in most of the European countries. Here you find an overview of the European countries where the game should be easily available.

The latest addition is this Greek version.

Clarification

2008-07-31T13:42:00.000+02:00

When playing a Claim/Exchange Privilege card, you must ALWAYS wait to reveal the Gift, Keep or Discard card until the Gift card is accepted.
Otherwise, the player who is offered the Gift card, has extra information to accept Gift card or not.

Greenskin alert

2008-06-23T13:14:00.000+02:00

On "Historia Mundi", a re-enactment event in Belgium, we have encountered a savage orc.

Polish edition

2008-06-20T12:33:00.000+02:00

Saboteur has recently been translated for the Polish market.

Because you like games, here is a small quiz :

Among the three boxes below, one of them is the Polish version.

Can you find it?

Now that you are busy playing, in which language are the two other versions?

Buckle fun

2008-04-28T21:44:00.000+02:00

If you don't like the game, you can still have fun with the buckles.

Traduction - Vertaling

2008-04-25T16:41:00.000+02:00

Une traduction de la règle de jeu sera BIENTÔT disponible sur le site.
Entre-temps, n'hésitez-pas à me demander la traduction par e-mail.

Een vertaling van de spelregels is WELDRA beschikbaar op de site.
Ondertussen kan ik je de vertaling reeds via e-mail toezenden.

mailto: frederic.moyersoen@skynet.be

Game components

2008-04-23T10:13:00.001+02:00

Here, you have a nice picture showing all components of the game : 110 Cards, 5 Displays, 5 Belt buckles and a Rulebook.

Designing Bacchus' Banquet

2008-04-15T12:10:00.000+02:00

Many people wonder how a game is designed.

Do you wake up in the morning with a brilliant idea? If yes, how long do you have to sleep? What is the best drink when going to bed : beer, wine, whisky or a mix of the three? Is Belgian beer the best and how strong must it be? Can you have sex when you plan to design your game during the night?

For the first time, I will lift up a tip of the veil (because I know that you are curious) and use the designing of Bacchus' Banquet as an example.

It all started several years ago, when I saw the French cultmovie "La Grande Bouffe" (with Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Andréa Ferréol, first released in 1973) again. The film goes about 4 friends who gather together in a villa to eat until death (and make love between 2 dishes, notably on the table with the dessert in the form of 2 gigantic boobs).

I liked the movie and found it a great topic to make a game about it.

The Roman era with their eating and drinking orgies could fit as a perfect decor for this game. So, I naturally looked with interest towards the emperor Caligula, known as one of the most decadent Roman caesars.

After reading a book about his short reign (he was emperor during only 3 years before being assassinated), I was convinced that all the ingredients for a great game were present.

The game would be constructed around a dinner where dishes are served, presents distributed (a Roman custom) and where the eating would be cheered up with dances and bill &coo.

As Caligula died stabbed by conspirators, I wanted to include this idea in the game. Therefore, it would be necessary that players would participate at the dinner as guests with secret roles (this reminds at "Saboteur", isn't it?).

Here a first problem emerged : if any character is secret, how can the conspirators know which player controls Caligula that they need to kill? What if Caligula is not present among the players?

The solution was obvious : Caligula must be an open character and need to be present in each game.

The drawback was that with an open character, Caligula would be weaker than the other hidden characters. Therefore, he had to be stronger and I introduced the concept of privileges to solve it (in the first versions, only Caligula used privilege cards).

At this point, I had a theme, different characters and objectives, but still not a game mechanic.

Maybe players could pass secret dishes to each other. Either you accept a dish and apply the effect, either you pass the dish to someone else. Passing dishes would work best as passing a card, so I focused know on designing a card game.

How passing secretly a card to other players? If it is just randomised (a card drawn from a stack), it is simply a gamble without a particular interest. Therefore, the other players need to evaluate their chances when a card is offered to them. If two cards are selected, you have one chance on two, to make the right guess. So, this is not particular exciting. What if three cards out of a limited number of cards are selected, showed to anybody and then one of them would be passed? This could work, but what to do with the other 2 cards? Discard or discard one and keeping the other? Yes, that's a nice idea. In this way, it makes sense what you select as cards and what you are prepared to give away.

When eating dishes it is normal that you become saturated after a while. Therefore, I needed some easy way to visualize your saturation level. What is more natural than adjusting the buckle of your belt when eating more and more? So, the idea of using a buckle and a belt forces itself upon me.

Besides, it would add a nice visual element to the game (my kids still speak about the game with the belt).

At this point, the development of the game went quick. I made different cards, some belts and buckles and was soon ready for the first play test.

Playtesting is a little bit trial and error. You try a set of rules, adjust a few rules, try again, add a few cards, try again, change an objective, try again and so on. Needless to say that the feedback during playtests is crucial. Kids are very spontaneous, but can not really tell what goes wrong in the game mechanic. Experienced players give you usefull new ideas to improve your game system.

One of the last additions, in this game, was to add the daggers. Without the daggers, Caligula could play the game very prudently, by refusing all gift cards. This attitude made the game a bit frustrating for the conspirators as they had no other way to eliminate the emperor. The introduction of the daggers solves this problem as it forces Caligula to participate in the game and to take the initiative when the daggers appear.

To conclude, was it useful to sleep? Yes.
Did you wake up with a game in your pocket? No, not really. My pyama does not have pockets.

The fact is that when waking up, I can only find out that the exciting girl with which I was tumbling all night, is not lying in my bed next to me, that I'm not Caligula, that I've never invitated 12 softies and 13 horny bitches for an orgy and that the real woman (my wife to be precise) which lies next to me, starts yelling : "The next time that you keep me awake with your ceaseless rooting, I kick you out of my bed".

Tips and tricks

2008-04-14T23:56:00.000+02:00

To win the game, you must use all your cunning.

One of the key elements in the game is to take the initiative at the right moment. Mostly, this means taking risks.

However, sometimes risks are low, especially when the 3 selected cards offer no particular risk for you.

Example : If the pick is a lobster, a carp and a present, you may normally accept any gift card without hesitating.

At other moments, risks are high and can better be avoided.

Example : If the pick is a piglet, a poison and an umbra, you have a pretty chance that you will get a gift that you don't like.

Observing which cards opponents select and keep for themselves, gives you valuable clues on which goals your opponents have.

Example : If someone keeps a present, he might be particularly interested in presents. If someone gives a dagger away, he might be a conspirator.

Once you have an idea who has which objective, you have extra trumps to hinder your opponents.

Example : You can discard a present or a dagger to avoid that your opponents get those cards.

Sometimes, you might be forced to help an opponent.

Example : If there are 2 accepted daggers and you are not a conspirator, you must help Caligula by discarding a dagger which becomes available. Otherwise, you risk losing the game in favor of the conspirators.

First review on the net

2008-04-11T00:45:00.000+02:00

I found a first review about Bacchus' Banquet on the internet and as it is the type of review that I like to read ("clever game", "enjoyable", "highest recommandation", "a terrific and original filler"), I want to give you the opportunity to read the full text.

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13726.phtml

For a good understanding : It is not my mother, nor my brother nor my kid who wrote the text. In fact, I do not know the person who wrote the review at all. But if I would have the chance to get knowing him, I'm sure that he will become my friend.

The privileges

2008-04-02T11:06:00.000+02:00

At the start of the game, Caligula gets 2 secret Privilege cards, while the other players get one card. A privilege acts like a joker and allows a twist in the distribution of cards.

With the Special gift card, you can force a player to accept the Gift card.

With the Give back card, you force a player to accept the Gift card that he wants to give away.

With the Claim card, you can claim one card, i.e. keep or gift the gift card.

With the Exchange card, you can exchange 2 cards, i.e. keep with discard card.

When you use your privilege card, you must discard it.
Therefore, keeping your privilege as long as possible, can be a wise tactical option. The threat of playing a privilege is sometimes more powerful than using it.

Caligula and conspirators

2008-03-30T11:47:00.000+02:00

The emperor Caligula has the choice between 2 objectives : one is to eat 2 dishes and drink a total of 5 Wine points. The other is to put 3 characters out of play.

A character is out of play when the buckle must be moved beyond hole 10 of its belt. This happens when the character has accepted too much food, wine or poison. Luckly, the player himself is not out of the game. He simply gets a new character.

For this reason, there are 9 characters (for a maximum of 5 players). However, to avoid an endless game, only 2 players may get a new character. A third dead character means a victory for Caligula.

The conspirators win by killing Caligula or when 3 daggers have been accepted by any character (3 daggers are visible next to the displays). Thus, when Caligula plays the game safely and avoids any dangerous card, he can still lose the game when there are too many daggers in play.

The objectives

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As the careful reader of this blog (no not you, pal) has already deducted, each character has his own objective. Some want to eat and/or drink, some want only presents and some want to kill Caligula.

Each player gets a display with an overview of all characters' objectives.

At the start of the game, each player gets also one secret character card. Only the player who gets the card of Caligula must reveal his card and keep it face-up.

Why?
Because if nobody knows who is the emperor, how do the conspirators know which player they must target?

Allright, you could have imagined it yourself. You are far more clever as you looks.

All accepted cards are placed face-up next to your display. In this way, you can start guessing which player has which objective.

Example : Nero has accepted 2 presents already. Maybe he might be Agrippina or Caesonia.

The 3 cards that a player selects to discard, keep and give away, gives also clues who might be who.

Example : Julia has offered a dagger as a gift. She could be one of the conspirators.

Of course, deception is always possible and experienced players must be observed with consideration.

The gift card

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When a card is offered as a gift, you may accept or refuse the card.

If you accept it, you reveal the card and adjust your buckle the right number of spaces as indicated by the card. Besides, you get the initiative for the next turn.

If you refuse it, you pass the card to another player who has not been offered the gift yet.

Now comes the tricky rule : If all players refuse the card, the card returns to the first player who as offered the card.

Example : A player offers you the gift card. Can you thrust him? What could be the gift card : the poison, the piglet or the feather? Your buckle is at hole 4, so your character is out of play when accepting the poison. You can safely accept the piglet or the feather. You take the risk and accepts the card, which appears to be the piglet. Now, you move your buckle 4 spaces to the right. You have the initiative for the next turn.

How does the game works?

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In the middle of the table we place a stack of Action cards. Then, we draw 7 cards from the top of the stack and display them in a circle around the stack.

The player with the initiative selects 3 cards out of the 7.

Example : You select the piglet, the feather and the poison.

You keep one card for your own. You discard one card and give the last card away to another player. For the moment, all cards remain facedown and secret for the other players.

Example : If you want to play it safely, you can keep the feather for yourself, discard the poison and give the piglet to another player. If you want to play it risky, you can discard the piglet and give the poison to another player.

The special cards

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These 3 cards trigger a special effect when activated.

The umbra is a non-official guest, standing behind the official guests, who eats the remains of the dishes. In the game, he allows you to discard any dish that you do not want to eat.

To protect himself, the emperor used a taster. In the game, he allows you to discard any card that you do not want to accept.

Before drinking wine, it was common to sing a hymn to bacchus (the god of wine). In the game, you can force other players to adjust their belt with one point when you accept a wine card.

The dagger is the weapon of the conspirators. When 3 daggers have been accepted by any player, the conspirators rush towards Caligula and stab him to death. In this event, the game ends with a victory for the conspirators.

Interludum

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What can we do in-between two dishes?

The negative values indicate that you may losen your belt with the same value.

Note : Dozing is excellent for the digestion. Unfortunately, you lose your next turn.

The presents

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As usual, Caligula offers not only food and wine, but also some particular presents.

Note that the canary can sing and speak : "Jou stupit cheep...jou stupit cheep".

Note that the sheep can bleat and speak : "Shut up, silly bird".

On the menu

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Which dishes will be served at the banquet?

The three starters...

The two main dishes are fillers. Watch out for the poison!
For the thirsty people, there is also a lot of wine.

The characters

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Which are the characters who participate at the decadent feast?

Caligula, the young emperor, who took the power after the dead of his uncle Tiberius. His taste for fine wine and chicks (both animal and human) is well-known.

Agrippina, sister of Caligula. Despite her fragile look, she caught the attention of Caligula. Brother and sister, that's a dangerous mix. A few presents will make her compliant.

Caesonia, the 4th wife of Caligula. She was a notorious courtisane in a former life. She needs presents to shut her mouth and eyes.

Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, will succeed Caligula on the throne after his death. For the moment, his interest is limited to filling his mouth.

Messalina, the wife of Claudius, has a lawless reputation. Eating and drinking are her main interest for this evening.

Vespasianus is the glutton of the guests. His appetite is legendary as the cleansing is on the day after.

These 3 fellows are the conspirators. They are waiting upon the right moment to stab their dagger in the back of the emperor.

Bacchus' Banquet intro

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In April Mayfair Games will release a new game, named Bacchus' banquet.
What is it about?

Emperor Caligula, nicknamed "small boots", has invited you for dinner and as you have some place in your belly (you are always thirsty and hungry), you are delighted to participate at a new drinking and eating orgy.

However, when you arrive at the villa, you only notice the scum of Rome as dining guests. Probably one of the crazy jokes of the Emperor himself. By inviting only the most disgusting people, he clearly indicates what he is thinking about you.
Enough is enough. Time for revenge.

From now on, you will participate at the dinner with a hidden agenda (and a dagger in your toga)...

This is your belt.
The most important rule in the game is that when you are eating dishes, you move the buckle as many spaces as the value of the dish.

Example : when you eat this delicious piglet, move your buckle 4 spaces to the right.

Keep care not to pass beyond n°10. You do not want me to explain what will happen then...