Corona (game)

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corona
Corona board game.JPG
Game data
author Alex Randolph
graphic Franz Vohwinkel
publishing company Otto Maier Verlag
Publishing year 1974
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 10
Duration 45 minutes
Age from 12 years

Corona is a board games and puzzle game of the Games author Alex Randolph , in 1974 when Otto Maier Verlag / Ravensburger appeared in the casino series. The players try to win the maximum number of points and chips on a circular game board by skillfully using a die result when moving existing pieces.

In 1981 the game also appeared as Moonstar on Avalon Hill in the United States and in 1984 as Harun in the edition Guinea Fowl by Reinhold Wittig and in 1993 as Orbit on Kosmos Spiele . The different games differed mainly in the number and quality of the tasks.

Theme and equipment

The game Corona appeared as an abstract puzzle game without an attached topic. The subsequent games Moonstar , Harun and Orbit each use an astronomical theme and thus the circular shape of the playing field as orbits around a sun or a planet. It is a pure thinking game in which the players have to calculate their moves in advance from a starting position that is the same for all and have to estimate the number of points to be achieved in order to achieve the maximum number of points.

In addition to instructions, the Corona game material consists of a game board with a circular arrangement of 12 circles as a playing field. There are also six game figures, six colored dice, six colored marker stones, an hourglass as a timer for one minute and 120 game chips.

Style of play

Game preparation

Before the start of the game, the game board is placed in the middle of the table together with the other game material. Each player receives as many chips as twice the number of players plus two. Finally, a starting player is rolled.

Game flow

The starting player begins the game by distributing the six game pieces anywhere on the fields of the playing field, whereby several pieces are allowed to stand in one field. Then he throws the six colored dice and finally turns the hourglass over.

All players now have one minute to think about their moves. The starting position of the game is defined by the position of the pieces on the board and the numbers on the dice. Each player tries to assign at most one die to each pawn in order to then mentally draw the corresponding number of squares in a clockwise direction. Whenever a figure ends on a space with at least one other figure, he receives one point for each figure now standing there (a maximum of six points with five additional figures). All players think about the assignment of the dice to the pieces and the order of the moves and calculate how many points they would achieve with it. Not all dice have to be used. The maximum number of points is 20 if the player succeeds in bringing all pieces onto a square one after the other.

Each player can give an estimate of points within a minute. The player with the highest bid wins the bidding round; if two players have submitted the same bid, the winner is the player who submitted his bid first. If there are no bids after one minute, the round ends without a result and the starting player repositions the pieces and rolls the dice again.

The player who has won the bidding round must now show that he can actually achieve the specified number of points. He marks the pieces with the colored marker stones according to the color of the dice, whereby not all pieces have to be marked. Then the player moves each marked figure in the order he has chosen according to the number of points on the die of the same color and removes the marker. The points gained are always noted and added up immediately after a figure has been drawn. If the player reaches or exceeds the number of points offered by him, he wins the round and receives a chip from each player. If he does not succeed, he loses the round and pays a chip to each player, and he is not allowed to bid in the next round (but receives a chip if the player also loses in the next round, or has to pay a chip if he does wins).

The next round begins after the payout, the new starting situation being determined by the player to the left of the starting player. The game ends when a previously agreed number of game rounds or an agreed playing time has been reached. Alternatively, the game ends when a player has used up his starting capital or a player has doubled his capital. In all cases, the winner of the game is the player who has the most chips at the end of the game.

Publication and reception

The Corona game was developed by Alex Randolph and appeared in 1974 by Otto Maier Verlag / Ravensburger in their casino series. In 1981 the game also appeared as Moonstar on Avalon Hill in the United States and in 1984 as Harun in the edition Guinea Fowl by Reinhold Wittig and in 1993 as Orbit on Kosmos Spiele . Both Harun and Orbit are set up as a game collection around the Corona game, although the central game has been slimmed down.

According to Wieland Herold , Corona and Orbit are “top-class brain twisters. For some it is pure pleasure, for others it is extreme exertion. ”Alex Randolph wrote about the games:“ In these three games everything seems to be determined by so-called 'chance'; but 'luck' doesn't matter at all. In each round, dice (that is, fate) give an initial situation. "

In 1999, Alex Randolph published another board game with the game Rasende Roboter , which is based on the train mechanics of the game The Forbidden City , which he also developed , whereby the players there, as with Corona, calculate their moves in advance and give a tip for an optimal move and prove it have to.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Corona , game instructions, Ravensburger 1974.
  2. ↑ a b Corona , versions at BoardGameGeek. Retrieved July 26, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Moonstar in the BoardGameGeek game database (English); accessed on July 26, 2020
  4. ↑ Harun in the board game database BoardGameGeek (English); accessed on July 26, 2020
  5. ↑ a b c Wieland Herold : ORBIT , review from 1993, published as a review, July 26, 2020; accessed on July 26, 2020

Web links