Euphrates & Tigris

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Euphrates & Tigris
Deskohraní 2008 0109.jpg
Game data
author Pure Knizia
graphic Doris Matthäus (1997),
Tom Thiel (2007),
u. a.
publishing company Hans im Glück (1997),
Pegasus Spiele (2007),
Mayfair Games (1999, 2008),
999 Games (1998),
Matagot (2009),
Fantasy Flight Games (2015),
Heidelberger Spieleverlag (2015) and others. a.
Publishing year 1997, 2007, 2015
Art Board game
Teammates 2-4
Duration 60-120 minutes
Age from 12 years

Awards

German Game Award 1998: 1st place
Game of the Year 1998: selection list
Meeples' Choice Award 1997

Euphrates & Tigris is a strategic board game by Reiner Knizia for two to four players that deals with the building of civilizations in Mesopotamia. The game was first published in 1997 by Hans im Glück Verlag , and in the following year it won the German Game Award and was on the selection list for Game of the Year . In 2007 Pegasus published a new edition with a new graphic design and content additions. In 2015 Fantasy Flight Games published the second new edition of the game, the German edition was published by Heidelberger Spieleverlag .

Backstory

The background of the game is the emergence and development of advanced civilizations in Mesopotamia , a region which lies between the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris and which is sometimes described as the “cradle of civilization”.

The players are in the year 3000 BC. Where they, each represented by four leaders, let civilizations arise and rule in the fertile Mesopotamia. For building civilization, winning conflicts and controlling monuments, players receive victory points in the four different areas of population, religion, agriculture and trade. The main challenge here is to accumulate the victory points evenly, as only those areas are used to determine the winner in which the players were least successful.

Game material

  • Game board (can be used on both sides in the new editions)
  • 153 civilization tiles (30 settlements, 57 temples, 36 agricultural lands, 30 markets)
  • 8 disaster tiles
  • 1 connecting plate
  • 6 two-part monuments
  • 4 civilization buildings (only in the new editions, are used in the extended variant)
  • 16 leader tokens (4 each for each of the four dynasties)
  • 140 victory point markers (20 large and 15 small markers each in 4 colors)
  • 10 wooden cubes as treasures (14 in the new editions)
  • 4 screens, printed on the inside with short rules
  • Wonder plate and Lamassu figure (new edition 2015)
  • Linen bag (for the hidden drawing of civilization tiles)
  • Rules of the game, as well as, depending on the version, short game rules or an overview plan

The graphic design of the original edition from 1997 comes from Doris Matthäus , the illustration of the 2007 new edition was done by Tom Thiel .

In the original edition and the new edition from 2007, monuments, buildings and victory point markers are made of wood. In the 2015 edition, the monuments and buildings are made of plastic, victory points are counted with cardboard markers. The new edition from 2015 also contains the material of the mini-expansion Die Ziggurat (miracle tile and figure), which was previously only available separately for the German edition .

Game flow

The game board is divided into 11 × 16 fields and shows the Mesopotamia, which is still quite unpopulated at the beginning, with the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Civilization is built up in four different areas, each of which is assigned a color: population (black), religion (red), agriculture (blue) and trade (green). Each color has its own civilization tiles , leader tokens and victory point dice. This can be confusing, especially for beginners, as every player plays with all colors and there is therefore no classic division of the game material according to player colors. Instead, players are assigned using symbols.

Civilization tiles enable civilizations to be built up and are placed on the game board by the players during the game. Corresponding to the four areas mentioned above, there are settlements (black), temples (red), agricultural land (blue) and markets (green). Horizontally and vertically connected tiles form areas that are of decisive importance for the game.

Leaders are used to control these areas and allow players to collect victory points. Each player receives four leader tokens that correspond to the four areas: a king (black), a priest (red), a farmer (blue) and a trader (green). Like the civilization tiles, leaders are also placed on the game board and rule over an area in which they are adjacent. Such an area then becomes a kingdom . In any kingdom there can only be one leader from each area.

A player receives victory points by placing civilization tiles in kingdoms, winning conflicts, controlling monuments and looting treasures. Each of the four areas has its own victory points, but at the end of the game only those areas are used in which the players have collected the fewest victory points. The players must try to collect victory points equally in all areas.

Moves and actions

At the beginning of the game, ten of the temple tiles are distributed on the game board and decorated with treasures. Each player receives the leader of his dynasty, two disaster tiles, six randomly drawn civilization tiles and a screen behind which his own game material can be kept secret from the other players.

The game is played in turn. When it is a player's turn, he takes two actions. He can

  • place a leader on a free land space next to a temple. The new leader may not join two kingdoms ruled by other leaders.
  • Place a civilization tile from your supply on a free space on the game board. Agricultural land may only be placed on river spaces, the other three types of tiles only on land.
  • Place a disaster tile on a civilization tile or on an empty space. The corresponding field becomes unusable for the rest of the game.
  • Set aside up to six civilization tiles from your own supply face down and replace them with new tiles from the bag.

The order and type of both actions is arbitrary, a certain action can also be carried out twice. After a player's turn, all players replenish their supply to six civilization tiles.

Conflicts

If, after taking an action, there are two leaders of the same color (for example two priests) in an area, a conflict arises. Conflicts must always be resolved immediately and always result in the removal of a leader and some civilization tiles from the board.

There are two types of conflicts: Internal conflicts arise when a player places one of his leaders in an area in which there is already a leader of the same color. If, on the other hand, a player connects two previously separate areas in which there are leaders of the same color, this leads to an external conflict . Such a dispute is carried out by both players counting certain of the tiles on display in the respective area and, if necessary, playing additional tiles from the supply. The winner of a conflict receives victory points based on the amount of victory. The loser must take his leader back into the supply and can use him again later. Used tiles as well as certain tiles in the affected area are removed from the game.

Monuments and treasures

If a player places a new civilization tile in such a way that a 2 × 2 area of ​​tiles of the same color is created, he may erect one of the six monuments at this point . These structures consist of two different colored wooden parts and, once built, cannot be removed. Through them, players regularly receive victory points, provided they have a leader in a corresponding color in the area.

The total of ten treasures are distributed to the temples at the beginning of a game. If at the end of an action there are two or more temples with treasures in one area, all but one of the treasures are awarded to the player who has a green leader (trader) in this area. Treasures are neutral victory points that can be used as jokers at the end of the game .

Playing

The game ends when, after a player's turn, at most two of the treasures are left on the board or the civilization tiles in the bag are used up. The game is won by whoever has accumulated more victory points in his weakest area than the other players, in the event of a tie the second weakest area is used and so on.

The duration of a game is between 60 and 120 minutes, depending on the number of players and the experience of the other players.

New edition 2007 and mini expansion

In addition to the original version, the new edition from 2007 also contains some additions. There is a second game plan with a slightly different landscape design and 14 starting temples and treasures, which among other things leads to conflict situations more quickly during the game. In addition, the game contains an extended variant in which four civilization buildings are used, one for each civilization area. These buildings are used or moved when forming longer chains of similar civilization tiles and allow players in the corresponding kingdoms to gain additional victory points.

The 3/2009 issue of the games magazine spielbox was accompanied by an exclusive expansion entitled The Ziggurat . This expansion consists of five additional game tiles which, when combined, form the eponymous ziggurat . It is a special monument which regularly gives the player who owns a king in the corresponding area victory points in any civilization area. The English-language new edition published by Mayfair Games in 2008 also contained this expansion.

New edition 2015

In May 2015 the US game publisher Fantasy Flight Games published a second new edition of Euphrates & Tigris , the German edition was published in June 2015 by Heidelberger Spieleverlag . The rules of the game and the structure of the game boards are identical to the new edition from 2007, but the game graphics and material have been completely redesigned: temples and buildings are now made of plastic instead of wood, victory points are shown with cardboard markers instead of wooden cubes. The rules of the game have been editorially revised, including internal and external conflicts are now more clearly delineated as revolts and wars . The mini expansion The Ziggurat is included in the 2015 edition in the form of the miracle .

Criticism and Awards

The reviews for Euphrates & Tigris were largely very good, with some reviewers even praising the game as one of the author's best. The varied and exciting gameplay, the high tactical demands and the repeatedly different gameplay were highlighted positively. On the other hand, the accessibility for beginners, which would be made more difficult by the color assignments, the poor distinguishing of the leader pieces and the sometimes quite long moves in the later course of the game were criticized.

In 1998, Euphrat & Tigris won first place in the " German Games Award ". In the same year the game was also on the shortlist for “ Game of the Year ”, but the award went to Elfenland .

In May 2007 the new edition including the additions was one of the four tournament games at the German team championship in the board game .

Implementation as a computer game

In 2003 the board game was implemented as a computer game for Windows . This was developed by Dartmoor Softworks , which previously adapted the board game Tikal for the computer. In addition to 3D graphics and various computer opponents, the game also has a multiplayer mode , either via a local network or a peer-to-peer connection. In the reviews, however, the computer implementation mostly failed, criticizing the outdated and confusing graphics, the apparently haphazardly playing computer opponents, the lack of display of important game information and some rule violations.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Frank: Review by H @ LL9000 from January 15, 2001
  2. ↑ Christoph Ledinger: Review at spieletest.at from March 26, 2004
  3. ↑ Gerhard Passler: Review at spielbox.de ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.spielbox.de
  4. ↑ Steffen Stroh: Review of the computer game implementation at H @ LL9000 from November 14, 2003
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Ditt: Review of the computer game implementation at Poeppelkiste.de ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.poeppelkiste.de