Panic Tower!

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Panic Tower!
Game data
author Andrew Lawson ,
Jack Lawson
publishing company Goliath Games
Publishing year 2009
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 8
Duration 20 minutes
Age from age 6

Awards

Nomination for Children's Game of the Year 2010

Panic Tower! is a family game by the game author brothers Andrew and Jack Lawson . The game is for two to eight players, ages six and up, takes around 20 minutes and was published by Goliath Games in 2009 .

It made it onto the nomination list for the 2010 Children's Game Critic 's Prize .

Theme and equipment

The content of the game box consists of:

  • a round game board
  • 60 wooden blocks in three sizes
  • 108 playing cards
  • Penalty chips
  • the game instructions.
The following cards are available in the game
  • Basis I / Basis II / Basis III: each specified tower stone is placed on the corresponding color field or on the tower that is already there.
  • Change of direction: the player order is reversed.
  • Movement: whole towers are placed on top of other towers.
  • Infiltration: whole towers are placed under other towers
  • x2: all tasks of the card must be carried out twice
  • Giant tower: one stone of each size must be placed on the largest tower
  • Relax: stop once
  • Sacrifice: the player chooses a teammate who is next.

As with Jenga , the 2–8 players compete for the best fine motor skills when stacking wooden blocks. As a new component, the action cards with a high anger, glee and happiness factor are involved. The beautiful, well-made wood material appeals to adults in particular.

Because of the quickly explained rules and the easy entry into the game of skill , it is suitable for all generations for people of all ages from 6 years. In the English version, however, it says at least “8 years”. According to game critics, it is also suitable for children's birthdays or as an action and party game for adults. "Ratgeber Spiel" recommends that you put a stable blanket on the table before you start playing, which will prevent the wooden game pieces from falling, otherwise you could damage the table.

Differences in the fine motor skills of the various players become visible, which can manifest itself in the frequent collapse of the towers in individual players and cause frustration among those affected. You shouldn't take your own mishaps too seriously and laugh along. Since the towers are quite close together, several towers are usually affected, so that after a collapse it usually looks quite clear on the game board again. A game lasts until a teammate has received three fine coins for the tower collapses triggered by him. The winner is whoever has collected the fewest markers by then.

Gameplay

A circular playing field with three by three fields in nine different colors is placed on the table. In turn, an action card is drawn and the corresponding instruction is carried out. Sometimes small, large or medium-sized wooden blocks have to be placed on certain fields or stacked on towers that are already there. Then again you have to put one of the nine towers on top of another - or even push it under it. If you are lucky you can sit out once, change the order of turns or choose a teammate who is next.

If several wooden blocks are to be placed, they must be placed on top of one another. You can use both hands for this. In the rare event that the reserve of game pieces is not sufficient, any tower will be placed on the highest one.

regulate
  • A tower must not be straightened or pushed.
  • When relocating a tower, it must be lifted completely and transported upright.
  • Getting up and walking around the table is permitted and required.
  • Other towers may be moved to get to the middle tower.
  • If there are no more tower stones of the size shown on the card, the instruction expires; however, all other functions of the card must be fulfilled.

If a tower collapses, the player must take a penalty coin. All parts affected by the crash are removed from the board. All other towers stop and the game continues.

criticism

Several game critics criticized the fact that the colors on the game board and the task cards were not rich enough in contrast. If you have weak lighting, you can hardly distinguish between black and dark blue and red and pink.

The German translation of the rules of the game is also not very clear and understandable. The critic recommended looking at the English version when in doubt.

The official information according to the box puts the playing time at about 20 minutes. One critic could not confirm that, because everything depends on the number of players and their skill. Which could drag on for a long time with eight players. In a game of 8, the end condition should therefore be reduced to two penalty coins. The game is most pleasant with three, four or five people, because then the waiting times until the next train of your own are limited.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Panic Tower! on the website of the Spiel des Jahres eV
  2. ↑ Panic Tower at Spielkult.de
  3. ↑ a b c Carsten Pinnow: Panic Tower at Ludoversum from January 13, 2010
  4. ↑ Panic Tower! in the games database BoardGameGeek (English)
  5. ↑ Wilfried Just: Panic Tower at advice game from July 24, 2010
  6. ↑ a b Sandra Lemberger: Panic Tower at H @ ll9000 from April 7, 2010