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1911 AMUNDSEN VS SCOTT

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Author:
Perepau Llistosealla

Publisher:
LOOPING GAMES
2013

No. of Players:
2

EVALUATION

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Taking lead of the Amundsen and Scott expeditions, the players join the famous race for the South Pole, and in gaming terms this race has been implemented by mechanism of card drawing and hand management. The spaces on each expedition's route to the South Pole are displayed in four colours, and the a player needs to collect and play cards of matching colour if he wants to move his pawn on its route. It is possible to make more than one step during the same turn if a player pays an increased number of cards after his first step, and so a player's maximum hand size of seven cards actually may take his expedition up to four steps on its way to the Pole. However, going such a high pace does not come without risks, because such a high number of steps will exhaust a player's hand, making him vulnerable for event cards which now may be played by the other player. Such cards make the expedition loose its route, and a player only may return to the route on a space for which he can play a card of the matching colour. This may result in the player waiting for some turns in order to find a card which does not force him to go backwards, but during that time the other player still may come up with more event cards and now these cards may actually result in backward steps.

Respecting the historic equipment and problems of each expedition, the deck contains specific cards which only apply to one player. So, the Amundsen player can use "Greenland Dogs" als colour wildcards, but he may be hampered by "Crevasse" cards played against him by the Scott player. In return, "Mongolian Horses" are wildcards for the Scott player, whilst a "Blizzard" can be used to hold him up. Some other cards may be played by both players, and success in the game highly depends on each player's management of his hand of cards. New cards always are taken from a common display which is openly replenished from the deck, and so the players are informed which cards are taken by their opponent. This means that they can try to plan ahead, and so a combination of intelligent drawing and well-timed movements is needed to be successful in this game.

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The game is the result of yet another crowdfunding-project, but it is a great example for the high value which may be gained from participating in such a project. Whilst the gamebox is small, the graphics on cards and gameboard have been nicely designed, and in addition to the basic game the box contains actually three expansions which can be used to enrich gameplay. The first expansion features "Patron" cards from which each player may receive one at the beginning of the game in order to gain a special advantage, whereas the second expansion focuses on the weather, so that the players will have to consult a deck of special cards and a dice to find out which conditions await them when the cross the parallels on their way to the Pole. Finally, the third expansion can be played on the backside of the gameboards, forcing the players to play not just the race to the Pole but also the arduous way back to their ships, and taken together all these components qualify 1911 Amundsen vs Scott as a full-sized boardgame. Small box - great game!

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Copyright & copy; 2014 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany