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BAMBOLEO

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Author: Jacques Zeimet

Publisher:
ZOCH ZUM SPIELEN 2003

Awards: none

EVALUATION

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G@mebox author Doug Adams writes about the game

Bamboleo makes a strong impression on people when they see it for the first time. A bright yellow wooden platter sits on top of a small cork ball, which in turn sits upon a narrow pedestal. On top of the platter, various shaped and sized wooden pieces are spread around, causing the platter to have a decided tilt...

Players are charged with removing as many of the wooden pieces as they can, without causing the remaining pieces to slide off the platter. We enter the world of physics - Sir Isaac Newton, gravity, coefficients of friction, and so on. As pieces are removed, the platter can go into some wild tilts, with the remaining pieces just clinging on. What appears to be a relatively safe piece, ripe for removal, can cause the platter to topple.

Setting up the platter is easier than it would seem. The pieces are scattered around the platter in semi-random fashion, and even stacked on top of each other. The platter is then balanced on the cork ball. It takes a bit of getting used to, but isn't that difficult.

Players take turns around the table. On a turn, the player essentially has three options. Remove a piece from the platter, and assuming no collapse, keep it for points during scoring after the round. Alternatively, a player may be in the act of removing a piece and is suddenly beset with doubts - a collapse is imminent! If that happens, the player can abort their turn and hand a piece back as a penalty - that piece will not score. The third option is the player can pull out altogether of a turn, and not even make an attempt. If this occurs, that player must pass a piece to the next player, and if the next player is successful in removing a piece, they keep both the passed and removed piece.

A round ends when all players have either passed in turn, or as is more likely, the platter collapses. The player causing the collapse incurs a 4-piece penalty, and every removed piece scores a point each. Play further rounds until a player reaches a predetermined number of points - 25 is usually enough.

This game is great fun, however it gets even better when played with the "weight rule". Played this way, players score points based on the weight of pieces removed in grams, with a 40-gram penalty to the player causing the collapse. Pieces range in weight from 4 grams to over 40 grams, and using the weight rule does add to the tactics. (I painted the individual weights onto my pieces).

This game is unique, but expensive. It's great for families and friends, and is sure to drawn an initial "wow, what's that?" when spotted set up for the first time. Certainly recommended, especially if you're into dexterity games, or just want something a bit different.


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