G@mebox author Ralf Togler writes about the game:

Anyone who knows Ren also knows that he is famous for his unusual approaches to games. Straight lines are never his thing. But that is precisely what makes his games so special, whether they are opulent dungeon crawlers a la Perdition's Mouth, or simple trick-taking card games like Justice. Admittedly, some of his games require you to think a little harder to find the right approach. But once you get the hang of it, the game is highly addictive, and you will remember one or two of the games you played for quite a long time.

Golem Run is on the easier side of his games. I would even go so far as to say that it is the easiest game he has made so far. The core of the game is that we place bets on a Golem race that takes place in the world of Factory 42.

First, the race track is assembled with four smaller, double-sided hexagonal tiles. This allows for a variety of track layouts, so the races will probably always be a little different, as rock formations, water fields and fences will block or obstruct our path. The three golems are then placed on their starting spaces and each player receives their hand cards for the round.

The hand cards can either be distributed in a drafting round or they can simply be assigned to the players. The latter method is especially suitable for beginners. After the first few games, however, I strongly recommend switching to the drafting method, as this gives you some insight into the cards of the other players. After all, you have already looked at all the cards before passing them on.

Knowing what cards the other players have is important because bets are now placed. For this, each player selects three cards from their hand, which they then place face down in front of them.

Each card has one of three colours, which correspond to the three colours of our Golem runners. There is also a black colour, which serves as a joker. And with these colours, we now place bets, on the one hand on the supposed winner of the race (this card is placed as the middle card), but on the other hand also on the bets presumably made by our two adjacent players (these cards are placed to the left and right of the first card). The value of the card (between 1 and 9) is irrelevant for the bet, but the cards also show speed points, which symbolise the distance between the winner and the second Golem, in the bet for the winner, and what we expect our neighbours to bet. If this distance is actually achieved at the end, there are extra victory points.

Now you may ask, how am I supposed to know at the beginning who might win the race or what my fellow players might bet. Well, to understand that, we now have to look at the actual gameplay.

Golem Run is a trick-taking game in which the winner of the trick influences the Golems' race with the card played. You just have to imagine it that way. Each player plays one card or two cards with identical numbers. The following players must follow suit, as far as they can, and can win the trick by playing a card (two cards) of at least the same value.

The winner of the trick then moves the golem corresponding to the colour of the trick (or two golems if two cards were played) the number of spaces indicated by the speed points on the winning card.

Over the course of the game, you get a sense of which golem could actually win the race (even if these are often deceptive) and what the other players have probably bet on. This does not always have to match our initial assumptions, so you can also decide not to play a card in a trick and instead exchange your bets.

The victorious player always decides which path the golems take on their journey. This can also block or complicate paths, since some obstacles require certain cards to be in the trick or not.

As I said, I had the opportunity to test the prototype version of Golem Run extensively in advance. I involved different numbers and types of players. Overall, the game makes a pretty good impression, but Ren is still working on some refinements that I think will round off the game.

Interestingly, I have found that the game, in its current state, is surprisingly well received by younger players. I would have assumed that for this type of player, the cards are too dark and the gameplay is too unusual. But maybe it is precisely this otherness that makes it so appealing. Mathematicians with whom I have played the game wanted more detailed information about the distribution of the cards, which is currently only available in the rulebook but not as an overview for players. I am sure that this will be included in the final version, and I have already passed on this information.

All in all, I think only a few finishing touches are needed to complete the game. And that's what Ren has set out to do. After all, the upcoming Kickstarter campaign starting on 7th of January 2025 will also serve to finalise the game and then, if possible, bring it to the next SPIEL in its final stage. So: Golem Run!

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