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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Tales & Games: The Hare & the Tortoise in Tabletop Games
Mar 12, 2020
We all know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, where quick but cocky Hare naps during the race while “Slow and steady wins the race” Tortoise passes him and ultimately does, in fact, win the race. From what I remember of this story, it was a race between the Hare and the Tortoise. However, in this little bookbox game our titular heroes are joined in the rematch race by Wolf, Lamb, and Fox. Who do you think will win this silly race? Place your bets!
DISCLAIMER: I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. – T
The winner of Tales & Games: The Hare & The Tortoise (which I will try not to write again) is the player who can get their favored characters across the finish line first. This is accomplished throughout the game by players throwing cards on their turn to help characters jockey for position. Each character has a special ability to help them achieve victory, and utilizing these abilities at just the right time could mean the difference between the podium or the port-a-potty.
To setup, build the race track using the provided tiles in any fashion you prefer. Place the Start tile, the Finish Line, and the winner’s podium in their places, set out the character animeeples, and deal each player a secret betting card (with the starball on the back). These cards will dictate who you want to win the race. Deal each player seven cards from the checker board backed deck, and have each player choose one of the dealt animals as their secondary choice for the race. You are now ready to play.
On a player’s turn they will play any 1-4 cards they want provided the set of cards played feature the same animal. This will continue around the table until eight animal cards have been played, OR four of the same animal. At that point, the animals will move and activate any special abilities. These abilities vary by animal, and I won’t be listing out each ability, but each animal can move differently depending on how many cards of each animal are played. Play continues in this fashion until three animals have crossed the finish line and claimed their spots atop the podium. Each spot on the podium scores appropriately (5 VP for 1st, 3 VP for 2nd, 2 VP for 3rd place), and the players who own betting cards of the winning animals total their points for the game and a winner is decided.
Components. This is one of the IELLO Tales & Games series that are presented in a nice little book-shaped magnetic box. The box is cool, the insert is… serviceable, and the cardboard components are great. The cards are good, and the animeeples are cute. So overall IELLO gets two claws up from me.
I do not have many betting games that I actually enjoy, so having this little nugget of joy on my shelves feels good. When my children are old enough to really get into gaming, I feel confident that I can pull this out, read the included fable, and play the game with them easily. You’re just throwing cards trying to get your preferred animals to win a race. It’s a great, easy, fun little game that has always gone over well each time I have pulled it out. It will never join my Top 10 Games Ever list, but it is definitely an Old Faithful game that I will have available to whomever would like to play. If you like light racing and betting games with cute themes, then you need to play this one. Purple Phoenix Games gives this a carbo-loaded 9 / 12.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Nanuk in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
Nanuk, technically, is a polar bear. The same found on the cover of the game box. He is attempting to nom on an Inuit hunter. But worry not, in this game Nanuk does not eat people. Just the animals that have been hunted by the people to be brought back to the village as a result of your pig-headed boasting. Oh, you say you can bring back 17 fish in three days? I say you’re doomed.
I do not want to get in a habit of explaining games in my reviews, but I feel like Nanuk could benefit from it, so I will be quickly paraphrasing.
In Nanuk play goes around the table where each player must increase either the number of animals (and you can change the animal type) or the number of days of “the Hunt.” Example, I increase the current boast from three deer in one day to four birds in one day. Once a player no longer thinks the combination of animals and days will a successful hunt make, they must flip over their voting token to the doomed side. The last player to have upped the ante is the Hunt Leader and the naysayer is the, idk, Doom Leader I think. Then everyone evaluates the animal and Inuksuk (the awesome humanoid stone statue) cards to determine if they should join the Hunt or Doom team, flipping their voting token thusly. Every player then must contribute at least one card from their hand that will be shuffled together as the results of the Hunt. Should the boast parameters be met between the cards contributed and cards drawn from the deck (equal to the number of days boasted) the Hunt team wins and spoils are split among the team members. If not, the Doom team wins the spoils. At the end of the game you are hoping to have amassed sets and pairs of animals to score the most VP. There are a couple other rules that I will leave you to discover, but that is the… meat… of them.
I received my copy of Nanuk cheaply from a BGG auction many years ago. I was not sure exactly what to expect of it, but I was diggin the cover art. Once we played it, and played it again, and more, I began to love it more and more. It’s not a long game, the rules are relatively simple, and it is very much a social game. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “party game” because that term just has different connotations to me, but it will play 5-8 players quite comfortably. Many times I have a group of 6 or more and this always delivers. Please give this one a try and I know you will enjoy it.
Someday we will start making lists and such, and this will go on my list of favorite games that support a larger play count. That said, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a 12 / 18 (because Laura has not yet played it).
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/nanuk-review/
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