How to Play Zenith

Zenith is a two player head to head card game. You are competing for favor on different planets. But it’s not just about pulling that favor to your side of the track and getting a reward and token for it. There is more going on in the game as well.

The game can end in one of three ways. Either one player has three favor from a single planet. Or a player has four favor all from different planets. And the last way is that a player has five favor. So how do you get get favor?

You play from your hand of cards to get favor, or at least to move the planet token towards you on the track. When the token makes it all the way to you, you gain a favor token and the track resets. Let’s talk some about how the cards work.

Cards

Each card can be used for three different things. The main thing is playing out underneath a planet. You play it to the matching color planet on your side and then you activate the abilities. One is always going to move it closer to you. The other abilities will trigger to give you different benefits. These generally are gaining the resources in the game, which we’ll talk about soon.

The other two ways to use cards are based off of faction of the card. You can spend a card to gain the leader token and gain a bonus. This is a “free” action in that it uses your action for the turn, but it doesn’t cost any money or other resources. The other thing you can do is spend a card to go up on the research track. This generally manipulates the main board state or gains you more resources. But you need the rarer resource to play that.

Resources

Generally, you get resources from two different ways. Either from that research track or from playing out cards to the planets. There are two different types of resources. Zenethium is the rarer one, and one that I hope I have spelled correctly. This is for the research track. Each level of that track, for each faction, costs one more. So first level is one, then two and so on.

The other one is a more standard money or credits. These are used for playing out the cards to a planet. But as you play out cards to planet you start to get a discount. Each card on that planet discounts the next card to that planet by one. So cards, eventually, or possibly, can be free to play out.

This playing of a card and spending resources is the main loop of the game. And it continues with players doing one action at a time until a win condition is met, like I mentioned above. No counting points, or anything like that, when someone wins, they win.

What Doesn’t Work

There is an element of luck to the game. You might be going for a particular strategy and just not draw the card color that you need. If you need to get a lot of Venus cards to get your third, you better believe it will feel like they don’t show up. That said, it’s not a major negative because you can pivot and there are ways, with the leader token, to have a larger hand, or to move on the Venus (in this case) track without playing a Venus card. You just need to be smart about it, though sometimes it really is just pivot and play defense for a bit.

What Works

Artwork

Firstly, and not because it’s the most important element, but because it jumps out at you, I want to talk about the artwork on this game. The art is great, the graphic design is good. And while there are a lot of symbols you learn what they are quite quickly on BGA. I think that Zenith should come with player aids in the box, if the company wasn’t planning on them, because that’d be helpful, but you wouldn’t need them after a couple of plays.

Multiuse Cards

I also really like how you can use the cards for multiple things. It’s always a tough decision as you look at the cards and want to use them on the planets. But you know that it won’t work out perfectly for that. And the difference in hand size of being the leader or not, just one card, actually does open up so many things. And, I didn’t mention this, if you take the leader when you already have the leader you get the bonus and flip it over so you now have two more cards. But that said the research tracks are powerful and exciting as well. So you want to do everything.

Speed of the Game

Now, this one I like for two different reasons. The first being that turns are very fast. You do one action. And yes, that action might require some thinking about it, because your opponent can mess with your cards on planets, not with your hand though, so you need to think. But with that speed of the turn, the game isn’t too short.

There is be a chance for the game to go really fast, and I’ve played some fast ones. But often times it really becomes this back and forth tug of war battle that you need to strategically look for the advantage that you can get. So it feels like you do something in the game. There is and isn’t that rush towards the end of the game that is so great. And when you win, you feel like you accomplished something.

Who Is Zenith For?

I think this is for people who want a good two player head to head game. Yes, there are a lot of abstract ones out there. But Zenith is going to give you a bit of theme, at least in the artwork. And there is less of that skill gap that can develop in some abstract games. So if you know you or someone often can play two players, this is a good fit for that.

My Final Thoughts on Zenith

I really like the game a lot. It works well on BGA, and I have played this more than a handful of times at this point. And I think I’ve won every single way. The first couple of times the games went faster as all the players were fresh to the game. But as time has gone on, it’s definitely become more of that strategic game, and I love figuring out what my hand is going to be good at.

This feels like a game that a lot of people should enjoy. The artwork is good, the theme is fun, though barely there, and it is going to give you that good strategic feel. So for me it’s one that I know I’ll want to get when it comes out into print. It’s going to be a go to two player game, maybe not up there with Dice Throne, but it’ll get played probably as often as games like Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-Earth and Hanamikoji, which from me is really high praise.

Have you checked this one out on BGA?

My Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: A-
Casual Grade: C+

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Planet Unknown

The Issue

So I got no major issues with this game, but I did highlight what I think will be coming down the line. Planet Unknown is a polyomino game where you are pulling your shapes from depots, very clearly built areas of the game. So it’s hard, but not impossible to add some pieces. You have corporations which have a set number of tracks, so it’s hard, but not impossible to add in an additional track.

But what I think I might want more of is corporations and planets. I highlight at the beginning that there are 36 different combinations, not counting the standard side. So that is a limited number of different permutations. I need to play more of them, but I think that’s where we’ll see the need for more game play.

The Expansion

More Planets and Corporations

The easiest thing and I think the thing that most people would want in the game is more planets and corporations. It’s a good expansion for a few different reasons. Add in another four of each planets and corporations you have 100 different combinations. That makes the game more diverse in the main options for the game.

Special Tiles

But that isn’t really enough for an expansion to just add in more of those. Most expansions are going to try and add in more. But it’s hard to add in more. Anything else you add seems to adjust the main components of the game. And doing so is more work. I think there is another that you can build on though.

And that would be to introduce special tiles. Right now all of the polyomino tiles have two different resources on them. Well, create a once a game, per player, tile that has 3 different resources on them. And make it so that they aren’t as easy to rotate. You flip the current tiles you get the same setup with a different orientation. Well, with special tiles, you flip them and you get something different and now it’s a more interesting choice.

Another Type of Events

And finally, I think it’s another way that’s easy to expand the game. But I think it’s less important to add this in for variety. You already are limited in how many you use and the combination of events you use, or even if you want to use them. But add in more events of various types, good or bad, or really bad, it makes the game more variable. And I think very bad would be interesting to balance.

Does It Fulfill The Desire with Planet Unknown?

Honestly, I think just more planets and corporations would do so. Planet Unknown is very good because of the simple design space. It is left intentionally small with only those two areas that make you really unique. My concern with adding to much of that is that it’d make it too big a game in terms of complexity.

Games sometimes need to try and stay in that sweet spot. Tom Vasel calls it quick snappy turns. I don’t know that Planet Unknown has the most quick and snappy turns. But it has that same idea, that one decision that matters a lot each turn. So I don’t want to see too much bloat added to a game like this. I want the game to still be easy enough to teach and get to the table.

Do you like this expansion idea? What would you want to add to the game?

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How To Play The Great Split

The Great Split is an art collection game, but really, it is a game with tracks that you are going up on to optimize your score and have the most points at the end of the game. That’s the generic version of a lot of games. But The Great Split does it in a couple of interesting ways.

The main mechanism of The Great Split is “I split, you choose.” If you aren’t familiar, I create two groups of something, in this case, cards in my hand. You get to see those two groups and then pick the one that you want. I get what is left.

What you pick determines what tracks you go up on. You can go up on books, which have certain scoring thresholds when you score books. You go up on art where you score based off of how much art you own compared to the market. Or finally you push up the track on gems, either green or blue but ideally both, and you score twice your lowest gem total.

To go along with that, there are also tracks for contracts and coins. Contracts are end game scoring that triggers based off of how many contracts you’ve gotten in a particular area times how much those contracts are worth. So if I have 5 green gem contracts and I got my green gem contracts to be worth 3 points, I get 15 points. And with coins, they have contracts as well, but you can “spend” money to move up on other tracks as well.

The game plays over a number of rounds. And like I said at the beginning, the player with the most points wins.

The Details

So, as I’ve started doing, let’s look at what the box says.

For players it says 2-7 and the Board Game Geek community says best at 4-6. I think it would be fine at 4-7 players. And I know from playing it at 3, it’s still fun. But there is a difference. With more players more cards get into the rotation so you see more options. That is a big benefit with more. I don’t know that I really want to play it with two players.

It also says it plays in 45 minutes, and that is close. I think it is a bit longer than that. But the core mechanics are of the game are simultaneous. I only have played when I taught new players. I think with players who know the game, it might hit that time range. The game is only 7 rounds, plus three spots to score.

And finally, they say it is for 8+. Now as always a caveat with this. It is more about safety, but, The Great Split is language independent and has it’s one core mechanic. An adult might need to help with scoring, but I can see a younger kid playing it, say eight. They might not get all of the rules and nuisance of the game, which is to be expected.

What Doesn’t Work?

This is a very thinky game. And as a player you make a decision at times that might not be perfect for you. And because The Great Split is so thinky, someone who tends towards analysis paralysis and taking long turns will slow the game down. It is noticeable when it is there turn. But in a game with simultaneous play, it is going to be more noticeable. So be aware of that with The Great Split.

What Works?

The main mechanism in the game is amazing. I love I split you choose. And this game is that distilled. Yes, there are the tracks and they do create combos. But the main part of the game is I split my cards and you pick from those two splits. And that decision space is so good and so simple in this game. But when you split the cards, you worry that you either made the split too good to get back what you want. Or you didn’t make it good enough.

I also think that the tracks work well. They are not complex and basically you teach the game quickly. There is some to go over, but once you teach the player board, you teach the rest of the game in round one. So it is not a complex game but one that is fun to teach and play that way. Plus the combos in the game are simple in a good way. I hit this point on the coins, I advance two in another area.

The scoring is also well done. The Great Split is scored three times. Though what you score the first two times can vary. You score each of books, art, and gems. But when you set up the game you don’t know if you score books and gems at the first scoring and then art at the second or maybe gems at the first and book and art at the second. It gives you shifting goals. And then you score everything at the end.

Who Is It For?

This is a tough part that I almost skipped. Mainly because the core decisions can be tricky in the game. It might feel like too much to a casual game. I think this is a good filler for heavier gamers but also a fun game who play games. But for them, it is going to be the game of the night versus a filler game. But it is an accessible game with no reading on cards and different symbols to help with color blindness. That is really nice.

Final Thoughts – The Great Split

I love this game. I think that it is clever in in what it does in the best way possible. When I said that I like a game that does one thing and makes it thinky, I’m not lying. The Great Split makes every choice matter. What I pass to you is important and how I pass them to you. But that is seven times I make that choice in the game. And seven times I pick from the cards someone passes me. It is smart in how it does that and then making the tracks simple, but still meaningful. If they were a hard puzzle as well, it’d be less fun.

My one concern hasn’t been played out yet. I worry about how well it will hold up long term. Not components wise they are great. But will The Great Split feel consistent through every play and eventually start to feel like there isn’t enough change? I don’t know. I suspect it might, eventually, but that is a long ways out. Why, because the core mechanism is so strong with I split you choose that it makes for an interesting decision every time.

My Grade: A
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: B-

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But for me the combination of the cover and the designers Hjalmar Hach and Lorenzo Silva and it being a Horrible Guild game put it over the top. In particular, I’ve found that I enjoy most Hjalmar Hach designs. So pair that with an amazing looking cover and a company that I like, I needed to check it out.

How To Play – The Great Split

The Great Split is not that difficult a game to play, though learning it on the fly there are a number of things to think about. It has a particular cadence to the game that you need to teach. But the main premise of the game is that you have a number of tracks that you want to go up on. Depending on the track(s) they score in different ways or give you different bonuses.

So, how do you go up on the tracks, it’s a simple I split, you choose mechanic. By that I mean that I have a had of cards, between five to seven in the game, and I am creating two groups of cards. Then I pass my wallet to you and you pick one of those groups. I get the other one back. At the same time everyone around the table is doing this, so I get a wallet of cards to pick from and pick one of the two groups.

You do that several turns and then at the end of the game you tally up your points. Whomever has the most points is the winner. And I can go into scoring more, but there is some to learn with that, but not too much.

What Am I Worried About?

So a bit of twist on how I normally do it, closer to the review. But I don’t want to fully dive into it, this is more of a first impressions. There are two things that stand out to me that I am curious about with the Great Split though.

Firstly, I wonder about the viability of this game at lower player counts. I enjoyed what the game does a lot, but I played it at 3. I wonder if 4-7 would be better. The game doesn’t really add much time to it the more people you play with. But at 2-3, you won’t see many cards. It adds a different element of strategy to it with how you can play your opponent, but you are going to get more unbalanced scoring.

I also want to know what it’s like to teach the game. I played at the time we were learning the game as well. And looking back on it, I think that I could make it faster and simpler for teaching. But there are a number of things to teach. There are six different sections you need to teach scoring on. At the same time, I think most of the things are pretty simple once you know them. And I don’t think I need to teach some elements of the game as the game suggests that you have someone “run” the game and turns.

What Have I Enjoyed?

I really enjoy the “I split, you choose” mechanic of the game. The game is really just that mechanic which doesn’t worry me too much because you’ll get variety each time you play in the cards you take. But it’s interesting to look at the board of the player you are passing to, the direction doesn’t change, see what they are picking, and try and create a combination where they pick something that gives you what you want plus just a little bit more.

Or it could be that you create a split where either one will work for you, but you’ve split up what they want in order to slow them down. The game seems simple, but you can really give someone what they don’t want to keep some scoring tracks in check if you split stuff up well.

I also enjoy how the scoring works. Now, I won’t go into everything, but some of them are just how far you are up on the track, another has a sliding market, and another is the lowest of two tracks. But I’m more talking about how the game scores each section twice, minus contracts. So the three main tracks twice, once each mid game and once at the end of the game. But mid game you might score books and gems first and then art and nothing, or it might be books and nothing first and then art and gems. So when you score the first time might determine what you push for.

Final Thoughts – The Great Split

This is a very fun experience and I really enjoyed playing it once so far. I wonder how often I will get it played, though, because it is a game that seems to work better with more. And while I do have game nights, I feel like it isn’t one we’ll play all the time. But it fits into the same category, in my opinion as a game like Sushi Go Party or Seven Wonders.

With that, I mean that I can see playing it at higher player counts. And with more players, it is not a game that takes longer to play. I play it with three players, it goes as fast as the slowest player. I play it with 7 players and it still plays as fast as the slowest player. Now, the slowest player might be slower, but that is the restriction. So I really like that about the game. And I like it when I find a big group game that isn’t a party game.

Do you like The Great Split? Is it a game that you want to try? Let me know in the comments below.

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How To Play Qwixx

Qwixx is a simple roll and write where on your turn you roll six dice. There are two white dice and four dice of different colors. The goal of the game is to fill in as many numbers as you can on the four colored tracks. The red and yellow go from 2 to 12 and the green and blue from 12 to 2. As you fill in numbers, you can not go back on a track, so if you skip from 2 to 5, you can’t fill in the 3 or 4.

Firstly, all players can use the combined total of the two white dice to fill in on a track. That is optional for everyone. Then, the player who rolled the dice, they can use one white die and one of the colored dice to fill cross of a spot on that color row. Then the turn passes and the next player rolls.

The twists for this are that the game can end two ways. Firstly, if you can’t place a combined total, you cross off a -5 point spot. If you get four of them, the game is automatically over. The other way is that once you have five numbers filled in for a color, you can lock the row. To do that you need to get a 12 in yellow or red, or a 2 in blue or green. And when a row is locked, no one can add to that row and it removes that color die from the game. Once two are locked, the game ends.

What Doesn’t Work?

This is a very luck dependent game. You might end up, just so you don’t take a -5 penalty, skipping over a number of numbers. Now, the fact that you don’t need to use the white dice not on your turn, or that you don’t need to use both the white dice and a white and color on your turn gives you some flexibility. But sometimes you just roll all high numbers or all low numbers and end up skipping a lot.

I also think that a lot of gamers are going to find this game too simple. It is very much a filler game. I played it twice last night in under thirty minutes while refreshing myself on the few rules. But it is meant as a family game, and I’ll talk about that more in who it is for.

What Works?

I think that the push your luck element of the game is actually pretty nice. You only roll once, but when do you fill in two things versus one. The more you fill in on a row the more points you get. So do you risk it that your opponent won’t lock things, so you can fill more slowly but with less gaps. Or do push to fill in as fast as you can so you can hopefully roll correct combinations and lock the dice?

I also like that it is a very simple roll and write. I love my more complicated roll and writes, but sometimes I want something that is purely a filler. My shelves aren’t short of filler games, but a lot of them are that twenty minutes or thirty for a single game. Qwixx is going to be a pull out, teach, and play in 15 minutes one for me. It fills a spot in my collection that I don’t need many games in. But Qwixx works quite well.

Who Is It For?

So, I already have talked about this as a filler a lot. But that is really what it is. I think it also is one of those games that you can take home and play with almost anyone. I can take this to play with my family. Or it’s one that’d easily fit into a a pocket for gaming at a brewery.

But this is for having at the non-gamers place so that you have a game to play. Or to have in your collection as a gamer so that you can play something simple with non-gamers. If you only play with gamers who are used to stuff more complex than Ganz Schon Clever, there probably isn’t a need for this, unless you want a really fast and small filler.

Qwixx Final Thoughts

I like Qwixx for what it is. Qwixx, as I keep on coming back to, is a light filler or a roll and write game. It isn’t going to be a game I play a ton of. But it is also going to be a game that I keep in my collection. Why, if it isn’t a favorite roll and write? Because I can pull it out and teach it so fast.

And I think often we get a lot of board games into our collections that are big. But there is generally space in most gamers collections for a few fillers. And Qwixx is going to be one of those for me if I want something really fast. I won’t replace some games, like Hanamikoji at two players. But for a higher player count, it is good.

My Grade: B-
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: A

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