Mayan Excavations. (Tikal)

Member Name: Odinsday

Product:	Tikal
Date:	22/08/00 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to learn, engrossing, good theme. "Spiele des Jahres" winner in 1999

Disadvantages: Frustrating if someone analyzes the game too much.

What a great game! It took less than 10 minutes to learn how to play, 45 minutes to actually play, but is SO engrossing. Explore the Jungle of Tikal, find temples, excavate them and find treasures.

Each turn you play a tile which can contain either a temple, treasure or clear space. You then spend 10 actions either rmoving men around, excavating temples or treasure. Every so often a Volcano comes up and you can score. Points are scored for the number of temples you control (having more men their than anyone else) and how well developed they are (the number of levels excavated) You also score for the various treasures you've found (more for sets).

And thats about it. Except that every turn limits you to a small number of actions. You can easily spend 20 points in a turn, and have to try and get in a good position to hinder your opponents. The hexes can be placed in many positions and you can make it so much harder for your opponents to reach your temples. Each move between tiles is only along set paths, and some paths cost more to navigate than others.

It's no suprise it's a German developed game, written by Wolfgang Kramer. The components are all excellent quality, the rules well explained and quick to learn. The reminder cards for helping you play are in symbol format. The pieces are loving, chunky and wooden.

Engrossing, quick and fun. Even if I did lose each time. I blame pulling 5 out of a possible 6 volcano's. Or perhaps it's because I ignored the treasure tiles which score well over time compared to the temples.

Summary: