Pyramid Review
Ingenious: Travel Edition
Published by Fantasy Flight Games
Designed by Reiner Knizia
Graphic design by Fine Tuning/Michaela Schelk, Stuttgart, & Scott Nicely
U.S. version developed by Christian T. PetersenPlastic playing board, 57 tiles, 12 scoring pegs in six colors, cloth bag, & rulebook; full-color boxed set; $17.95
It's summertime, and the living is easy. 'tis the season, and there's plenty of traveling to do: to game conventions for the lucky ones, or to the in-laws' house for the less fortunate. What makes motorvating and high gas prices bearable in either case is a good book for the beach, some rockin' tunes, and a compact version of a favored game. Yes, they still make those, and the Ingenious: Travel Edition is ready for the road.
Most things about the original Ingenious game remain the same. Points are scored by placing tiles printed with colored symbols into rows on a limited play area; the longer the row, the more points it's worth. Separate point totals are marked for six such symbols and only the lowest of these scores counts for the purpose of winning, so keeping any one score from lagging behind the others is the key to winning.
Since Fantasy Flight Games is trying to shove a lot into a little package, there must obviously be changes. Foremost among them, this is only a two-player game. This allows them to dispense with the two extra hex rings and make a tighter board. Instead of the plastic racks for . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 17, 2007
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