Best reviewed games of 2016 - Part II

So this week the top two reviewed games from 2016 are unveiled.

And I’ll start by suggesting some outdorr fun.

Regular readers will know when warm weather hits I occasionally expand beyond the gaming table to include something a bit more active.

Interestingly, Cross-boule actually has an entry on www.boardgamegeek.com, one I happened upon recently and thought why not.

I had seen the game online previously, and thought it would be a monster lot of fun.

Sadly, the US source I found back then never got back to me when I emailed them.

To the small entry at Boardgame geek relates “This take on bocce, aka lawn bowling, gives players soft, flexible balls that will be kind to materials within your house, allowing for indoor games on the stairs, at a bookcase, or wherever else you might think to throw the target ball. Throw the right way in Crossboule, and you can earn bonus points; whoever wins two sets of 13 points first wins the game.”

The game has similarities to bocce for sure, and bocce in turn has some common aspects with lawn bowling.

Crossboules is interesting because it can be played on the go. It opens the sport of bocce to a more urban exploration game. Grab your cloth bag boules (think been bags essentially), and head out.

One player tosses out the ‘jack’ and then player’s battle to get there bags closest to target.

In many cases the game takes on a follow-the-leader aspect. If player one makes their shot sliding it across an empty park table, the other player must match that approach.

If it is bounced off a brick wall to land on a fire escape landing, so must other players.

Check out www.cross-boule.com but it is not an English site. You can search the game on YouTube.com as well.

And, topping the list is Epaminondas.

If you have not heard of Epaminondas don’t feel too bad. This is very much an unknown game even though it was initially released back in 1975.

The game is by designer Robert Abbott who has a number of games to his credit, although I would suggest none are close to being the gem Epaminondas is.

Epaminondas is named after the Theban general who invented the phalanx formation he used to defeat the Spartans in 371 B.C.

Epaminondas is played on a 14 x 12 checker board, although if you are fashioning your own board, since published copies of this one are a bit of a search to find, you could opt for a board sans alternating colour squares as they are only needed as a visual aid if sorts regarding movement. I would suggest a non-coloured board would look more ‘vintage’ in accordance with the Theban general naming.

As you can imagine the board is an expansive one to range over.

Each player has 28 black or white pieces.

The objective is to move your pieces across the board onto your opponent’s back rank, the row closest to him, by moving your phalanxes and capturing enemy pieces.

The movement here is as dramatic as the big board and mass pieces. When a phalanx moves, all the pieces in the phalanx move an equal number of squares in the same direction in a straight line. The direction of movement must be either forward or backward along the line of orientation of the phalanx. The number of squares moved by each piece must be equal to or less than the total number of pieces in the phalanx. A phalanx can be split up to move. In this case, the number of squares it can move is equal to or less than the total number of pieces in the moving phalanx. A phalanx cannot move off the board or onto or over a square occupied by a friendly piece.

The grand movement, the balance of defence and attack across the huge board, combine to create a great game.

Off the start the game is a bit slow. It’s a case of building phalanxes in response to what the opponent’s build up is, and of course what strategy you hope to impose on the game.

But once the battle lines engage the action is furious with the ability to break phalanx formations and attack on both orthogonal and diagonal lines.

This is a game that really is in the elite of games to explore in terms of abstract strategy offerings.

 Grab a couple of these great games reviewed in 2016, and enjoy exploring them in the new year ahead.