Musings On... Cartagena (#1)

  Jeremy: Cartagena is a simple, abstract race game with plain-loooking graphics, a pirate theme, and mechanic similar to Candyland. So how could this game possibly be any good? Well, the answer lies with the author, Leo Colovini. If I were an ad executive marketing Mr. Colovini's games, his trademark line would be: "He makes abstract games fun." Cartagena falls squarely into what Colovini does best: light to medium abstract games with simple rules and tough decisions.

Tom: Colovini is the king of making a game that has, in reality, no theme. In most of the other games I've played of his - Carolus Magnus, Clans, Bridges of Shangra-Li - the theme is simply tacked on, and has absolutely nothing to do with game play. It's hard to even "pretend" to add it in. This doesn't mean that the games are bad, as I like Carolus Magnus, but it does mean that many of his games I avoid, because they are too abstract and boring. "He makes abstracts fun." seems a bit too strong, I fear.

Jeremy: Hmm...those sound like fighting words, Tom! But I digress...Cartagena is not an exception to Tom's assertion, since Cartagena is certainly one of the worst theme offenders in Colovini's repetoire. And yet, like so many of Colovini's games, this one just shines regardless. The idea is to get your pirates (all six fo them) from the start line (jail) to the finish line (a waiting boat) before anyone else can do so. Gameplay is simple enough: play a card and move any one of your pirates to the next unoccupied matching symbol on the 'racetrack.' The catch? To get mooe cards, you must move backwards! This simple idea works very well, and is simple enough to play with almost anyone.

Tom: I actually believe that Cartagena is THE exception to the rule. I loved the theme in Cartagena, and a lot of "yo-ho's and a bottle of rum" were shouted when my gaming group played the game. The theme of racing to the boat to leave all the others behind appealed to me and the other players, and thus the theme matched the gameplay, in my opinion. Moving backwards to get cards is a brilliant idea - and one that makes the player cringe every time he has to do it.

Jeremy: Your line of thinking is interesting: the basic goal of the game, matched with the -type- of social interaction, lent the theme more weight...(or were you actually drinking rum?) The tension of when(and who) to move forward and when (and who) to move backward is brilliant, and tends not to penalize casual gamers too much. The good moves are easy to pick up on, allowing players to get 'good' at the game quickly. Two more things are really in Cartagena's favor: it has a modular board (so the 'sweet' spots for every race change); and it scales marvellously from 2-5 players.

Tom: I heartily agree about the scaling - I've played it with all the numbers, and each game worked well. About the modular board - I agree that it's necessary to keep people from making scripted moves - but nothing that I got too excited about. (I mean, is having thousands of combinations much different than ten?) I also agree with you that the game is easy for casual gamers to pick up. My wife stated that the rules were "easy", something that she says about very few games. Of course, she lost horribly, but I'd like to believe that was due to my superior playing.

Jeremy: ...'superior playing'?! (Tom, remember what I said about the rum...?) I find the modular board really adds something since the optimal moves for different symbols changes from place to place and game to game. I suppose the number of permutations doesn't matter so much as I like the aesthetic of a different shaped track each time. (There! I admitted it!) My only disadvantage in the game seems to be starting first: since the condition for start player is 'whoever looks most like a pirate', I always seem to be the unfortunate sod...

Tom: Yeah, I understand (they called me the Amish Pirate). One thing that can happen in the game is that one person can really get messed up if they don't think things through carefully. If the last three pawns are yours, you are in big trouble. Careful planning and movement can overcome this - but one must be careful not to dawdle. Players must also be careful not to set the next player up for a big move. There are two variants to the game - with open cards and hidden cards, and I much prefer seeing all the cards - as it allow players to directly effect one another's play. Players cannot directly affect one another, but by careful movement, they can really screw up another person's play.

Jeremy: Not much to dislike here. Cartagena is fast, east to learn, tough decisions, scales well, makes a good family game -- and all of this in 30 minutes. A very nice race game, and one of my favorites. It's funny. I originally heard about this game from Bruno Faidutti's site, but I thought a race game like Hare & Tortoise would be more to my tastes. Frankly, Cartagena looked boring. Well, my friends, never judge a book by its cover. I ended up giving away my copy of Hare & Tortoise, yet Cartagena has proved a hit with my friends.

Tom: I'm not sure I like Cartagena more than Hare & Tortoise (the math in that game intrigues me), but I will agree that the game looks better than initial impressions. When I first saw pictures of the game, I ignored it, especially considering my lack of enthusiasm for Colovini games. However, I acquired in a trade, and it has become a slight hit with the groups I play it with, scaling well and fitting in with most crowds.

Tom's Rating = 7 out of 10
Jeremy's Rating = 8 out of 10

Jeremy Avery writes reviews for www.funagaingames.com, and is the designer of www.geocities.com/yahugaming - a web page devoted to helping people learn more about 'German' games.

Tom Vasel is a game enthusiast currently living in Korea. He has written over 200 reviews which can be found at www.boardgamegeek.com, and plays games solely to have fun.

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