Ingenious Strategy Family Board Game by Reiner Knizia
The game can be played by two, three or four players, with additional rules provided for solo and four-player partnership play. Each player has a rack of six randomly-chosen tiles which are concealed from the other players.
The Ingenious Strategy Family Board Game is made up of a number of hexagons, with the two outermost rings reserved for three- and four-player games respectively. The rules state that the youngest player takes the first turn, although where multiple games are played it is common practice for the first turn to rotate clockwise around the board in subsequent games
Scoring occurs from each of the two symbols on the tile. Counting outwards in a straight line from each of the five available faces of the two hexagons (the symbols on the tile itself are not counted), one point is scored in that tile's colour for each identical symbol in an unbroken line. It is therefore possible to score points on two colours by placing a single tile.
The unusual victory condition ('highest lowest score wins') requires players to develop all six colours and drives a higher degree of strategic planning than would otherwise be the case.
Tactical considerations include not only how many points a player will earn by placing a particular tile, but also which colours they will score on, often resulting in a trade-off between the two. Building large blocks of one colour also leads to higher scoring opportunities for one's opponent, and gameplay often revolves around a player tactically blocking a colour for which they have already established a scoring advantage. |