Review
Altiplano
Altiplano produced a game full of resource grabs, score-related mischief, and ambitious attempts to locate a crack in the system. Wood and alpacas: the essentials.
- Published
- 2017
- Designer
- Reiner Stockhausen
- Publisher
- dlp games, Arclight Games, Arrakis Games
- Players
- 2–5
- Playing time
- 120 min
In Altiplano, my fellow players arrived with class and that dangerous look which says, “Today we find the loophole.” One was hoarding resources as though the market would close at dawn; another was testing the lower limits of scoring, including the memorable suggestion that perhaps going below zero was actually the winning move. Wood and alpacas. What more does a table need?
At its centre, our game became a fight over resources and over who could keep them away from everyone else. It is not enough to follow your own plan; you have to spot the player about to vacuum up what you need, then spoil their arithmetic before they do the same to you.
Wood and alpacas.
TheCuttlefish
The rhythm at the table was clear: see what is missing, chase what helps you, count the score again, while everyone else does precisely that with rather less discretion. The interaction does not need grand betrayals. One player starts resource hoarding and suddenly the whole table has a reason to watch them closely. That is where it gets good.
Altiplano left us with the feeling of a sharp, lively race in which clever attempts to break the game are part of the entertainment, not a fault waiting to be fixed.
Altiplano left us with the feeling of a sharp, lively race in which clever attempts to break the game are part of the entertainment, not a fault waiting to be fixed.
TheCuttlefish
Source: BoardGameGeek
0 comments
Sign in to react or comment.
