Review of Triagonal
I wanted to pick up a game of Triagonal (Acumen Board Games, 2006 - Dave Barnes), simply because it looked so colorful and entertaining. And, a quick overview reminded me of a time-wasting pen-and-pencil game that we played as a kid when the teacher got boring in class. Most people use squares to play this game - drawing a line between two dots one at a time, with the person completing a square putting their initials in the square. I enjoyed playing with triangles, and this game looked exceptionally similar.
Guess what? It IS the same game, in a board game version, with some additional rules. The game comes with seven different options of play, and more are available online. However, some of the options are absolutely silly nonsense, and only a few make for a decent game. The rules are frankly too short in the game, although the components are decent, and I keep thinking that Triagonal has a lot of potential, but that much of it is unrealized. A few variants can make games interesting - as it stands now, most games either follow the same pattern time and time again, or are completely ruled by luck.
The game board is a large triangle, made up of forty-nine smaller triangles. Each player takes a pile of small triangles of their color, and a pile of black sticks are placed to the side. Players will be playing these sticks on the sides of triangles. When they form a complete triangle, the player places a triangle of their color in the spot. The components are quite nice - everything is plastic, and the black pieces fit snugly into recesses in the board, with the color triangles easily inserted between them. The four colors (red, yellow, blue, and green) look quite good, and a completed game has a very pretty and geometric look to it.
The rules, I am sorry to say, are quite poor - being simply printed on the back of the box. Each game has around three lines of explanation, and this won't answer every question asked - or have any examples or diagrams. There is a longer, better rules explanation on the internet, but one shouldn't have to hunt there to fully understand the game. Games ARE easy to teach, taking only moments to get up and running.
Let's take a look at each of the seven games:
1.) Pure Strategy: In this game, players place one black piece per turn. If they form a small triangle on their turn, then they may place an additional piece. This can lead to a chain reaction, and a player continues to go until they do NOT form a triangle. At the end of the game, players who have the most triangles on the board win, with five bonus points going to anyone who creates a hexagon shape. Players also win automatically if they form a larger triangle (nine small ones) in their color. I don't mind this options, although it leads to situations where one player invariably ends up placing 16 or so triangles at the end of the game. Clever placement ahead of time can mitigate this, but it all comes down to one other player making a mistake. In a multiplayer game, this can be extremely annoying, especially if the poorest player does NOT play before you. I've seen teenagers enjoy this game, but they played for entirely too long, analyzing moves, and never were they completely satisfied with the outcome of the game. It's strategic, but I'm not sure if it's too scripted. If there were more shapes that players could get bonus points from, I might be more interested. Rating: 5 out of 10
2.) More Chance: In this game, players roll a die, and place as many black pieces as shown on it (0-3). This is so ridiculous I can't imagine anyone enjoying it . Rolling a zero on your turn has to rank as one of the most annoying things ever in a game. Other than the die, everything is the same as above. Rating: 2 out of 10
3.) A Quicker Game: Here, players roll a color die. That person gets to put out five (or whatever number players determine at the beginning of the game) black pieces. White and black are ignored. This is even WORSE than the game above - more chance, and so annoying I shall no longer speak about it. Rating: 1 out of 10
4.) Confusion: Here player's roll both dice on their turn. The player whose color is rolled gets to place the amount of pieces shown on the number dice. If a color is rolled that is not in the game, then the player whose turn it is gets to place the tiles. This is just as random as the above game, but I rate it higher because there is slightly more of a chance that the player whose turn it is gets to place the tiles. Rating: 2 out of 10
5.) Place Your Bets: In this game, players are NOT a color, instead they simply guess what color will win the game. They then roll both dice as in game # 4, and do the same thing. This is easily my favorite game in the lot, as it offers the most strategy. (especially if the guesses are secret - something the rules don't mention). Players can attempt to mess certain colors up and help their own colors. The biggest problem this variant will experience is when two players pick the same color. Still, it's slightly interesting, and certainly better than the other included games. It can be played solo, but I don't recommend it. Rating: 6 out of 10
6.) First One Out: This is exactly the same as the first game, except the first player to get rid of a certain number of tiles wins (like 10). What's the point of this? How is this any different than the first game - except to end it quicker? Rating: 4 out of 10
7.) Marathon: Play a pile of games, choosing from the above six options. The first player to win a certain amount (5-20), wins the marathon. Right. Rating: This ain't happening.
A few other games are included in the internet rules
8.) Line 'Em Up: YES! This is innovation, something that makes sense. It plays just as the first game, but the first player to form a line of a certain number (I recommend five) wins the game. This makes the game a strategy game - and this is the best game of the lot - why wasn't it included with the game? Rating: 8 out of 10
9-12) Not worth mentioning. Variations that are either too lucky or just don't work.
So is this game worth picking up? My first inclination is to tell you no, but I really think the extra game # 8 is fairly interesting. Still, there are other games with "five in a row", such as Pentago and Quinamid, that are just as interesting with absolutely fabulous components. Triagonal looks good, is fairly enjoyable with kids, but I think it falls short of being a complete, excellent package. I'll hang onto my copy, but I don't think it will be played often.
One saving, possibly buying grace, is that the black rectangles and colored triangles can be used to design patterns and pictures. You may find that enjoyable.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com
Guess what? It IS the same game, in a board game version, with some additional rules. The game comes with seven different options of play, and more are available online. However, some of the options are absolutely silly nonsense, and only a few make for a decent game. The rules are frankly too short in the game, although the components are decent, and I keep thinking that Triagonal has a lot of potential, but that much of it is unrealized. A few variants can make games interesting - as it stands now, most games either follow the same pattern time and time again, or are completely ruled by luck.
The game board is a large triangle, made up of forty-nine smaller triangles. Each player takes a pile of small triangles of their color, and a pile of black sticks are placed to the side. Players will be playing these sticks on the sides of triangles. When they form a complete triangle, the player places a triangle of their color in the spot. The components are quite nice - everything is plastic, and the black pieces fit snugly into recesses in the board, with the color triangles easily inserted between them. The four colors (red, yellow, blue, and green) look quite good, and a completed game has a very pretty and geometric look to it.
The rules, I am sorry to say, are quite poor - being simply printed on the back of the box. Each game has around three lines of explanation, and this won't answer every question asked - or have any examples or diagrams. There is a longer, better rules explanation on the internet, but one shouldn't have to hunt there to fully understand the game. Games ARE easy to teach, taking only moments to get up and running.
Let's take a look at each of the seven games:
1.) Pure Strategy: In this game, players place one black piece per turn. If they form a small triangle on their turn, then they may place an additional piece. This can lead to a chain reaction, and a player continues to go until they do NOT form a triangle. At the end of the game, players who have the most triangles on the board win, with five bonus points going to anyone who creates a hexagon shape. Players also win automatically if they form a larger triangle (nine small ones) in their color. I don't mind this options, although it leads to situations where one player invariably ends up placing 16 or so triangles at the end of the game. Clever placement ahead of time can mitigate this, but it all comes down to one other player making a mistake. In a multiplayer game, this can be extremely annoying, especially if the poorest player does NOT play before you. I've seen teenagers enjoy this game, but they played for entirely too long, analyzing moves, and never were they completely satisfied with the outcome of the game. It's strategic, but I'm not sure if it's too scripted. If there were more shapes that players could get bonus points from, I might be more interested. Rating: 5 out of 10
2.) More Chance: In this game, players roll a die, and place as many black pieces as shown on it (0-3). This is so ridiculous I can't imagine anyone enjoying it . Rolling a zero on your turn has to rank as one of the most annoying things ever in a game. Other than the die, everything is the same as above. Rating: 2 out of 10
3.) A Quicker Game: Here, players roll a color die. That person gets to put out five (or whatever number players determine at the beginning of the game) black pieces. White and black are ignored. This is even WORSE than the game above - more chance, and so annoying I shall no longer speak about it. Rating: 1 out of 10
4.) Confusion: Here player's roll both dice on their turn. The player whose color is rolled gets to place the amount of pieces shown on the number dice. If a color is rolled that is not in the game, then the player whose turn it is gets to place the tiles. This is just as random as the above game, but I rate it higher because there is slightly more of a chance that the player whose turn it is gets to place the tiles. Rating: 2 out of 10
5.) Place Your Bets: In this game, players are NOT a color, instead they simply guess what color will win the game. They then roll both dice as in game # 4, and do the same thing. This is easily my favorite game in the lot, as it offers the most strategy. (especially if the guesses are secret - something the rules don't mention). Players can attempt to mess certain colors up and help their own colors. The biggest problem this variant will experience is when two players pick the same color. Still, it's slightly interesting, and certainly better than the other included games. It can be played solo, but I don't recommend it. Rating: 6 out of 10
6.) First One Out: This is exactly the same as the first game, except the first player to get rid of a certain number of tiles wins (like 10). What's the point of this? How is this any different than the first game - except to end it quicker? Rating: 4 out of 10
7.) Marathon: Play a pile of games, choosing from the above six options. The first player to win a certain amount (5-20), wins the marathon. Right. Rating: This ain't happening.
A few other games are included in the internet rules
8.) Line 'Em Up: YES! This is innovation, something that makes sense. It plays just as the first game, but the first player to form a line of a certain number (I recommend five) wins the game. This makes the game a strategy game - and this is the best game of the lot - why wasn't it included with the game? Rating: 8 out of 10
9-12) Not worth mentioning. Variations that are either too lucky or just don't work.
So is this game worth picking up? My first inclination is to tell you no, but I really think the extra game # 8 is fairly interesting. Still, there are other games with "five in a row", such as Pentago and Quinamid, that are just as interesting with absolutely fabulous components. Triagonal looks good, is fairly enjoyable with kids, but I think it falls short of being a complete, excellent package. I'll hang onto my copy, but I don't think it will be played often.
One saving, possibly buying grace, is that the black rectangles and colored triangles can be used to design patterns and pictures. You may find that enjoyable.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com
