Review of Gisborne

When I received Gisborne: Die Ersten Kartographen (Clementoni, 2008 - Carlo A. Rossi) in the mail, I was surprised; as I had heard nothing about it prior to its release. I've played some enjoyable Clementoni games in the past, such as Wildlife and Sunken City; and the fact that Michael Menzel was the illustrator gave me good hope, as I consider him the best in the business. Gisborne is a game about cartography in New Zealand, although in reality it's simply a race game in an unknown land. Some impressive components are in the box, including variable board tiles and some constructed boxes to hold a player's treasures.

And to my delight, Gisborne paid off as a light but enjoyable family game. Handling up to five players, it's essentially a race game with a good deal of luck thrown in but manages to keep the game interesting and intriguing all the way to the end. Random tiles give a sense of uncertainty about upcoming terrain, and players have to debate when the best time to take the lead is. Taking about half an hour to play, Gisborne is a fast paced game with high quality bits and was an instant hit in my gaming groups.

Each player receives a cartographer pawn in their color, placing them randomly on the first spaces on a track that begins on a start tile. The end tile is also placed, so that players can see their goal. Ten other path tiles are shuffled - one removed from the game, and the other nine are placed in a face down pile. Each player receives one tent card in their hand as well as five movement cards (the rest form a deck). Finally, players get a chest in their color, and a pile of card chips are shuffled face down near the board - with a "1" value being placed on a space on the start path tile, and a "4" value is placed on the end tile. The first round is ready to begin.

Each turn, players play one or more cards from their hands face down simultaneously in front of them then reveal them at the same time. Players may play up to five cards, but all cards must be of the same color. The deck is composed of bronze cards (numbered "1" or "2"), silver cards (numbered "2" or "3"), and gold cards (numbered "3" or "4"). Alternatively, a player may simply play their ten cards, which is a value of "0". Starting with the player in the front, each player moves their cartographer the total sum of the cards they played. If the pawn's final destination is occupied by another player, they move to the next unoccupied space. The first player whose pawn moves past the final space on the path turns over the top path tile, extending the path that much farther. After the ninth path tile is placed, the end tile is connected to finish the path.

Whenever a path tile is revealed, a card chip is placed on the one space that shows a scroll. The first player to end their movement on this chip places it in their chest. Whenever this occurs, a position scoring will occur at the end of the round. The player who has their cartographer in the lead will get three cards. Before looking at the cards, they can decide if they want to place any or all of them in their chest or take them into their hand. The player in second place does the same with two cards and all the other players with one card. The player in the last position gets two cards but must put them in their hand.

After everyone has moved their pawn, any players who played bronze cards or the tent card draw two movement cards; and any players who played silver cards draw one card. The next round then begins. There are a few special spaces on the board that affect players:

Swamp: A player who starts here cuts their movement in half, rounding down.

Village: A player who starts here may use cards of different colors in one turn, but still five maximum.

Wolves: A player who lands here must discard a card chip, if they have one.

Shortcut: A player who lands at one end of the shortcut moves to the other end automatically (think the ladders in Chutes and Ladders).

River: A player who crosses a river must discard down to four cards.

The first player to reach the last space of the track gets the card chip valued "4" and places their pawn on the "5" position. Each succeeding player goes on the next position. When the last player reaches the end, the game is over. Players total the value of all their chips and add one point for each card in their chest. The player with the most points is the winner, with ties broken by the player who is in a higher position at the end.

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: The best components of the game are the treasure chests, which are put together with three cardboard cutouts. They're sturdy, look good, and add a three dimensional look to the game, holding the cards easily. My only problem with them was that they have to be dismantled to fit into the insert in the box. This proved annoying, so my box insert is gone! The map tiles are very thick and fit together fairly easily with really great artwork on them. The path is winding and helps bring around the theme of exploring. I'm not sure if I could tell that the land is New Zealand - it could be any mountainous, forest region - although I've read that there are no wolves in New Zealand. I don't care that much about the country; it's a game about exploring an unknown region, and that comes through in the playing. The cards are of decent quality (more, good artwork), although they aren't cut very well; a few of them have rough edges.

2.) Rules: The game is currently printed in German, but the English translation of the rulebook (from the company) is quite good; I had no problem understanding the seven page rulebook. With full color pages, great formatting, and several examples, the game was very simple to learn. I was able to teach it to kids and adults alike, with no one having any rules questions; the theme and racing style made sense. The game comes with reference cards that explain the different types of terrain; I simply explained them as they came up. The cards themselves had symbols to remind players how many cards they could draw after playing them.

3.) Cards: The interplay between the cards in integral to the game. Play the bronze cards, and you won't move very far; but at least you get two more cards at the end of your turn. Play the gold cards, and you'll move along quite well; but what will you do next turn? Players have a limit of five cards that they can play at a time, but how long should they wait before playing them? The tent was something I initially thought would be played quite a bit; but it actually was used quite a bit less, as players usually would rather use one bronze card to move a bit AND take the cards. But the tent is still an option for players who empty their hands and have nothing to use to move on the next turn.

4.) Racing: There certainly are going to be some choices, as the game goes by; and one of those is that of positioning. Taking the lead quickly and attempting to maintain it is a nice idea, as a player will score well every time positional scoring occurs. Putting all three cards gained into the chest can really make the difference at the end of the game. However, a player who is in the lead will often find themselves moving onto the new path cards - without a clue of where they will land. Occasionally they may get lucky, but they will also often overshoot a path token or land on wolves or a swamp. A player who is behind has a more ideal situation, but they will lose on the bonuses. I think that the best spot to be is in second place, where a player will get a good bonus but have the ability to watch the player directly in front of them. Sometimes a player will also have the option of jumping far ahead by playing several cards. But if they use one of that group, they can land on a path token. Which is the better choice? Path tokens can be lost to the wolves, but they can also be worth up to three points - a solid addition to a player's points. Scores are often fairly low, so every point counts; and that four points for being the first to the finish line is a big deal!

5.) Strategy and Luck: The game certainly has a lot of luck in the cards one draws. Certainly, getting a lot of bronze cards while others get gold cards can be annoying, yet I've never seen anyone get completely shafted. The strategy comes from knowing when to save cards, and when to get moving. Playing five gold cards at the right moment can give a player a huge lead or catch up when they've fallen behind. At the same time, realize that there isn't anything profound here; I think people were catching on to the deepest strategies of the game on their first playing.

6.) Fun Factor: However, the game is going to have long legs for me, at least; since everyone enjoyed playing it quite a bit. The cool chests are attractive to new people, and for this I think Gisborne will make an excellent "gateway" game. It's fun to bounce off someone else's pawn onto the card chips; and it's hilarious to see what appears to be a runway leader to land on wolves or in the swamp. Gisborne has a dismal-sounding name, but it's fast and fun.

Good artwork, really spiffy components, and a simple, quick rule set make Gisborne a surprise hit of 2008. If you are looking for a racing style game with simple, easy card play, Gisborne is an excellent choice. I wasn't a fan of Rossi's last game, Alchemist; but this one is easier, has an appealing theme, and has been a blast in my gaming groups. Check it out!

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com