Chekov is one in a series of dice games produced by Playroom Entertainment. It's simple to play, has a little bit of strategy, and could be a fun travel game.
Players: 2-3
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Complexity: 1 (of 10)
As far as I know the name is just a pun on the fact that you "check off" numbers. I'm not aware of this game having any ancient origins in old Russia.
The Components
Chekov comes packaged in a very attractive and sturdy metal tin. It's fairly compact, and this all adds up to the tin being great to use for travel, where a regular cardboard box would have gotten banged up. My only complaint with the tin is that I would have preferred the lid be tighter, which would have made its use as a travel container even greater.
The tin also provides a container for rolling dice when on a plane, in a car, etc. Beware, if you try and doss dice into the empty tin, you'll create a deafening clatter, and likely have them jump back out--but fortunately you can just drop the pad of blank score sheets into the bottom of the tin, and they'll dampen both the sound and the rebounding of the dice.
Within the tin you'll find:
- 3 dice
- 1 scorepad
- 3 pencils
- 1 rulebook
The dice are mottled orange, printed with numbers rather than pips. Compared to the plain white or red dice that come with most dice games, they're a definite step up.
The scorepad is printed in red on white paper. It looks nice, and more importantly presents a grid and a scoring area which are usable.
The pencils are colored in three hues: black, red, and blue. The lead is a little soft for writing, but they're otherwise good. The idea of each player marking his spaces on a shared grid with a differently colored pencil is, by the by, quite innovative.
The rules are just 3 small pages, printed red on white. They're easy enough to understand, because the basics of the game are quite simple. However, the one example in the rules is somewhat lacking because it leaves out any complex results (e.g., diagonal lines and selections which score multiple lines simultaneously).
Overall Chekov is attractively packaged, especially when given its low price. It thus earns a "4" out of "5" for Style.
The Game Play
Chekov is played on a simple 6x6 grid, with the spaces numbered between 11 and 66.
Each turn each player rolls 3 six-sided dice. He then chooses a pair that he likes, and marks the appropriate space on the grid. For example, if a player rolls "3", "4", and "5", he could choose one of six spaces: "34", "35", "45", "43", "53", or "54".
A player scores points whenever he forms a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, in his own color, of 3 or more numbers. Points scored are equal to the length of the line.
You can score points by adding to a line, equal to the number of spaces added. You can also score for lines in multiple directions at the same time.
The game ends when the grid is filled or, practically, when there are only a couple of spaces left and their allocation won't change the winner.
Relationships to Other Games
In passing it's useful to note that Chekov does have some passing relation to a bunch of classic games. At its core, I'd probably place it somewhere on the spectrum of Bingo and Tic-Tac-Toe. However, the random/strategic element is placed somewhere between the two. Unlike Bingo you have control over some choices, and unlike Tic-Tac-Toe the game isn't so arbitrary that it always ends in stalemate. It's a good compromise between the two extremes that makes it better than either classic.
I'm also reminded somewhat of Connect Four, another game on the same continuum, which also manages to succeed as a strategy game where I'd consider Bingo and Tic-Tac-Toe failures.
The Game Design
Chekov is, clearly, a very simple game, but there are a couple of things that can be said about the game design:
Randomness Controlled: As is going to be the case with most dice games, there's a heavy random element in Chekov. However this is well constrained in the game by the fact that a player gets to select which 2 of 3 dice he wants, giving him 6 possibilities rather than 1 each roll.
Simple Strategy: The game offers a nice constrast between simplicity and strategy. It's easy enough that anyone is going to be able to play it, but there is strategy in which numbers you select, to close up gaps in your lines and block your opponents, and this can keep more strategic players somewhat interested.
Interesting with Three Players: The game dynamics change in interesting ways when the number of players climbs up to three and there's a lot more opportunity for blocking of spaces.
On the downside I'd offer the following:
End Game Slows Down: For the last couple of rolls you're likely going to mostly come up with numbers which don't allow you to select any spaces. This can notably slow things down, but fortunately there's the possibility to just end the game if it's obvious the spaces won't matter. A better mechanic might have ended the game when there were 2 or 4 spaces left, or something similar.
Overall, I'd say that Chekov works well as a simple game. I give it an average "3" out of "5" for Substance.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a family travel game, Chekov will probably succeed on all fronts. It's packaging is sturdy and will hold up, it's easy for kids, and offers some strategy for adults. Not a replacement for a serious board game, but fun as a short diversion.
Review Summary