by W. Eric Martin

This week's "Solitaire Sunday" is a twofer, mostly because the logic puzzles I'm covering — Chocolate Fix and Minecraft Travel Magnetic Puzzle — use the same engine underneath their hoods.

The concept is simple: Use the visual clues presented in one of the puzzle's forty challenges to place all nine objects — which come in three colors and three shapes — into the proper spaces in the 3x3 grid. The puzzle concept comes from Mark Engelberg, with the individual challenges being created by Serhiy Grabarchuk Jr. Here are two Minecraft examples of these challenges:


Both of these puzzles are labeled as being for ages 8+, and the challenges tend to skew simpler than I would have anticipated, but publisher ThinkFun has been in business for more than thirty years, so perhaps it has a better idea of what's appropriate for which ages than I do. For the most part, solving each puzzle from #1 to #30 took me only a couple of minutes at most, so if you're familiar with this type of puzzle, you might also race through them as quickly as I did.

That said, I've owned Chocolate Fix for probably ten years at this point, and I've run through its puzzles multiple times over the years, bringing it out (along with other logic puzzles) to challenge my son or an exchange student with something not quite like schoolwork that can ideally still provide a specific type of learning experience. As a result, when I received a review copy of Minecraft Travel Magnetic Puzzle, I already had a background rich in this type of puzzle solving, so I was primed to tackle these forty challenges.

I then broke out Chocolate Fix to solve all the challenges once again and was pleased to discover that while the concept is the same in both puzzles, the individual challenges are unique in both, so you're not re-purchasing the same challenges with a blocky coat of paint. The difference between the two puzzles is especially pronounced in the inclusion of "negative clues" in Minecraft, with these clues showing what cannot exist in the solution of a challenge. Here's an example:

Note the YES, OUI, and NOT in the clues — clever!
ThinkFun plays up the "brain aerobics" aspect of these puzzles in its marketing copy, and while I think the science on such things is still out, I do feel it's valuable to learn how to connect the dots in an argument to draw a valid conclusion. These challenges present extremely artificial arguments, of course, but they still function in the same manner. Grabarchuk has designed the challenges so that as you start looking at the combination of clues in one of them, you see how you can deduce some definite element of the solution — and once you add that bit of information to the clues, you can then deduce something else.

Here's an example of a Chocolate Fix challenge that highlights how information get unlocked:


The two clues that show somewhat definitive locations of two of the pink chocolates let you know that the pink chocolate in the uppermost row will be the triangle since it's the only one that can be possible go in that row. Similarly, the two clues that somewhat lock down locations for two milk chocolates tell you which milk chocolate will be in the southwest corner — and knowing about that milk chocolate tells you where those aforementioned pink chocolates cannot be.

(Note that I bought this copy of the puzzle used, and the previous owner appears to have left some bits in the sun as the chocolates and "candy wrappers" no longer match in color. In later editions of this puzzle, ThinkFun used white, pink, and brown chocolates to avoid having two shades of brown. The publisher has also released a version with green (presumably mint) chocolate, and newer editions highlight that they contain "40 all new challenges", but I don't know whether these differ from the Minecraft puzzles or not. Someday PuzzleGeek will have all these answers, but that day is not today.)


ThinkFun has also released a logic puzzle titled Clue Master from Engelberg and Grabarchuk, and the four puzzles depicted in the image above are included in Minecraft Travel Magnetic Puzzle, so perhaps they're all the same. More open questions!

For more about these puzzles, check out this video overview:

Youtube Video


https://www.thinkfun.com/products/clue-master/

The monsters are on the rampage. Military jets fill the skies while tanks rumble...

by Micaelsousa

Seguindo os sábios conselhos do Márcio Ferreira criei um blogue aqui no BGG para os posts de texto e vídeo no Boardgamegeek. Assim quem quiser seguir os conteúdos basta seguir o blogue neste link: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/10112

Obrigado a todos pela tolerância ao meu SPAM.

by Saigo

Editor's note: Game Market was scheduled to take place in Osaka on March 8, 2020, but wasn't held. Even so, Saigo — who translates game rules between Japanese and English and who tweets about new JP games — has translated a report about this non-event written by Takuya Ono, who runs the Table Games in the World blog. Mr. Ono has given permission to reprint the photos from his post. Many thanks to Saigo! —WEM

3月8日に開催予定だったゲームマーケット2020大阪は、新型コロナウィルスの感染防止のため中止となってしまった。そこで頒布されるはずだった新作ボードゲームは宙に浮いてしまったが、幸いにしてゲームマーケット公式をはじめいくつかのサイトが手を挙げ、ネット通販されるようになった。そのうちいくつかを見繕って遊んでみたレポートである。
--------------------
Game Market 2020 Osaka, which was due to take place on March 8, was cancelled to prevent coronavirus infection. Thus, the board games that were supposed to be released there lost that occasion, but fortunately, the Game Market Management Office and several other organizations offered to sell those games online. Here is my report on playing some of those games.

たぬきのきんたま（鳴海製作所娯楽部）
--------------------
Tanuki no Kintama (Tanuki's Balls) (from Narumi Factory)

カードをプレイして右の金玉と左の金玉を大きくしたり小さくしたりするカードゲーム。ゴーアウト系。
--------------------
Named after a famous phrase in the popular folk song "Tan Tan Tanuki", this is a go-out game to play cards and change the size of a Tanuki raccoon dog's left and right balls (called "Kintama" in Japanese).

自分の手番には、場（ゴールンデンボールエリア）に手札からカードを1枚出す。出せるカードは場のカードより＋2～－2で、出せなければ場札を1枚引き取る。左右が「1」と「8」になったら「一か八かボンバー」で、好きな人（もちろんトップ目）に山札からカードを1枚引かせることができる。
--------------------
The players take turns to play 1 ball card from their hand and place it on either left or right pile of ball cards in the ball area. You can play a card numbered within the range of ±2 from the topmost card on either pile. Otherwise, take the topmost card of a pile. If you manage to have the ball cards "1" and "8" in the ball area, it triggers the "1-8" (hit-or-miss) attack whereby you can make any one player (possibly the top player) draw a card from the deck.

数字は1～8があるが、1と8はつながっており、出せるカードの条件はそれほど厳しくないのでぶーらぶら（金玉だけに）と遊べる。
--------------------
The cards numbered "1" to "8" are used, and "1" and "8" are linked. The conditions to play the cards are not very strict, so you can play this game quite loosely like the loosely swinging balls of the Tanuki in the folk song.

DATA
ゲームデザイン＆イラスト・なるみ
2～4人用、7歳以上、10～20分
--------------------
DATA
Game Design & Illustration: Narumi
2-4 players / Age: 7+ / 10-20 min


•••

The Field of the Sun（リトルフューチャー）
--------------------
The Field of the Sun (from Little Future)

ぼうずめくりの要領で山札からカードをめくり、作物のマジョリティーを競うカードゲーム。
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This is a card game in which the players take turns to flip cards from a communal deck of cards and compete for the majority of crops.

山札から1枚ずつめくっていって、好きなところでやめて、めくった中から1枚を取る。同じ作物の2枚目が出るとその作物しか取れない。山札がなくなったとき、作物の種類ごとに枚数がもっとも多いプレイヤーが得点、それ以外は失点。イベントを起こす特殊カードが3枚入っているが、ミニマムなシステムである。
--------------------
On your turn, flip cards from the deck one by one and add them to the single row. Stop at any point and take any one card from the row. If you flip a card of the same suit as one already present, your turn ends immediately and you must take the last flipped card. The game ends when the deck is exhausted, and the player with the most cards of each suit scores positive points for that suit while all other players score negative points. Even with three special event cards, the game system is very minimal.

作物は各種5枚ずつなので、3枚取れば必ず勝てる。しかしそううまくは集まらない。ほかの人が1枚持っているとき、同じ作物を取って競合するべきか否か、それとも競合を避けて別の作物を取るべきか。結局全部のカードが出てくるので、最後の最後まで気が抜けないドラマがある。
--------------------
There are five cards of each suit, so you can win the majority if you take three cards of a suit. However, you cannot collect them so easily. If another player has a card of the same suit, should you go for the same suit to compete with them, or avoid such competition and take a card of another suit? All the cards are eventually revealed, so the dynamic competition continues until the very end.

DATA
ゲームデザイン・エミユウスケ、イラスト・メメント森＆山崎すはま
2～5人用、10歳以上、10～30分
--------------------
DATA
Game Design: Yusuke Emi / Illustration: Memento Mori & Suhama Yamazaki
2-5 players / Age: 10+ / 10-30 min


•••

おばけはおまえだ！（ギフトテンインダストリ）
--------------------
You Are The Ghost! (from GIFT10INDUSTRY)

聴覚を使ったコミュニケーションゲーム。イヤホンから流れる音で絵を選ぶ。ただし1人だけ、おばけ役の人がランダムに割り振られており、その人は同じ音を聞いた体でバレないようにしなければならない。
--------------------
This is a communication game using hearing. The players take turns to choose a picture card according to the sound they hear from the earphone. One player, however, is randomly assigned to play the role of the ghost, and that player must pretend that they also heard the same sound to avoid being found out.

流れてくるのはおばけっぽい音。イヤホンを回して、スマホのボタンで音を出し、自分が聞いた音に合いそうな絵を取る。なんでその絵を選んだか簡単に説明して、その説明から怪しそうな人を一斉に指差し。バレなかったらおばけの得点、バレたら当てた人の得点になる。
--------------------
An eerie sound is heard from the earphone. The players take turns to receive the smartphone and earphone, press the button on the smartphone to play the sound, and take the picture that they think matches the sound. They each explain briefly why they chose that picture, then simultaneously point at a player who they suspect to be the ghost from the explanation. The ghost player gains points if they manage to trick others from finding them out, and other players each gain points if they find out who the ghost is.

具体的に言うとおばけ役が合わせやすくなるので、ほどほどにぼかすけれどもそうすると自分が怪しくなる。適当に言ったのがピッタリ当てはまったり、何も言ってないに等しいのにおばけでないことがうまく伝わったりして楽しい。
--------------------
Giving specific explanations helps the ghost player pretend that they also heard that sound, so the players explain the sound with some vagueness, but being too vague will make one look suspicious. It was fun playing the game, with occasions, such as the ghost player providing plausible explanations from a wild guess and a non-ghost player managing to communicate that they are not the ghost without almost any clear explanation.

DATA
ゲームデザイン・濱田隆史、イラスト・村瀬都思
3～6人用、10歳以上、15～30分
--------------------
DATA
Game Design: Takashi Hamada / Illustration: Toshi Murase
3-6 players / Age: 10+ / 15-30 min
English rules


•••

ツリーラインアベニュー（TACTICAL GAMES）
--------------------
The Tree-Lined Avenue (from TACTICAL GAMES)

5種類の樹木を縦横に揃えて得点を競う。『キングドミノ』のボードが全員共通だったらどうなるか。
--------------------
The players compete to score by planting five types of trees in rows and columns. It is like, what would happen if a communal board is used for Kingdomino?

プレイヤー人数分の樹木カードを番号順に並べ、そこから1枚選んで6×6の公園ができるよう配置する。番号の大きいカードを取ると、次にカードを取る順番が遅くなる『キングドミノ』方式。ただし公園は全員共通で、自分の庭師コマを置いたところから縦と横の列にある樹木が得点になる。合従連衡して樹木を揃え得点を上げつつ、自分の庭師コマと関係のない列には邪魔な樹木を置いて得点を下げる。
--------------------
Tree cards are arranged in order according to the number of players. The players then take turns to choose one card and place it to eventually form a 6×6 grid park. The Kingdomino system whereby taking a higher-numbered card forces one to pick later in the next round is applied. However, on the communal park board, the players each score from the trees in the same rows and columns as their gardener pawns. The players play both cooperatively and competitively by arranging trees to score and at the same time planting obstructive trees on the rows and columns where their gardener pawns are not present.

公園には動物や施設もあり、ゲーム終了時ボーナスに絡むほか、番号の大きいカードにはお得なアクションが付いてくるものも。庭師コマは1人2個あり、合計4列で得点できることになるので、樹木はだいたいどれでも何とかなる。そのため手番順の変動が少なく、後ろに下がるとなかなか復帰できない。選択肢の多さが悩ましい。
--------------------
The park also has animals and facilities that are linked to end-of-game bonuses, and some high-number cards are equipped with advantageous actions. The players each have two gardener pawns to score from four lines in total, so most trees can be of some use. Because of this, there is little variation in the turn order, and it is difficult to move up in the turn order once you fall behind. The sheer number of choices requires a tactical handling.

DATA
ゲームデザイン・鈴木陽太＆押切隼、ビジュアルデザイン・鈴木陽太
2～4人用、14歳以上、20～30分（2019秋新作）
--------------------
DATA
Game Design: Yota Suzuki & Hayato Oshikiri / Visual Design: Yota Suzuki
2-4 players / Age: 14+ / 20-30 min (released at TGM 2019 Autumn)


•••

タイムトラップ（TACTICAL GAMES）
--------------------
Time Trap (TACTICAL GAMES)

7ラウンドにわたってカードをプレイし、第7ラウンドで先に手札をなくすことを目指すカードゲーム。第6ラウンドまでに手札がなくなってしまうと脱落してしまう。
--------------------
In this card game, the players race to get rid of their hand of cards in the seventh round. If you run out of cards by the sixth round, you will be eliminated.

「奇数しか出せない」「何でも出せるが、5と7を出すとカードを奪われる」などラウンドごとに条件が設定されており、それに従って手札を昇順または降順にプレイしていく。最初に1枚ずつもっている「タイムトラップカード」をプレイすると昇順と降順が逆になる。出せるカードがなくなったらパスで、全員がパスしたら次のラウンドへ。
--------------------
There are different conditions for each round, such as "Play only odd numbers" and "Play any card, but if you play '5' or '7', your card will be snatched". The players play their cards in ascending or descending order in accordance with these conditions. At the start, the players each receive a "time trap" card that allows them to reverse the ascending/descending order. Pass if you do not have a card to play anymore. After everyone has passed, move to the next round.

第6ラウンドまでは脱落しないようカードをできるだけ温存したいが、ある程度減らしておかないと第7ラウンドで勝ち目がなくなる。ほかの人にどこまで出させるかも重要。気がついたときには負けている。
--------------------
While it is desirable to keep your hand of cards to avoid being eliminated by the sixth round, you must play and reduce them to some extent or else you will not be able to win in the seventh round. It is also important to assess how many cards you should make others play. Before you know it, you might lose at once.

DATA
ゲームデザイン・押切隼＆鈴木陽太、ビジュアルデザイン・鈴木陽太
2～4人用、14歳以上、10～15分（2019秋新作）
--------------------
DATA
Game Design: Hayato Oshikiri & Yota Suzuki / Visual Design: Yota Suzuki
2-4 players / Age: 14+ / 10-15 min (released at TGM 2019 Autumn)


•••

インザルーイン（フダコマゲームズ）
--------------------
In the Ruin (Fudacoma Games)

カードで指示されたパターンで通路や壁を書き込んで、古代遺跡からお宝を持ち帰るフリップ＆ライトゲーム。
--------------------
This is a flip-and-write game to use the patterns indicated on revealed cards to write routes and walls in order to bring back treasures from ancient ruins.

各自自分のシートにカードで指示されたパターンで通路や壁を書き込んだら、カードに指示された数だけ、通路に沿って自分のコマを移動させる。お宝の場所はカードで指示され、全員共通だが早いもの勝ち。そこまで通路がつながっていないと、お宝があった場所は壁になってしまう。宝石が取られるとまた別のところに宝石が出現する。カードの山札がなくなったら前半終了で、後半は残った宝石を集めつつ、スタート地点まで戻って遺跡を脱出しなければならない。お宝のほかに、通路と壁が作られた四角形の広さの得点と、指定されたルートをつなげるともらえるボーナス、指定されたパターンが書き込めなかったペナルティーがある。
--------------------
After the players have each written the route or wall on their sheet in the pattern indicated on the card, they move their pawn the number of steps indicated on the card. The treasure locations are indicated on the cards, and they can be acquired on a first-come-first-served basis. If you fail to connect your route to the treasure, the treasure location will turn into a wall on your sheet. Each time a treasure is taken, another treasure will appear in another location. The first half of the game ends when the deck of cards runs out. In the second half, the players must return to the starting point to escape from the ruins while collecting the remaining treasures. In addition to the treasure, you can score by forming the largest rectangular area made of roads and walls, earn bonus points for connecting specified routes, and receive a penalty for failing to draw specified patterns.

フリップ＆ライトゲームの常としてインタラクションは薄いが、「Bの宝取りました！」「あと1歩だったのにぃ！」というように宝を取ったときにお互いやっていることが分かる仕組み。暗中模索で探検している感じがある。
--------------------
As is frequently the case in a flip-and-write game, the interaction is relatively low, but the system allows the players to be informed of other players' actions each time a treasure is found, like "I've taken Treasure B!", "Oh, no! I was almost there!" The gameplay provides a feeling of exploring in the dark.

DATA
ゲームデザイン・沢口游佑、アートワーク・たかみまこと
1～4人用、8歳以上、30～45分（2019秋新作）
--------------------
DATA
Game Design: Yusuke Sawaguchi / Artwork: Makoto Takami
1-4 players / Age: 8+ / 30-45 min (released at TGM 2019 Autumn)


•••
[Editor's note: This Osaka 2020 title was covered separately on TGIW by Mr. Ono. —WEM]

海拓者（Kaitakusha - See Settlers）
--------------------
Kaitakusha (See Settlers)

迷走してもどの島に寄るか
--------------------
Choosing Which Islands to Visit Despite Going Out of Course



真っ直ぐには進めない船で島を巡り、建物を作りつつ向こう側を目指すボードゲーム。ゲームマーケット2020大阪で発表される予定だった作品で、関西のボードゲームカフェとプレイスペース付きショップ9店舗による「ボードゲームセレクション2020」で大賞に選ばれた。
--------------------
This is a board game to travel to your destination at the other side by a ship that cannot move forward, while visiting islands and constructing buildings along the way. This game, formerly due to be released at Osaka Game Market 2020, was selected as the grand prize winner of Board Game Selection 2020, a competition hosted by nine board game cafés and shops, where you could play the submitted games, in the Kansai region.

各自、自分の船をゲームボードの四辺からスタートさせる。自分の手番には、3枚の手札から1枚を出して船を移動させ、移動先の島で食料やカードなどを得た後、島に船員コマを置く。船員コマを置いた島はレンガ・鉄・石の資源が得られることになり、何手番か使って集めた資源で建設も行える。
--------------------
The players each start their ship from one of the four sides of the game board. On your turn, play a card from your hand of three cards for actions such as moving your ship; getting foods, cards and other items on the island you visit; and placing your crew member pawn on the island. Once you place your crew member pawn, you can get resources, such as bricks, iron, and stones, which can be collected over several turns and used for constructing buildings.

3枚の手札は前進がないだけでなく、同じカードが固まることもあって船は思いっきり迷走する。中央には得点チップがあるが、なかなかたどり着くことができないばかりでなく、たどり着いたとしてもほかのプレイヤーの船に囲まれ、脱出が難しい。しかもその中で、場札の建設カードに指示された資源をほかのプレイヤーより先に揃えなくてはならない。食料が不足すると船員が死ぬので、食料の調達も疎かにできない。
--------------------
The hand of three cards lacks forward movement. Furthermore, when ending up with the same type of card, your ship can go off course tremendously. There are scoring chips in the center, but not only is it difficult to reach there, but even if you do, you are quickly surrounded by other players' ships, making it difficult to move away from there. In addition, the players must race to get the resources indicated on the displayed construction cards. You also need to take care to procure food or else your crew members will die from a food shortage.

誰かがスタート地点の向かい側に到達するか、規定点に達したらゲーム終了。建設したカードの点数、種類によるボーナス、金塊や中央のタイル、到達したゴール地点の点数を加えて勝利点を競う。要素たっぷりで、どこに特化するかを手札と相談することになる。ほかのプレイヤーと狙いがかぶると得点が下がるが、手札のコントロールしにくさによって選択がライトになっている。
--------------------
The game ends when one of the players reaches the opposite side of their starting point or reaches the specified score. The players compete to score by adding up the points from construction cards, bonus points by type, gold and tiles in the center, and the points for reaching the goal. With so many elements, you need to examine your priorities according to your hand of cards. If your priorities coincide with another player, it will hamper your score, but such choice is made light due to the difficulty of handling your hand of cards.

4人プレイで45分ほど。中央付近で渋滞が起こり、空き待ちで膠着状態になったところを、bashiさんが遠回りしてゴール。遠回りする内に集めた資源も上手に使って建設の得点も積み増した。手札運は大きいが、だんだんできることが増えていく拡大の方向ではなく、いろいろな得点方法が用意されている多様化の方向によって、僅差で勝敗が最後まで分からないゲームである。
--------------------
Our game play with four players took approximately 45 minutes. A traffic jam occurred near the center, and while we waited for vacancies, Bashi-san reached their goal by making a detour. They also made good use of the resources they had gathered during the detour and managed to increase their points for construction. Despite the large element of luck in one's hand of cards, this game with diversified ways to score, instead of gradual engine-building, allows close competition by a narrow margin until the very end.

海拓者
ゲームデザイン＆アートワーク・コヤマタダシ（2020年）
2～4人用／10歳以上／30～45分
--------------------
Kaitakusha (See Settlers)
Game Design & Artwork: Tadashi Koyama
2-4 players / Age: 10+ / 30-45 min