Gordon Yu
United States
Rego Park
New York
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Note: This is a review for Tindahan only, not Bastos!
The Setup: Five cards with different fruit carts, representing different markets, are placed in the middle of all players and a donkey game piece randomly starts of in front of one of those cards to determine which type of fruit is currently the trump suit. All players receive 9 barrel-like game pieces of one color, as well as a randomly dealt hand of cards from a deck of 50 cards, 1-10 in five differnt fruit types (suits) matching the cards with the fruit carts.
The Gameplay: Tindahan has a unique spin on trick taking. At the beginning of a player's turn, he/she may choose to play a card or move the donkey game piece to a different location in order to change the trump suit, at least until someone else moves the donkey again. By doing the latter, the individual will not have the opportunity to do anything else for that turn. This is important because every card at the end of the game that he/she does not get rid of becomes a negative point. But at the same time, the player potentially strengthened his/her hand by changing the trump. Now, the player to his/her left leads the trick and plays a card. Like most trick-taking games, the following players must follow suit if possible. If the player does not possess that suit, then he/she may trump the card or dump cards of other suits. However, this is where the game gets really interesting. Regarless if the player has the suit played or not, he/she may choose to place one of his/her barrel-like pieces onto the matching fruit cart. The reason for this action is because the players with the first and second majority of each fruit market at the end of the round will collect five points and two points respectively. In addition, the fruit cart with the donkey in front of it at the end of the round will score six and three points for the majority owners. Once again, this could be dangerous due to the negative scoring on each card in your hand when the round ends. Yet, this eliminates some of the problems of being dealt a poor hand by allowing you to to gain points in a different and very interesting fashion, which I've never seen in any other trick-taking card games before. Btw, as you can see, some tricks won could be as little as just one card. Another option available for players is called the "shutout", where he/she tries not to win a single trick or market for the round, then that player will score as much points as the highest scoring player of said round. Sort of like going for nil in Spades, this unique catch up mechanism keeps all the players within striking distance. The round ends when one player gets rid of all the cards in his/her hand. Now, players score two points for every trick he/she collected, subtract one point for each card left in his/her hand, and score points for each first or second place majority he/she owns in the five fruit markets. Like many trick-taking games, there should be as many rounds as players involved, most points wins.
The Verdict: The new wrinkles that has been added to a traditional trick-taking game keeps this game feeling fresh and exciting. You can spend about 30-45 minutes using it as a filler, or play it all day long with a predetermined number of rounds. I personally enjoyed Tindahan very much and it will definitely be one of the first card games I think of. I hope Bastos! is just as good, but for me, Filipino Fruit Market is already worth getting for Tindahan alone.
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Scott Henshaw
United States
East Bridgewater
Massachusetts
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Exactly my thoughts after two plays of it. At 5 players it really did shine. It was good at 4 player, but having all the markets out does give it a better feel. It is also all but impossible in 4 player to try going null.
I like the way you can avoid playing a card by placing a market. A great way to protect that 2nd high card in trump.
Very interesting little card game that plays in a short amount of time. This will be a buy for me as soon as it is available in the US.
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Gordon Yu
United States
Rego Park
New York
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I agree. Not many trick-taking games work this well with 5 players.
The only ones that come to mind are Die Sieben Siegel and Mü & More.
Edit: Maybe Sticheln as well.
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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All well and good, but I can't find a place to purchase it. It's on my wishlist. Where can I get a copy?
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Gordon Yu
United States
Rego Park
New York
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I don't believe it's widely available for sale yet, but please correct me if anyone has more updated information.
Edit:Sorry, Bambus Spiele has it available on its own site.
http://www.bambusspiele.de/bestellen/e_bestf_fr.htm
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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Thanks for the info. Considering the shipping costs, I think I'll wait for an American online store to stock it, but I am looking forward to playing it.
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Larry Chong
United States
Kendall Park
New Jersey
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I played this the day before my game with Gordon, and I absolutely loved it. It is on my short list of great 5-player trick-taking games, or even just "5-player card games" period!
Sticheln is best with three but scales great with any number (IMO). I love Mu but it's too complicated for many. I love Die Sieben Siegel but have played too much of it with too many game groups. Foppen plays well with six, or five, but it doesn't hit the table that often (probably b/c it usually involves a fair amount of negative scores, even more so thatn Sticheln).
Filipino Fruit Market is a Must Buy. Especially if you are a trick-taking fan.
Also, I did actually play Bastos! (the 2nd game, in Filipino Fruit Market). It plays four and I played with Joe Huber and Dan Blum. It was okay, but nothing spectacular, and it was not nearly as much fun or as interesting as Tindahan.
Even with Tindahan alone, Filipino Fruit Market is a "Must Have" for my game collection. Tindahan has so much replayability involved and many strategies to shoot for.
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Joe Huber
Westborough
Massachusetts
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I found Bastos! a little less enjoyable than Larry, but agree that Tindahan's a very nice little game. I'm picky about adding more trick taking card games to my collection - though if I find a great 7 player trick taking card game, I'll definitely pick it up - so I'm _not_ picking this up. Of course, if I enjoy it even more the next time around I'll reconsider...
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Posted Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:20 am
