Chad Mestdagh
Canada
Winnipeg
Manitoba
-
Attika Solo Variant
By Chad Mestdagh
Objective: To create a solo variant for a game that I love playing but haven`t played for a long time. This variant does not have a rival. Instead, it has a scoring system that has objectives that you can complete. It does not require any extra materials. I would like to thank SoloPlay for being the inspiration of my variants.
SET UP
Look in the instruction book on the first page for the 3 player set-up. Randomly place tiles from the stack of game board tiles. Once all tiles are placed, place another 4 random tiles along a single row, thus extending the board to look like a triangle that is 4 tiles long on each side.
Place the temples as thought they were in the same position in the three player game.
Draw two more game board tiles and set them aside so that they can be seen.
Choose a color for yourself and create one facedown stack of starter buildings and one (or three) facedown stack(s) of other buildings.
Look through the deck and grab two of each land cards. (Water, Forest, Hill, Mountain)
Draw one starter building and three other buildings and place them on your board just like you would in the normal game.
Once you have more experience with the variant, you may try the non random set-up. It will cost you 40 points, but you will have a little more control over the board. Instead of placing random board tiles, you may draw the board tile, look at it, and then place it on the table in the position of your choice. The end resulting board must look as though it was the same as it would for the normal setup.
GOAL
The goal of this variant is to connect all three temples by a continuous trail of buildings. You will score points for various conditions. Your score will determine your overall level of victory.
GAMEPLAY
During your turn, draw one tile from the stack of your choice and place in on your player board (as long as there is a tile to draw). Then place one building from your player board onto the game board. You may use both the symbols on the board and the cards to pay for the building cost.
You may place the first building as a single settlement without any extra cost (just like the regular game). A settlement is one or more connected buildings of the same color. If you choose to place a second settlement, it will cost you two extra cards. (Not one, like the normal game)
You may build for free by placing the building next to a previously played building that follows the arrows on the player’s board. (Just like the regular game.)
You do not expand the board when you exhaust a pile. Instead, you only expand the board if you place a building directly adjacent to a temple. You can only do this once for each temple. When expanding the board, you may choose one of the two face up tiles and place it along the edge of the board wherever you choose. As there are only three temples, you will only expand the board up to three times during a single game.
You will earn amphoras whenever you build all of your buildings from a single group together so that they all touch each other. In this variant, amphoras are only used for scoring. If you group your main city group together, you take three amphoras. All other groups will gain you a single amphora.
You continue taking turns until you have connected all three temples or you can no longer place tiles. You may continue taking turns after that point and may stop at the end of any turn. Once you decide not to place any more tiles (or have none to place), then end game scoring happens
END GAME SCORING
The Attika scoring system is as follows:
Random set-up used = +40 points
All three temples connected = +30 points
All three temples connected before last tile was drawn = +30 points
Each card used during game = -10 points
Thebes (or whichever city) is fully touching = 15 points
All other amphoras = 5 points
All tiles placed = 30 points
A basic victory is 70 points. A skilled victory is 85 points. A Master victory is 100 points. This is not as easy as it sounds. A perfect score (which I believe is impossible) is 170 points.
STRATEGY SUGESTIONS
This may seem obvious, but every card that is used will cost you quite a few points. Use them as sparingly as possible. It really isn’t a good idea to make a second settlement as the point cost is quite high. Also, you really do need to learn all the tiles and their associated costs. Several tiles such as the Harbor, the Vineyard, and the Silver Mine have very expensive costs that make them difficult to place. You will need a strategy to get them on the board.
NOTE: The file posted in the file section will have a score sheet posted with it
-
Tim Koppang
United States
Westmont
Illinois
-
Question: Can you ever pick up additional cards? From the rules, it would appear not (and this I assume is where the challenge comes in).
Otherwise, looks great. I'll give it a shot.
-
Chad Mestdagh
Canada
Winnipeg
Manitoba
-
Nope. No new cards. Truth be told, you are trying to avoid playing them anyway, they cost a lot of points.
-
Tim Koppang
United States
Westmont
Illinois
-
That's what I thought. Just wanted to make sure. Thanks.
-
|
|
