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Hey there.
My wife and I picked up this game a long time ago while we were on holiday. It was a really rotten resort with nothing much to do. So..for the last couple of days till we left we played this and had a few drinks...well more than a few :whistle: Like I said it was a really crappy resort.
So the game.
Dvonn is one of those games that is just so simple in its design that it leaves you feeling hollow. What, did I just spend $40 on this? Put the book down, walk away and forget about it.
Then you pick up the book again and read it. Hmm...this could be ok. "Hey love, fancy a game?"
So, you sit down and start to play. After a while you realise that you were very silly in putting off a game of this. You should have played 3 games by now. That is time gone that you will never get back.:angry:
Setup.
The game has 3 red Dvonn pieces. These pieces are placed randomly by each player at the start of the game. Then each player takes turn placing their individual pieces (black or what) on the board. The board will have no empty spaces once the placement phase has finished. From there, the game starts.
Edit: Thanks to Markgravitygood for pointing out that the setup phase is actually the first part of the game. I forgot about that completely. It IS THE MOST STRATEGIC PART OF THE GAME. You must pay attention to how you place your pieces. I can not stress that enough. Also, you can only move the pieces you control if they are not surrounded on 6 sides by any other pieces. So it is important to remember to place as many of your pieces along the outer two rows of the board. Trust me, I forget to do this all the time and my wife kills me.
Movement.
Each player takes turns in moving one of their own pieces on to another piece. It could be their own or their opponents. When your piece lands on another piece, it makes a stack. A stack can move X spaces. X = the number of pieces in the stack. So a stack with only 1 piece will move 1 space. A stack with 4 will move no more or less than 4 spaces. You can land on a red piece and have it form part of your stack, just like a normal piece.
The Red.
The red Dvonn pieces are important. You see, if you have a whole heap of normal pieces that are all linked via each other to a Red piece, then those pieces are all in play. But! If at any stage during the game there are no connecting pieces to a red piece then all of the non connected pieces are removed from the game.
lets say that 8 is the red pieces. 1 is a black piece and 0 is a black piece.
1110000011100008000011110000
That 8 is the Red piece. If I take away the underlined 0 piece then all the other ones will be out of play.
1110000011100008000011110000
All the underlined pieces are now out of play.
Now the game board is larger than just one row, but that is the general idea.
Also there is the rule that stacks with a Red piece make a stack ....autonomous? I think that is the best way to put it. Stacks with a red piece can survive without being attached to a red piece because that stack has a red piece in it. If there are black and white pieces adjacent or linked to that stack, then the other pieces stay in play. But if that stack moves and if it was the only red piece linked to those normal pieces, then they (the black and white pieces) are all removed.
What I think.
I love this game. I love it a lot. It is simple. It is also very complex with its chance for great strategy. A game can last 15 minutes or an hour. It just depends on the players and how far ahead you want to plan your moves. This game is not as deep as chess. However, I have it on the same "level". The game is classy, it is clean.
Yes, that is the word I am looking for. Clean.
If you like "abstract" games and if you like strategy, then please get this game. It is worth it.
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Adrian Hague
United Kingdom
Leamington, Warwickshire
West Midlands
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Welcome to the wonderful world of GiPF!
Abstracts for people who don't like abstracts!
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Martin Kirsipuu
Estonia
Tallinn
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I absolutely agree with you, this is one of the best abstract games out there. Someone also told me to take a look at Tzaar, which is rated as no 1 abstract game.
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Mathijs Booden
Netherlands
Leiden
Unspecified
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Play it online at www.littlegolem.net
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United States
Norwood
Massachusetts
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Good Review!
Technically speaking, the game begins with the first placed red DVONN piece. DVONN placement is part of the strategy in conversation with your colored piece placements.
This is the one GIPF game I don't get, in that I suck at it.
I need to play more!
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Jonathan Kandell
United States
Tucson
Arizona
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AdrianPHague wrote: Welcome to the wonderful world of GiPF!
Abstracts for people who don't like abstracts!
Just a quick note to say that those of us who love abstracts also love the Gipf games. They don't look any different in photos than the thousands of other abstract games, but a play or two convinces you they're very nicely designed with emergent strategies and always a "twist" or two.
I was skeptical because I hate the "cult of the new" and those pretentious names and boxes. But the games speak for themselves.
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Todd Redden
United States
Manchester
Connecticut
"Don't pray in my school, I won't think in your church."
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AdrianPHague wrote: Welcome to the wonderful world of GiPF!
Abstracts for people who don't like abstracts!
I dunno. I know a lot of multiplayer theme lovers who still won't touch GIPF games. They're the ones missing a lot. (ZÈRTZ is my favorite, but I like all of them, including DVONN and TZAAR.
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markgravitygood wrote: Good Review!
Technically speaking, the game begins with the first placed red DVONN piece. DVONN placement is part of the strategy in conversation with your colored piece placements.
This is the one GIPF game I don't get, in that I suck at it.
I need to play more!
Edited my post with that information. Thanks a bunch mate.
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ARTHUR REILLY
United States
Unspecified
New York
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There's another game name Isaac that reminds me of the gipf games. Check out the video and instructions. Would love for them to come out with this one but you have to vote for to get it published.
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MENAREUS2000 wrote: There's another game name Isaac that reminds me of the gipf games. Check out the video and instructions. Would love for them to come out with this one but you have to vote for to get it published.
Thanks for the heads up mate. I will defiantly look it up.
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Kevin Garnica
United States
Buena Park
California
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What about Yinsh? No love for Yinsh??? Really, all the Gipf games are awesome!
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ARTHUR REILLY
United States
Unspecified
New York
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Iassc isn't a Giph game but it just feels like one, go give it a
thumps up. it Derserves it. Vote below and scroll down to the game
and at the bottom of the game page give it a thumps up.just use the game link below.
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/48043/item/1489142#item148
.
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Michael Howe
United States
Cromwell
Connecticut
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Armatige wrote: I will defiantly look it up.
Why so defiant?
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mhowe wrote: Armatige wrote: I will defiantly look it up. Why so defiant?
Oh dear
I definitely need to check my posts before I post them.
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United States
Norwood
Massachusetts
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mhowe wrote: Armatige wrote: I will defiantly look it up. Why so defiant?
I'm looking it up, but I'm telling ya, I don't want to...power to the meeple!
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Glad I read the full review because the first rows you wrote kinda took me aback
You know what is funny? I've read the comments written by people who gave low scores to this game. None of those who gave it a "1" wrote a comment, and none of those who wrote low scores said anything about the game: they only commented about themselves. "not the game for me", "too bad it's abstract". All votes are merely about personal tastes, and none of them actualy is about the game's quality. Because it's an absolute masterpiece, and that is undeniable. One thing is a game you don't like, another totally different thing is a game that is poorly designed. And the two things aren't related at all. There may be games you love despite their flaws, and you even suffer for those flaws. And there are games you may not like, but can't help recognizing their greatness.
Low ratings on Dvonn fall on the second category, as the comments prove.
Dvonn stands as my favorite of the Gipf series. I love Zèrtz with all myself and adore Tzaar, but Dvonn... I'm planning to carve a stone board because the game just deserves it.
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Suna wrote: Glad I read the full review because the first rows you wrote kinda took me aback .
Heheh.
We had a lot of drinks for those last few days. We were not able to get back home earlier...it was not an option. So...we played this game to death and put a very large dent in their supply of wine
I would LOVE to see your stone board when it is done. Please make sure that you post pics up. Or a vid on youtube about it. A game like this needs lots of love and attention.
You are dead right about the quick review or ratings system. No one goes in to detail. That is why it is a shame that for games like this, there are not that many reviews up. But bugger it. It is a great game and we all know it 
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Johan Haglert
Sweden
Örebro
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All stacks belong to the player who has the color of the top piece?
Or can both players move all stacks (I suppose or well, even pretty sure they can't but
And with your example that's the 2D display of the map? So any isolated area where no tiles have contact to a tile which have contact with a tile and so on which have contact to a red tile gets removed?
You can't split a stack so whatever part of the stack has no red tile goes out of play (or at first when moved away from the stack with the red tile.)
?
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Dan Squires
United States
Arlington
MA
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aliquis wrote: All stacks belong to the player who has the color of the top piece?
Correct - the color of the piece on the top of the stack indicates who controls that stack for the time being.
aliquis wrote:
And with your example that's the 2D display of the map? So any isolated area where no tiles have contact to a tile which have contact with a tile and so on which have contact to a red tile gets removed?
Correct - if from a space on the board you cannot trace back to a red piece (or a stack containing a red piece) through adjacent, non-empty spaces, the pieces in the original space are removed from the board.
aliquis wrote:
You can't split a stack so whatever part of the stack has no red tile goes out of play (or at first when moved away from the stack with the red tile.)
?
No splitting of stacks. You can only jump on top of stacks with other pieces, or pieces are removed because they cannot trace back to a red piece.
One important thing to note is that a stack that contains a red piece is considered to be connected to that red piece, and thus can never be removed from the board.
Hope this helps!
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Johan Haglert
Sweden
Örebro
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Yeah thank you, I watched one non-English video afterwards which had a video so it was quite obvious there to
(I don't remember whatever this was the game where I wondered if you could jump onto a piece of your own to get a different and better moving ability (for your specific goal) or whatever you can only jump onto pieces of others.)
At first I wanted to see your 0010101801010 as a stack because I knew I had seen the stacks but since you said it was a row/line it seemed to be from viewing from above instead . Just wanted to make sure
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Dan Squires
United States
Arlington
MA
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aliquis wrote: At first I wanted to see your 0010101801010 as a stack because I knew I had seen the stacks but since you said it was a row/line it seemed to be from viewing from above instead . Just wanted to make sure
Just to clarify, I didn't write the original review.
My take on the diagram is that you are viewing from above, and everything to the left of the moved piece is taken off the board.
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Posted Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:06 am
