Nathan Graham
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
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This review is based on a half dozen plays of ZigZag that we borrowed from a friend.
The rules are simple. The goal is to get your four pegs in a row--straight up or down or diagonally. Pegs are moved by placing a "bridge" (a small flat piece that comes in two sizes, one for straight jumps and one for diagnonal moves.) The two players alternate placing a bridge and moving their peg across it. You cannot land where a peg is or jump a peg. You can move any distance along a route which, as the game progresses, means you can sometimes move a fair distance along a circuitous path. You can only move a previously placed bridge if you have no other pieces.
Production values are high, the board and pieces are made of durable plastic (the board in clear purple with clear flourescent orange and green for the two players.) The pieces seem quite sturdy and should last indefinitely.
Game play is quick, 20-30 minutes, often less. We found the game enjoyable. It is a quick, light game--good for playing over a meal or as a quick game fix. It is certainly not much of a "brain burner" like Zertz, for example. I am not convinced the game has much depth, though my wife suspects there is. My sense is that with the playing area fairly small and the move options pretty limited, the end result is that strategy is somewhat limited. There is no way to force your opponents hand--no captures or other obvious offensive plays--which I also think limits the strategic element. Games can drag on for while as I move, you block, I move, you block, etc... Often wins came not so much from brilliant strategy but from a "oh, I can win in two moves and you can't get over there fast enough to stop me" situation. I could well be wrong about the depth issue, we are not hard-core abstract strategy players, but, that said, I have played Go and Zertz a fair amount and I think ZigZag will always be a fairly light game. That doesn't mean a bad one, just light. I can see getting bored with the game eventually.
Overall impression of the game was good. I enjoyed it, but it didn't make me go "wow" like Zertz does with its elegance, or allow me to plan out grand strategies. That said, friends often won't play Zertz because it "hurts their brain." This shouldn't be an issue with ZigZag. I think it is a pleasant quick abstract that is certainly worth a look, though I don't know that we are going to rush out to buy a copy for ourselves. I'd give ZigZag a 6 out of 10 overall--pleasant, fun, and light. The game might be quite good for children as an intro to abstract strategy or for non-gamers.
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