Jeffrey V.
United States
NJ
Unspecified
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Maybe I am missing something in the partnership scoring. We have played two games so far and the partnerships going into the last round don't seem to work. In the five player game, the 4th place player is paired with the 1st and the 2nd with the 5th. In both our games the 4th and 5th place players had no chance of winning since a good performances would aid those ahead of them. It was impossible to make up the points with the lions and hedgehogs. Basically, they ended up simply deciding which player ahead of them did better than the other player ahead of them. The 3rd player had a chance because his points were not shared.
Has anyone else come across this? Are we doing something wrong?
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Torsten S
United Kingdom
Milton Keynes
Bucks
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Hi Jeff
you are right, I think. It is pretty much impossible to catch up to the leading players once you are behind.
I don't think you are doing anything wrong. (Apart from taking the game to seriously, maybe?  )
The pairings are a great part of the game and I love introducing players to the game not telling them about the pairings and the lions and the hedgehogs. Mosquitos are difficult enough to explain to non-German speakers.
But maybe there are alternative approaches to the pairing?
* Lions and hedgehogs only count for the weaker player?
* Stronger player gets penalty if he finishes before the weaker player does - maybe then points don't get shared?
* Instead of pairing 1-4, 2-5, 3-- maybe 1-5, 2-4. 3--?
* Only pair the first and the last and have everybody else fight by themselves?
Has anybody tried?
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Gary Pressler
United States
West Lafayette
Indiana
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In order for it to work, players need to go for the highest place they can attain. True, the fourth and fifth players are often out of range to win in the last round, but they DON'T want to be last place.
Coming in last means you have to clean up after the elephants.
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Jeffrey V.
United States
NJ
Unspecified
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We are a very competitive family. We like to win...even the light-hearted games.
 ...And noboby in our family wants to clean up after the elephants.
My daughter was thinking of having the pairings work like this for a 5 player game. 1-2, 4-5, 3 solo. This way the last two players could work together to improve their position and always feel they have a shot. The downside would be if the first two get on a roll they could win quickly. We haven't tried it this way yet.
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