Polyomino games and Lookout games just go together. In addition to the two-person classic Patchwork and Bear Park, Tipperary has recently been added to the Rhineland-Palatinate publisher's program. The players here end up in the Irish community of the same name. The aim is to distill as much whiskey as possible by cleverly placing landscape tiles, to form a large herd of sheep and to allow the land around your hometown to grow.
Tipperary is a city in southern Ireland, located in the west of the county of the same name. With just under 5.000 residents, it is rather tranquil. And the same applies to the game Tipperary, which was published by Lookout Spiele and distributed by Asmodee is available. Virtually conflict-free, everyone puzzles on their own to expand the landscape around their hometown with landscape tiles assigned using a rotating mechanism. Whoever was able to collect the most victory points after 12 (or 10 in a five-player game) rounds with their largest flock of sheep, whiskey production and other points sources wins the game.
Learned quickly, played quickly
The term “Family Game” can be found beautifully harmoniously embedded in the cover. As befits a game in this category, the rules are quickly explained, the individual moves are short and clear, and the overall playing time is such that a game never feels “too long”.
A round in Tipperary is divided into three phases. There is a puzzle phase and a sheep phase as well as a final phase in which the next round is prepared by moving the round marker and filling up the areas.
At the beginning of each puzzle phase, the turntable in the middle of the table is turned. Everyone now receives the two landscape tiles from the area to which the arrow with the coat of arms of their own hometown points. You can now choose one of these two tiles to place in your own playing area. There are a few ways to secure points. The tile that was not chosen is returned to the area on the turntable.
By combining a distillery and a grain field, you can advance the whiskey barrel one space on your own whiskey track.
Sheep should, if possible, be grouped into a single large flock. In the sheep phase of each round, you check who has the largest herd. The person then receives the special “Largest Flock of Sheep” tile. A simple meadow field can be “upgraded” to a pasture (meadow with sheep) using wooden sheep, which can have a decisive advantage. These are obtained on certain spaces on the whiskey track and as a bonus for certain landscape tiles.
If you combine three ruins in a straight line, you get a tower. You can place this at the end of the game to fill gaps. You can also use the bonus tiles to fill gaps or to build over a meadow field during the course of the game. You get one of the bonus tiles when you combine two moors to form a protected area. These are drawn face down and show one of the different landscape types.
The last landscape type not mentioned yet are the stone circles. At the end of the game they simply score the points printed on them.
The end of the game
After twelve rounds in a game with two, three or four players or after ten rounds in a game with five people, the game ends and the scores are calculated. The most important source of points is the largest gapless rectangle in your own playing area. Each field in this area scores one point. The towers and bonus tiles are very valuable for this because they can close gaps.
The person with the largest flock of sheep receives five points for the “Largest Flock of Sheep” special tile. Everyone also receives one point for each sheep in their largest flock of sheep.
If your hometown is completely surrounded, you get five points. Additional points are awarded for the position of the whiskey barrel on the whiskey bar and for the stone circles collected.
Even though no solo mode is officially included, the community on BGG has been very busy and there are already two unofficial solo variants. One is a classic beat your own score. The second variant has a win/defeat condition. Here, the solo opponent always receives the landscape tile from the area that the solo player's coat of arms points to, which was not selected. This creates an interesting form of “interaction” that does not exist in multi-player games. In the end, the solo opponent scores similarly to the human.
Information about Tipperary
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Number of players: 2-5 people Age: from 8 years Playing time: 45 minutes Difficulty: Family game Long-term motivation: medium Classification: Tile placement game Game idea: Günter Burkhardt Illustrations: Anna-Katharina Block (cover), Klemens Franz (game material) Publisher: Lookout Games Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2023 Language: German Costs: approx. 35 – 40 euros |
Conclusion
Anyone looking for innovative game mechanics and ideas will Tipperary can't find it. The game relies on proven mechanics and processes that are brought together to create an absolutely well-rounded gaming experience.
Unfortunately you have to deduct a few points when it comes to the material. The bag included in the first edition is at least one size too small and is not suitable for shuffling and drawing landscape tiles. A matching bag will be included in the next edition. We placed the tiles in the box and drew them from them without looking closely.
At first glance, the towers are also based on a good idea, but it is not implemented optimally. The plug connection is very loose and we also glued some towers so that they stay in shape.
The last negative point is the symbols for the extra wooden sheep on the tiles. They are so inconspicuous that it is easy to miss them. Especially in a game that is as abstract as... Tipperary a more eye-catching display of important symbols could easily be implemented without disturbing the feel of the game.
The wooden components are of good quality and add some value to the game.
But now to the good sides. The instructions are excellent. Even if the rules are not complex, everything is explained in great detail and with well-chosen examples. No questions remain unanswered. The game can be explained to other people in just a few minutes and after a short setup you can start straight away.
The playing time is perfect for a game of this complexity. The 45 minutes stated on the packaging can easily be beaten by at least 15 minutes. Because everyone always plays at the same time, the duration of the game is practically independent of the number of people. In some turns you spend a little longer thinking about which of the two available landscape tiles you want to keep and place, but there are only two tiles you can choose from. There is no long-term planning here. You should never hope for a specific tile from the display, as the probability of receiving it is very high. before another person can choose it is very small.
Due to the element of luck, the experience factor is also not very important. Even inexperienced people can quickly get used to the mechanics of the game and can easily keep up with the two randomly assigned tiles. The game is also perfect for relaxed family evenings to bring everyone together at the table. There are no conflicts between the players. There is no interaction apart from the competition for the largest flock of sheep.
Ultimately offers Tipperary exactly what it promises. It is a mechanically successful family game that does not have any unnecessary bells and whistles and can be played as a quick nightcap, after-work game or in several games in a row. In the long term, the appeal of replaying isn't particularly high, as nothing really surprising happens in the rounds. The little challenge of puzzling out the most beautiful and most valuable area in terms of points is still fun. Despite the lack of an official solo mode, I really liked the game, especially in the unofficial solo version with win/defeat conditions, where it particularly scores points with the short set-up and playing time.
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