We are happy today to present you with a special abstract game, Isaac from designer Emiliano "Wentu" Venturini published by Nestorgames.
Isaac is special because the designer Wentu contacted us very long ago about creating an adaptation: it's always a really special moment to release a game that has been many years in the making! Getting a game online is often a long process with ups and downs. A first developer garcia1968 created a first version in 2013 but couldn't complete it, and it was four years before another experienced developer Victoria_La (who gifted the BGA community with a lot of other games already!) got interested and took over to make the necessary changes, rewrite part of the game and finish it!
This game is also special because its mechanics feel pretty different from other abstracts we know. In the placement phase, you'll set up rectangular tiles of varying length on a 10x10 squares board. Then, when no tile can be placed anymore, you'll proceed to the scoring phase. In the scoring phase, you'll remove the pieces and score according to the length of the piece and the number of other pieces intersecting the line following its longer side. And you'll score points directly on the board, with score markers interfering with scoring: if the score marker is placed over a piece, that piece cannot be scored until the marker is moved, and when scoring a piece if the score marker is on the line being scored it doubles the points being made. Of course, every time you score a piece you can decide not to take as many points as you could to get your score marker in a more strategic position to hinder your opponent or score more points later. Lots of possibilities to think about in advance during the first phase!
So we feel pretty sure that this game will tickle your brains in new and strange ways. Isn't that what we love games for?
We would like to thank both developers garcia1968 and Victoria_La who worked on this game, as well as the designer Wentu and the publisher Nestorgames who created Isaac and made it possible to enjoy it online here on BGA!
A rules presentation video is available at this address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8pEfelYoUg
Have fun discovering this new game!
