We are happy today to present you with not just one, but two abstract games involving hexagonal pieces! Circle of Life, a game from Nick Bentley, and Tock, a classic from the public domain, are now available online on Board Game Arena.
Play Circle of Life now!
Those of you who played Blooms, a sleek and deep abstract reminiscent of Go, will immediately recognise the Zen aesthetics and taste for a minimalistic but efficient rule set from Nick Bentley.
In Circle of Life, on your turn you have to set one stone of your colour on the board. Then if that stone creates a species pattern that is in contact with one of your opponent species following it immediately in the food chain (which is displayed as a circle around the board), the other species is immediately devoured! You win either by eating 20 of your opponent's stones, or if you can't play any more (which means that you managed to fill up the whole ecosystem with your species). Really simple, yes? But so many choices and possibilities!
A big thank you to the game designer Nick Bentley (El Poopo), and to the software developer Adam Novotny (A-dam) for bringing this brand new game to the BGA community!
Play Tock now!
Tock is a classic game that is believed to have originated with the early settlers of Quebec, Canada. It is similar to Ludo, but no dice here! You'll get cards, and move your tokens around the board by choosing which card to spend.
This makes the game much less luck based and much more challenging and interesting. The different cards allow for distinct special functions beyond just moving forward, and you'll have to make the best out of each new hand you are dealt in order to be the first to circle the board with all your tokens and win the race.
And for some extra challenge, you can even play in teams!
For this game, our thanks go to the software developer Jean Portemer (Woodruff) who after Innovation and French Tarot, got interested in Tock and created an adaptation using BGA studio to allow everyone to enjoy it online!
Play Circle of Life now!
Those of you who played Blooms, a sleek and deep abstract reminiscent of Go, will immediately recognise the Zen aesthetics and taste for a minimalistic but efficient rule set from Nick Bentley.
In Circle of Life, on your turn you have to set one stone of your colour on the board. Then if that stone creates a species pattern that is in contact with one of your opponent species following it immediately in the food chain (which is displayed as a circle around the board), the other species is immediately devoured! You win either by eating 20 of your opponent's stones, or if you can't play any more (which means that you managed to fill up the whole ecosystem with your species). Really simple, yes? But so many choices and possibilities!
A big thank you to the game designer Nick Bentley (El Poopo), and to the software developer Adam Novotny (A-dam) for bringing this brand new game to the BGA community!
Play Tock now!
Tock is a classic game that is believed to have originated with the early settlers of Quebec, Canada. It is similar to Ludo, but no dice here! You'll get cards, and move your tokens around the board by choosing which card to spend.
This makes the game much less luck based and much more challenging and interesting. The different cards allow for distinct special functions beyond just moving forward, and you'll have to make the best out of each new hand you are dealt in order to be the first to circle the board with all your tokens and win the race.
And for some extra challenge, you can even play in teams!
For this game, our thanks go to the software developer Jean Portemer (Woodruff) who after Innovation and French Tarot, got interested in Tock and created an adaptation using BGA studio to allow everyone to enjoy it online!
