Game Review: Greener

[Black_Wolf]

Greener is one of those great little abstract strategy games in a bag from XV games.

The bag has the board printed right on it, so it's a great option to take the local coffee shop, sort of.

Greener, by designer Nestor Romeral Andres is a nice little game, but in this version the bag makes a rather small board, which in turn necessitates small game pieces, which ends up equalling a bit of a fidgety game in terms of play.

Greener utilizes pyramid pieces, as noted, quite small pyramid pieces in this version.

There are 18 neutral green pyramids, and nine black taken by one player, with nine white for the other in this two-player offering.

Randomly place the black pyramids and white pyramids on any empty spaces of the board (one pyramid per cell). Fill the remaining cells with green pyramids.
Once the board is filled, "on your turn, you must make one capture if possible, other-wise you pass the turn. Stacks capture other stacks that are on the same row or column and with no other stacks in between them, by stacking on top of them," explains the rules. "Stacks cannot be split. But this time, you can capture stacks of any colour (even your own)."

The game ends when all players pass in succession.

The player with the most green pyramids captured (being part of stacks they control) wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the highest stack wins."
As you might imagine the stacks can get quite high, and on a board that is on the side of a bag, it's not the most even surface, so it can be a little fidgety because of it too.

Still, the game is fun, and harder to master than it might first seem. Jumping on an opponent's piece seems like a good idea, but can quickly be lost to their next move if not careful.

Battling with an opponent also is not capturing green pyramids and that is the way you win.

Balance in how you play is a key.

Definitely fun, easy to learn, depth to explore, but this version is just a tad small, so be aware.

Check it out at www.xvgames.it

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.