Ubongo

When I was a kid in elementary school someone determined that I was smart and it was decided that I would be in some special classes for what was called the Gifted and Talented Program. While it was fun to get out of regular class, play some games and do some learning stuff that you wouldn't normally do, it seemed like this only served to initate the social isolation and awkwardness that smart people are subjected to. Sad and emo that it is, it's really neither here nor there and better suited for a more whiny, self-loathing drunk post later. Anyhow one of the most fun things we did was a set of puzzles called Tangrams, which are puzzles in which you try to make a set of shapes fit into a shape. I loved doing these, and I'd totally forgotten about them until I was introduced to Ubongo a couple of years ago.

Ubongo is a competitive puzzle-solving game. You're given a board, a set of Tetris-esque pieces, and have a minute to solve the puzzle your dealt, move your token and collect your points. In the end the person with the most of any single color of gem wins the game, so while being able to solve the puzzles correctly helps you greatly in the game it's not going to make winning a guarantee.

These kinds of victory conditions, meaning those that aren't directly based on the primary mechanic of the game (in this case solving the puzzles) are either a big plus or a negative for some players. On one hand it sort of evens the playing field for newer players and those that may not be a puzzle inclined as others. On the other hand this balancing of the game can annoy people who do excel at puzzles and can even be quite offputing. Personally, I like mechanic because it does strike a good middle-ground between those who grew up with things like Tangrams and those who had to stay in regular classes all day. :)

I'll just say that I've loved the game ever since I first played it. Its bits are quite well made and the quasi-African theme is an oddly appropriate fit to the game. It also plays VERY fast with 10 rounds each taking about two minutes for dealing the puzzles, starting the timer, playing the actual puzzle and turning in used playing cards. Even if you end up hating the game, you won't be stuck at the table for very long before you can go try something else.

All told, Ubongo gets a 10 of 10 VPs. Its fast pace and ease of learning make this a standout game and easily one of my all time favorites. It's even easy to find these days and I happily suggest that you try it out yourself.

Here's a video depicting a few rounds from our most recent session. Enjoy!