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Giants
Author: Fabrice Besson
Publisher: Asmodee / Editions du Matagot
Year: 2008


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Easter Island in its glory days: blue sea, rich soil, beautiful forests and of course dozens of impressive ancestral statues ('Moai') that decorate the shoreline. What went wrong on Easter Island? What disaster struck its inhabitants, who toppled all the Moai, and why? Luckily, these issues are not yet relevant in Giants. We go back in time to when everything was still all right, and we contribute to the appearance of the island by carving, transporting, erecting and decorating Moai. The chief that manages to erect the most impressive statues on the most difficult locations receives fame, glory, and victory points, and wins the game!

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On the map of Easter Island there are building sites for Moai along the shore, the so-called ahu. There are two quarries, where the Moai and the headdresses are sculpted. In the forest, wooden logs can be obtained; those can be used for the transportation of the heavy Moai.

The players receive two tribe markers, a worker, a sorcerer and a chief in their colour. Depending on the number of players, they also get 5-7 pedestals to erect the Moai.

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Each round, the starting player throws the dice to determine how many Moai of what size (level 1, 2, 3) will enter the game. Subsequently, the players bid tribe markers and men (workers, sorcerer or chief). They reveal their bids simultaneously. The player with the highest number of tribe markers chooses a Moai first, and places it in front of his screen. But: he may only select a Moai that he is able to sculpt with the number of men in his bid! A level 1 Moai costs one man, a level 2 Moai two men, and a level 3 Moai three men. A chief counts as three men, and a worker and sorcerer counts as one man. Then, the next highest bidder may choose a Moai, until all Moai have been chosen, or the players don't have enough sculptors anymore to claim them.

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In the next phase, the players attempt to make a chain of men to transport the Moai and headdresses from the quarries to the ahu. Players may place their figures anywhere on the board, together with a wooden log if they wish. The men that they have used in the first phase to claim Moai can't be used again in this phase!

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The sorcerer has some special features;
- place a sorcerer on a forest hex to obtain wood. The forest hex is turned over to its 'harvested' side, and it cannot be used again!
- place a sorcerer in the village to receive an additional worker from the stock
- place a sorcerer in the sorcerer's hut to receive an additional tribe marker from the stock
- place a sorcerer in the headdress quarry to sculpt a headdress; you can choose between three fashionable designs
- place a sorcerer next to an ahu to reserve it for your own Moai; this is convenient if other players are also interested in that particular ahu; it would be a pity to arrive there with a heavy Moai on your back, only to discover that another player already erected his Moai there...

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In exchange for two Rongo tablets, a chief can perform the same special actions as a sorcerer. The Rongo tablets can be obtained in exchange for a tribe marker.

When all players have passed, the movement phase starts. Players take turns to move one item at the time. New Moai and headdresses are placed in the quarries and can be transported from there. Headdresses can be carried by one worker, and Moai by one (level 1), two (level 2) or three (level 3) workers. Again, a chief counts as three workers. Wooden logs also count as one worker; a level 3 Moai can therefore be carried across hexes with three workers, or one chief, or one worker and two wooden logs, or two workers and one wooden log.

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It is allowed to use the workers of another player; the owner receives a victory point per worker. The Moai can be transported to any location on the board, as long as there are enough workers present to carry them. When a Moai arrives on a hex adjacent to an ahu, it can be erected on this ahu. The player puts the Moai on a pedestal in his colour, but he places the pedestal upside-down, so that the colour is no longer visible. Players have to remember which Moai belong to them; this is important when they want to put a headdress on the Moai!

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Moai or headdresses that can't be transported to an ahu remain on the hex where they ended their movement. The owner may mark them with a tribe marker in his colour, provided that he still has one behind his screen. Un-marked Moai and headdresses can be transported by any other player in the next round!

When all players have finished moving Moai and headdresses, the round is over. All playing figures the players used (men, tribe markers) are placed behind their screens, and can be used again in the next round.

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The game continues until one of the players has erected Moai on all his pedestals. Each Moai scores the number of victory points displayed on his ahu, multiplied by his level. A level 2- Moai on a 7 point ahu scores 14 points. The number of victory points awarded for the headdresses is also displayed on the ahu. All Moai are scored, and the player with the highest score wins the game.
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Giants has a fascinating theme, which has been very successfully transformed into a game. This successful implementation of the theme has multiple advantages. For starters, it increases the atmosphere and the fun. We really áre transporting Moai using wooden logs! Furthermore, everything is so logical from a thematic point of view that the rules, though there are many, are easy to remember. And it looks absolutely great, from the illustrations on the board and the screens to the playing figures, the Moai and the headdresses.
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There are different strategies to try out; for example, the sorcerer can be used to obtain additional workers, or wooden logs, that can both be used to transport Moai. Players that have many workers or wooden logs of their own don't need the help of other players' workers to transport their Moai. But on the other hand, it takes time and effort to obtain these extra workers and wooden logs, while the use of somebody else's personnel to do the heavy duty is quick and easy. The smaller Moai may be easier to transport, but they also score less victory points. But, if you can end the game by building the required number of small Moai before the other players have had the opportunity to erect enough larger Moai, you may still stand a chance. In other words: design your own winning strategy!

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The plethora of options in the action phase could theoretically result in analysis paralysis: how can I get my Moai to the desired ahu with the small number of workers available? But in practice, the transportation of Moai and headdresses is relatively straightforward, because you can also make use of other players' workers. This way, you can get much further than you would have calculated based on your own limited crew. Therefore, there is no use in planning your whole move in the smallest detail: every move by another player will influence your plan. It suffices to design a rough plan that will automatically take shape during play.

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Giants takes approximately two hours to play, but it's worth every minute. It has everything that makes a game a good game: it's exciting, it plays smoothly, there's plenty of depth and strategy, and a lot of player interaction. Truly a 'great' game!
© 2008 Barbara van Vugt


Giants, Fabrice Besson, Asmodee / Editions du Matagot, 2008 - 3 to 5 players, 10 years and up, 120 minutes


Finally a game from Matagot that plays as well as it looks!
Known game mechanisms dressed up with an irresistable cosy look
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