Abilene (board game)

Last updated
Abilene
Abilene 01.jpg
Players move their herds to Abilene
Designers Roland Siegers
Publishers
Publication1984;39 years ago (1984)
Players3-6
Playing time45 minutes
Age range8+

Abilene is a western board game designed by Roland Siegers. It was published in 1984 by Hexagames [1] and re-published in 1993 by Schmidt Spiele. [2] It is set in the city of Abilene during 1870, which at the time was considered the main transshipment point for the herds of the Texan cattle barons. In the game, each player plays as a rancher who, with the help of their cowboys, drives their herds to Abilene, trying to capture parts of their opponents' herds along the way.

Contents

Gameplay

In a three-player game, each player begins the game with nine herds—three diseased and marked with a notch on their bellies—and $2000 in banknotes. Players choose which starting spaces to place each cattle, not indicating where the diseased cattle are hidden from the other players. As the game progresses, each player tries to drive their herds across their pastures to the city of Abilene in the middle of the board.

Abilene components Abilene 04.jpg
Abilene components

Each player has three movement points (MPs) on their turn, which they can divide between one, two, or three herds on their land. They then roll two dice and distribute the resulting MPs between up to two cowboys, who must move the full total of the roll and are only allowed to make one change of direction at a time. Cowboys can enter their neighbors' fields to capture enemy herds by moving on to the space of an opposing player's herd. The capturing player can then check the herd for disease and place it in an empty starting space in the capturing player's territory. If a cowboy moves onto a field with an opposing cowboy, a dice duel occurs, and the player with the higher roll wins. If a cowboy loses a duel on an opponent's pasture, they are shot and removed from the field; if they lose on their pasture, they flee to one of their empty starting spaces. If a player has one cowboy left in play, they may once choose to bring a cowboy back into play and place them on an empty starting space. [3] The cowboys may never enter the Abilene square.

When a herd arrives in Abilene, its owner declares it healthy, and the other players decide whether they believe or disbelieve this. The herd is turned over, and the state of health is checked. The seller of the herd receives $1,000 from the bank for their herd and $2,000 for a captured foreign herd. After that, they get $500 or $1000 from each player who has misjudged the state of health and must pay the same sum to players who correctly guessed the health. [3] If a player runs out of money, they can borrow money from the bank or another player. If they borrow money from the bank, they must pay it back at the end of the game, along with $500 in interest for every $2000 borrowed. If they borrow money from another player, the terms can be negotiated. [4]

The game ends when 21 herds arrive in Abilene, and the winner is the player with the most money. [3]

A diseased herd (above) and a healthy herd (below) Abilene 03.jpg
A diseased herd (above) and a healthy herd (below)

Reception

In 1984, Abilene was one of four finals of the German Board Game Team Championship  [ de ]. [5] The game was on the recommended list for the 1985 Spiel des Jahres. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Stop (board game)</span>

Can't Stop is a board game designed by Sid Sackson originally published by Parker Brothers in 1980; however, that edition has been long out of print in the United States. It was reprinted by Face 2 Face Games in 2007. An iOS version was developed by Playdek and released in 2012. The goal of the game is to "claim" three of the columns before any of the other players can. But the more that the player risks rolling the dice during a turn, the greater the risk of losing the advances made during that turn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reiner Knizia</span> German board game designer

Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer.

Liar's dice is a class of dice games for two or more players requiring the ability to deceive and to detect an opponent's deception. In "single hand" liar's dice games, each player has a set of dice, all players roll once, and the bids relate to the dice each player can see plus all the concealed dice. In "common hand" games, there is one set of dice which is passed from player to player. The bids relate to the dice as they are in front of the bidder after selected dice have been re-rolled. Originating during the 15th century, the game subsequently spread to Latin American and European countries. In 1993, a variant, Call My Bluff, won the Spiel des Jahres.

<i>Railway Rivals</i>

Railway Rivals is a railroad-themed board game that was originally published by Rostherne Games in 1973. A German language edition was released by Bütehorn in 1979, and a mass-market edition in the UK by Games Workshop in 1985. The game involves railway building and operations.

<i>Labyrinth</i> (board game) Board game

Labyrinth is a board game for two to four players, published by Ravensburger in 1986.

<i>Hare and Tortoise</i>

Hare and Tortoise is a Eurogame designed by David Parlett in 1974 and first published by Intellect Games. In 1978 it was released by Ravensburger in Germany, and received generally positive reviews critically and won the 1979 Spiel des Jahres. It has since sold some 2 million units in at least ten languages. The current editions are published by Gibsons Games in the UK, Ravensburger in Germany and Rio Grande Games in the United States.

<i>Caylus</i> (game) Board game

Caylus is a strategy oriented, German-style board game designed by William Attia and independently published in 2005 by Ystari in France and England, and Rio Grande Games in North America. Caylus has a mix of building, producing, planning, and bargaining — without direct conflict or dice-rolling mechanics.

To Court the King is a dice-based board game for 2–5 players designed by Tom Lehmann. It was published in German by Amigo Spiele as Um Krone und Kragen in 2006, and in English as To Court the King by Rio Grande Games. The basic mechanics of rolling and re-rolling dice have drawn comparisons to the game of Yahtzee.

Orient Express is a crime fiction board game published by Jumbo and Just Games. The game is based on the 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. The game was designed by Jeff Smets and released in 1985. The game contains 10 different murder cases, each of which can be played only once. Five new plots were released in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Game (dice game)</span> 1979 dice game

The Game is a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig. It was first published in Germany in 1979, without rules and under the German name Das Spiel.

<i>Qwirkle</i> Tile-based board game

Qwirkle is a tile-based game for two to four players, designed by Susan McKinley Ross and published by MindWare. Qwirkle shares some characteristics with the games Rummikub and Scrabble. It is distributed in Canada by game and puzzle company Outset Media. Qwirkle is considered by MindWare to be its most awarded game of all time. In 2011, Qwirkle won the Spiel des Jahres. A sequel, Qwirkle Cubes, was released by Mindware in 2009.

Marrakech is a board game designed by Dominique Ehrhard in which players are competing carpet traders in the city of Marrakech. It was first published in 2007. Its German edition has been renamed Suleika.

<i>Mississippi Queen</i> (board game) Board race game for 3–5 players

Mississippi Queen is a German board game published by Goldsieber Spiele in 1997 that simulates a paddlewheel race down the Mississippi River in 1871. The game was also published in English by Rio Grande Games, and won several awards including the Spiel des Jahres.

Dead Man's Dice is a pirate-themed game, played with dice, employing luck, strategy, and the accumulation of points.

<i>Las Vegas</i> (board game)

Las Vegas is a board game designed by Rüdiger Dorn and published by Ravensburger in 2012. It is named after the city of Las Vegas in Nevada, United States and has a gambling theme. The game was also nominated for the Spiel des Jahres prize in 2012.

<i>Splendor</i> (game) 2014 card-based board game

Splendor is a multiplayer card-based board game, designed by Marc André and illustrated by Pascal Quidault. It was published in 2014 by Space Cowboys, Asmodee. Players are gem merchants of the Renaissance, developing gem mines, transportation, and shops to accumulate prestige points. Splendor received positive reviews and received numerous awards, including winner of Golden Geek Best Family Board Game, and nominated for the Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year in 2014. The game also received a mobile application and an expansion released in 2017.

<i>Battle Sheep</i> 2010 board game

Battle Sheep is a 2010 board game developed by Francesco Rotta. It has been published by Blue Orange Games, HUCH! & friends and Lautapelit.fi.

Schoko & Co. is a board game published in 1987 by Schmidt Spiele that simulates life in a chocolate factory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uisge</span> Board game with 12 pieces that may be moved horizontally or vertically

Uisge, also known as Skorpion, is a strategy board game created by Roland Siegers and published in 1984 by Hexagames in which two players attempt to be the first to flip all their playing stones on a rectangular grid.

References

  1. ↑ Wittig, Reinhold (1988). Spielecollection No. 1 Spiele zur Schatzinsel (in German). München Hugendubel. pp. 142–144. ISBN   9783880343559.
  2. 1 2 "Abilene". Spiel des Jahres. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Paunin, Thierry (April 1987). "Jeux & Joueurs; Abilene". Jeux & Stratégie (in French) (44): 14 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ↑ "Abilene". Ken Tidwell's Game Cabinet. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  5. ↑ "Die Spiele seit 1984 – DMMiB Deutsche Mannschaftsmeisterschaft im Brettspiel" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.