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Designers | Wolfgang Kramer Michael Kiesling |
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Publishers | Ravensburger Rio Grande Games |
Players | 2–4 |
Setup time | 10 minutes |
Playing time | 60–90 minutes |
Chance | Medium |
Age range | 10 + |
Skills | Strategic thought |
Tikal is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 1999 by Ravensburger in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. Set in a Central American jungle, in Tikal players aim to discover artifacts, excavate, and maintain temple control to gain victory points.
The gameplay is turn-based, with the victor decided by victory points which can be achieved by finding artifacts, excavating, and maintaining control over temple sites. The theme of the game is that of adventurers exploring parts of a Central American jungle in which artifacts and temples are discovered. [1]
Tikal received positive reviews and won numerous awards, [2] including the Spiel des Jahres, [2] the Deutscher Spiele Preis in 1999, [3] and the Games Magazine Best Multiplayer Strategy Game in 2000.[ citation needed ] It was the first game in the Mask Trilogy, followed by Java and Mexica .
Warren Spector comments: "Once you're hooked on Tikal, you can move on to the other games in Kiesling and Kramer's 'Mask' trilogy. The games Mexica and Java share some mechanics, but feature different settings, fiction, and some new gameplay elements. Try them, for sure, but if you're like most people, you'll find yourself coming back to Tikal, once the novelty of the newer games wears off. As is so often the case, the first is still the best." [4]
In a review in the February 2000 issue of InQuest Gamer , Tom Slizewski stated that the game is easy to learn and fun, and that "every component is a thing of beauty". [5] He also said that it is primarily a tactical game requiring "constant mental calculation to play well" but that the game mechanics are straightforward. [5]
Java is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, illustrated by Franz Vohwinkel, and published in 2000 by Ravensburger in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. In the game, players build the island of Java to set up palace festivals and gain victory points. Upon its release, the game received several awards.
Mexica is a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 2002 by Ravensburger in German and Rio Grande Games in English. Mexica was awarded 5th prize in the 2002 Deutscher Spiele Preis.
Torres is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 1999 by FX Schmid in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. The game strongly influenced Kramer and Kiesling's Mask Trilogy of games, but is not considered to be a part of the trilogy. The game has since been reprinted.
El Grande is a German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and published in 1995 by Hans im Glück in German, by Rio Grande Games in English, and by 999 Games in Dutch. The game board represents renaissance-era Spain where the nobility fight for control of the nine regions. El Grande was praised for its area-control mechanism, and was awarded the Spiel des Jahres prize and the Deutscher Spiele Preis in 1996. Following its release, several expansions and an alternative version were published.
Top Secret Spies is a spy-themed German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and published in 1984 by Ravensburger. The game, also known as Under Cover or Detective & Co, won the Spiel des Jahres award in 1986.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 1999. For video games, see 1999 in video gaming.
The Jeu de l'année was a French games award, given by the Association de Promotion et d'Evaluation des Jeux in October to outstanding parlour games
Wolfgang Kramer is a German board game designer.
Michael Kiesling is a German board game designer. Many of his games have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres, a German games award.
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Karuba is a tile-laying race game for 2–4 players, designed by Rudiger Dorn and published by HABA in 2015. Each player has 4 explorers, which move through the jungle on the player's private board in order to discover treasure and reach hidden temples. The game was nominated for the 2016 Spiel Des Jahres award.
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