Reviewed by Chris Kovac
SNOW TAILS (Fragor Games, 2-5 players, ages 10 and up, 45 minutes; about $70)
Snow Tails is a fun, quick 2-5 player dog sled racing game. This game by the Lamont Brothers, the quirky Scottish game designers, of Shear Panic (Spring 2006 GA REPORT) and Antler Island fame. The game has fairly good components though the track pieces are a little thin and have a tendency to warp and the brake pieces, while nice, are a little irrelevant to the overall play of the game. The rule book is well written and illustrated with few ambiguities.
Before you begin the game, the first thing you do is build a track (either your own design or one from the back of the book) using the various straghts, curves and hazard pieces (snow drifts, gullies and trees) provided with game and the start and finish line. You just have to remember that the Yellow flags indicate the left side of the track and the Red flags the right side of the track when putting your track together. Next each player takes a dog sled mat, sled piece, brake piece and movement deck of the same color as the mat. The sled mat shows the left and right hand dog of your sled and a brake spot. These all start at a strength of three (actually printed on the mat and you just have to set the brake marker at three). The pivot allows you to orientate your sled mat to the various parts of the track to make sled movement planning easier. After deciding randomly who starts, each player (going clockwise from the start player) will choose a start position on the start line and draw five movement cards from their movement deck. If you start in the fourth or fifth position you get one or two extra cards respectively since you begin at a disadvantage. The player who is furthest ahead or in the case of a tie furthest to the left (in a corner closest to the inside of the corner) moves first during the game.
During a player’s turn, he can play up to three movement cards (values range from one to five) from his hand, one on the left dog area, one on the right dog area and a discard which adjusts the brake value to the discarded cards’ value. I found putting the discard on the brake space instead of using the brake piece to indicate the braking factor makes it easier to remember. However all cards that you play must be of the same value. For example if you play a one movement card (called Canine cards in the game) all the other cards you play during your turn must be a one. Your movement is calculated by adding the strength of the movement/Canine cards on the dog spaces on the sled mat minus the break value. If the value is zero or a negative you stop and do not move your sled this turn. If positive, you move that many spaces. If both movement cards on your left and right dog space are the same, you can move an optional extra number of spaces equal to your position on the track which allows players in the back to keep up with the sleds in the front. Furthermore, if the strength of the movement cards on the dog spaces is unbalanced then, during your turn, you must move your sled diagonally equal to the difference between the two cards and in the direction of the strongest movement card. So for example, if the movement card on the Left dog space was three and on the Right a two with a the brake set at one you would move a total of four spaces of which one must be one space diagonally to the left (towards the higher movement card). At the end of your turn you fill up to five cards. Once you use all your movement cards you take all the cards you played off your sled mat except for the last ones played and reshuffle them into a new movement deck.
If you collide with the edges of the track or the tree obstacles, you receive a damage card (if you get five your sled is broken and you are eliminated from the game) which becomes a permanent junk card in your hand reducing the number of movement cards you have to plan your future moves. You can also receive damage cards if you exceed a corners speed number when entering it. You get one damage card for each speed you are over the corners speed number. If you hit another players sled, all that happens is that you stop your sled in the last space you moved before colliding and lose the rest of your turn. (You do not draw cards to replenish your hand). The game ends when the first player crosses the finish line. In an interesting twist, if two or more people finish at the same time, it is the player who moves furthest past the finish line, not the person who crosses it first who wins. If you are still tied, the winner is the person closest to the chequered flag (furthest on the right). If you play a number of races you can use the optional (5, 3, 2, 1) point system provided in the rule book to keep track of how well your sled does over a series of tracks. Finally the game has a cute paw piece which you can give to those players taking too long to due their move (a cute way to cut down on the analysis paralysis).
Snow Tails is a game of planning and strategic moving. You have to make the best move with cards you have on hand yet trying to use those same cards to plan future moves is a fun challenge. Planning when and how you turn is also an essential part of the game. If you get too much damage, you will not have enough options with your movement cards to win the race though taking a damage card or two during the race is sometimes necessary to keep up with the leaders.
I found this to be a very easy game to teach to either casual or serious gamers. The average time for a game, even on a long track, is between 30 minutes and an hour. The only fault with the game is due to the randomness of the draw deck for movement. You can occasionally get a bad draw hampering your movement during a crucial part of the race.
This game has grown on me as I have played it and it is in my opinion one of the best of the Lamont Brothers games yet produced and a good race game as well. Recommended for any racing game fan and for both the non gamers and gamers alike. – – – – – – – – – – – Chris Kovac
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