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URLAND

a review by Darrell Hanning

Think about it.  It has to be a better game than one drawn from Creationism.

       Making a game based on life’s first steps onto land probably isn’t a big deal in Germany.  In America, however, some would have us believe we must enforce equal representation between evolution and creationism.  That being the case, I’m wondering when the counter-barrage from the Christian right will come – the game Creation, The Game.  I can picture it already.  One opens the box, opens the game board onto the table, places the creatures counters in the board space marked “Limbo”, and rolls one die.  On a roll of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, the players get to watch in beatific awe as the game system (aka God) creates all life in one pass of a Godly hand.  The players then place the creatures on the board where indicated, and proceed to (reverently, mind you) put the game back in its box.  The lid of the box will, of course, contain a picture of the Creation game box eating the URLAND game box, which will be demonstrable proof to even the most sophisticated that the Creation game is a far superior game.  I’m certain it will sell like hotcakes, surpassing even such gaming immortals as NASCAR Monopoly, Harley-Davidson Monopoly, John Deere Monopoly, Regis Philbin Monopoly, and Trivial Pursuit – the Jerry Springer Pregnant Teenagers Edition.
       Until then, we will have to fill our time with games such as URLAND.  Shucks.  Doris Matthaus and Frank Nestel, makers of URSUPPE, have provided us with something of a sequel in URLAND.
       No longer are amoebas the focus of our attention – amphibians are the pre-history creatures for this year. As in real life, amphibians are probably more streamlined in URLAND, than amoebas were in URSUPPE.

 

      No longer is life restricted to stumbling around in one, scum-infested pond. The “ichtos” in URLAND emerge from oceans, and slide smoothly onto continents.  Yes, Virginia, they can still eat each other, grow legs, ears and such, but they are not obsessed with finding the best sources of fecal matter. Whew.
       URLAND can be played by 3, 4 or 5 players, with a 3-player game differing in feel from the 4- or 5-player game, for reasons I hope to make clear.  There are 5 sets of player pieces – 28 “ichtos” each, in black, purple, white, yellow, and red.  (You actually get 30 of each color; 2 extra are provided as spares.)  The game board displays 12 islands, in 3 groups of 4 islands each, surrounded by 5 ocean areas.  Each island has a unique number – from 1 to 12 – and a corresponding token showing its number on one side.  A thirteenth token is labeled “P” for Panic.  More on that later.   There are also 7 volcano tiles, which are used to “merge” islands.  Additionally, each Player gets 2 “Extra Move” tokens, each of which can be used during the game to get 2 more actions during their turn.
      At the beginning of the game, 1 island token is drawn at random, and that island is considered “merged” with the island next to it, which is indicated by placing a volcano tile so as to span the water between them.  This tile covers the number of the island indicated by the token, which causes its land area to become part of the island next to it.  If the token for island 11 is drawn, for example, a volcano tile is placed so as to cover the number 11 on that island, and merge that island with island number 10.  For the remainder of the game, there is no island 11.  This will happen again, at the end of every epoch, as explained later.   Each player starts by placing 3 of his ichtos in each of the 5 ocean areas, and 2 of his ichtos on the 2 islands matching the 2 island tokens he was randomly given.  Each player then gives one of his tokens to the person on his left and on his right, causing the placement of 2 more ichtos on islands by each player.  The tokens are then collected (excluding the one drawn for the initial island merge),  3 tokens are drawn by the starting player, and play begins.
       URLAND differs from most games in that, during each turn, two players will not even participate in play.  The first player is known as the “Environment Player”.  He selects one of the 3 tokens he has, keeps it unknown to the others, and passes the other 2 tokens to the person on his left, who becomes the “Dummy Player”.  I can only guess that this moniker doesn’t translate well from German.  The Environment and Dummy players do not get to play during the turn – the remaining players are the “Ichto” players, and they do get to play.  There is an advantage in being inactive, however, as both the Environment player and Dummy player know what the other 2 tokens are.  In addition to this, the Environment player is the player who selects the one token for the island which will be scored this turn.  Once the Ichto players have completed their actions, scoring for the selected island occurs, and the Dummy player becomes the next Environment player (drawing a third token at random), and the player to his left now becomes the Dummy player.  In this fashion, who gets to play and who gets to pick islands rotates through the players.  With 3 players, this makes for a very strange game, as only one player actually gets to do something each

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