Wandering in the farthest and least valued pavilions of Essen, where productions from eastern countries usually take refuge, it sometimes happens to find little pearls, like this game: Majolica, by the Chinese Wang Yu, released in 2018, published by the debutant Blue Magpie Games.
The box directly reminds us of a very successful game, Azul, and in fact even the setting is based on the same topic: the composition of majolica to embellish the walls.
But the similarity ends here: the game mechanics is extremely different, although we are still talking about an abstract game, which will keep the table from 1 to 4 players for just over half an hour, completely independent of the language, except for the manual in Chinese, but fortunately also in English.
Game dedicated to the general public, although the dynamics is not so fluid, especially in the first games.
But past this obstacle, the game is very interesting, with components at the height and a depth that comes out imperious after the first games.
THE MATERIALS
In the box, of adequate size, there is a square board, on which stands a grid 4×4, suitable to accommodate the 16 tiles of majolica, 4 for each type of design, with the back all the same.
The tiles are about 2 cm in diameter, in hard and translucent plastic.
Then we have the tiles, small in size, that we will put in our workshop, represented by a solid dashboard.
The tiles have the same themes as the large tiles and, for the purposes of the game, are considered in unlimited number.
Among the tiles of this size we also have 5 wild cards and 5 1-point cards.
Our own workshop is made up of four workshops: the first two have 6 tiles, while the two to the right have only 4 spaces.
Above each laboratory, with the exception of the last one, there is the rule for the composition of the laboratory itself, while below there is the rule for filling the objective cards, which will each be placed above a laboratory.
The objective cards show the number of points obtained at the top and in the centre a combination of majolica designs, from a minimum of three to a maximum of six majolica tiles, with different themes.
Some of them have a bonus: the choice of a tile of the desired color.
The Town Hall dashboard houses the tiles with points and wild tiles, depending on the number of players.
The first player's card and the materials for the expansions, i.e. cards with set objectives and cards with freer objectives, and tiles that add points, end the endowment.
The themes of the cards, the designs of the majolica and in general all the materials are finely drawn and very evocative.
From the point of view of robustness, we are at excellent levels: the plastic used is very hard, resistant; standard is the quality of the cards.
A small note of demerit to the regulation, which although sufficiently explanatory, leaves some doubts about some situations.
THE RULES
The aim of the game is to complete the objectives of composition of majolica, using the tiles present in their laboratories.
At the beginning of the game, everyone is provided with the dashboard of their workshop and a target card is distributed, to be placed on the first workshop; 6 target cards are then revealed and the appropriate wild and 1-point tiles are placed in the Town Hall.
The preparation of each turn requires that the large tiles are distributed randomly on the dashboard, so as to occupy the 16 spaces.
Starting from the first player, each player must choose the cards of the dashboard, according to the following rule: you can select all the cards of an external file (horizontal or vertical) or select a single card, always in an external row, thus having the opportunity to acquire a target card, placing it in a free laboratory, or redistribute the target cards on their laboratories.
The target card taken is immediately replaced so that everyone always has a choice of 6 target cards.
Select the tiles, take the corresponding tiles and place them in one of their laboratories, if there are any: everyone is free, at any time, to throw tiles previously placed in their laboratories.
When a laboratory is full, the delivery condition must be checked: that is, on the first laboratory there must be three tiles of one colour and three of another, on the second there must be two tiles of three different colours (6 in all), on the third there must be two tiles of two colours, while on the third one I can put any combination of 4 tiles.
Once this condition is fulfilled on a laboratory, you are obliged to manage the laboratory itself: from the first laboratory you place two tiles on the corresponding target paper (one mandatory, the other optional), from the second laboratory you place 3 tiles (one mandatory), from the fourth one only one mandatory tile, with the obligation to eliminate another tile, on the fourth you eliminate one tile and you do in exchange for another with one present in the City Hall (first the jokers, who put themselves in the laboratory, and then the points).
When you manage a laboratory, all the remaining tiles must be moved to the laboratory on the right: if they are not there, you select which tiles to eliminate.
From the last laboratory they move to the first one.
Obviously, if the movement of the tiles causes the filling of a laboratory, a further delivery is made, activating a cascade mechanism: it is possible, if you are very good and lucky, to fill the 4 cascade laboratories with a single move.
Wild tiles are not used to complete the objective cards, but to speed up the full laboratory conditions: the wild tiles run on the 4 laboratories and, arrived at the fourth, must then be discarded.
The turn ends when less than 4 tiles are left on the bridge.
The dashboard is reformed by mixing all the tiles and the first player's tile is turned around.
When you fill a target card, you discard all the tiles placed on it and put aside the card: if there is a little hand on the card, you can choose a tile to be placed in a laboratory of your choice.
When a player reaches the 5 goals at the end of the turn, the game ends immediately.
To the points on the objective cards are added 1 point for every 2 tiles on the unfinished objectives and the tiles taken from the Town Hall.
IMPRESSIONS
As you will have understood from the reading of the rules, the mechanics is a thread "pastosetta": nothing to do with the simplicity and elegance of the rules of an Azul.
But once this obstacle is overcome, the game reveals all its depth.
Its twist is the mechanism of the waterfalls of the tiles, as a good programming of the cascade effect can lead to move many tiles on the target cards.
And to make the most of this, you need to plan very carefully the tiles and target cards that are placed in the labs.
The choice of tiles made at a given turn, has a very strong repercussion on what will happen in the laboratories in the next turns: the thing that fascinates and that is quite obvious is that, in theory, you have all the elements to control this aspect.
That is, although the tiles are placed randomly, you do not feel at all at the mercy of luck in the management of the laboratories.
The random factor is, if anything, more felt in the objective cards, especially those that are revealed gradually, which may or may not correspond to the tiles already present in their laboratories.
We all fish from the same dashboard and from the same set of target cards, so, if you want, you can make choices that harm your opponents, but given the complexity of running your own engine, I find it difficult to play to hurt others.
Perhaps the moment when you experience the most interaction is when you're near the end, with the possibility of ending the game sooner or later, perhaps to disadvantage an opponent who has grabbed a very lucrative card, but equally challenging.
The variability of positioning of the cards and the 26 objective cards in the box allow a good longevity.
It is not a game that a game pulls the other, especially if at the table there is some player suffering from paralysis from analysis.
However, it remains a game that offers great satisfaction, because, once you enter the logic, you have the perception of being able to play with your own head, obtaining excellent results.
Interesting in this regard also the possibility of playing alone.
For many, but perhaps not for all.