Quoridor - Pacman: Rapid Review
Information:
Player Age: 8+
Player Count: 2 - 5 Players
Year Published: 2024
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the VR Distribution.
Rundown:
Quoridor Pacman is a re-themed edition of a classic abstract game called Quoridor. In Quoridor you are racing from your side of the board to your opponent’s on the direct opposite side.
This is achieved by moving one orthogonal space at a time. The twist is that each player has 10 wall pieces (in a two-player game) and, instead of moving their piece, a player can place a wall to impede their opponent’s path or secure their own path. The only restriction is you cannot create a situation that leaves your opponent with no path to your side.
Alteration (Pac-Man Mode):
With the Pac-Man theme comes a secondary way to play the game. In this mode, one player plays as Pac-Man and one or more players will play as the ghosts. Pac-Man wants to eat the four pellets and the ghosts want to destroy Pac-Man a total of three times. In a round, Pac-Man will usually move two orthogonal spaces, although this will be three immediately after eating a pellet. These three movements will allow him to eat any ghost in his way.
After this, each ghost will move one space in any orthogonal direction in the pursuit of destroying Pac-Man. If Pac-Man is in the same row or column as the ghost (straight line of sight) at the start of the ghost movement, that ghost can move two spaces this turn. Two other points to note are that no walls will be placed in this game mode after setup, and the position of every ghost (even eaten ones) and Pac-Man will be reset back to their starting point after Pac-Man is destroyed.
The issue with this variant is that it feels skewed to Pac-Man's side as he was always the winner with no lives depleted.
Production:
This is a game that spared no expense when it comes to production. The board is of the sturdiness that feels at home in any abstract collection. The only fault with production is the rulebook that has been narrowed down to one Page of rules for each game mode. This has led to some unclear instructions when reading through.
Interaction:
The main game of Quoridor is a fast spatial puzzle between players. Since there are limited pieces of walls, players have to be careful and decisive with their moves as they build a labyrinth.
Determination:
- Excellent production pieces.
- Pac-Man game mode favours the Pac-Man side too much and ends feeling unfinished.
Quoridor Pac-Man is a re-themed edition of a classic. When reading the rules, the game didn't make overall sense and simply felt too light. After losing very fast the first time I played, the game clicked as a fun yet fast spatial puzzle. The fun of the game comes from the back-and-forth placement of the communal labyrinth. You try to open yourself up to the right movement while slowing down the opposition. This game isn't as thinky as other abstract games but will easily accommodate family gamers who are looking for a fast abstract that will have you insisting on playing just one more time.
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