Rondo

When the store clerk first suggested this game to me I glanced over it, the box did a poor job showing what the game was about. However I looked it up online later that night and had to return the following day to buy Rondo. I was not disappointed, Rondo was much more than I had ever hoped for, Rondo is awesome.

Objective: The goal in Rondo is to have the most points when the game ends. That happens when all of the dark grey spaces on the board are covered or when there are no more chips to pull out of the bag.

Scoring Points: You score points in Rondo by playing chips of a colour matching the space on the board. Each matching chip is worth the value that appears on the board. You can place multiple chips on the same space and they will each score the value of the space.

The 3 blue chips would score 6 points, the red would score 3
and the yellow would score 4 for a total of 13 points.

Gameplay: Turns go by quickly as you only have 2 options, play chips or draw chips.

Drawing Chips: You draw 2 random chips out of the bag and then pass the bag along to the next player.

The chips you play must follow some basic rules, they are:

The chips you play must connect either to the center of the board or to a previously played chip.

The chips you play must be continuous, you cannot place from 2 different starting points in 1 turn, once you have played your first chip of the turn any other chips you play that turn must connect to the first one you played.

You can play chips upside down on any colour space, these chips will not score you any points though.

The upside down chip works as a bridge to more valuable spaces.

You can place multiple chips on the same space to score that space's value multiple times.

You can play any number of chips on your turn and after playing you always draw 1 chip.

My Thoughts: Rondo is probably the most refreshing game I have played in a couple years, it is abstract and has a ton of different ways to win, turns can be kept to a time limit, Rondo is tactical, and most importantly Rondo is fun. Someone needs to make Rondo into an app so I can play on the go wherever whenever.

Components: The`rondo`discs/chips feel nice in your hand and are very nice to look at, in addition the board having 2 sides that vary slightly in gameplay but both sides are beautiful, the first matches the colours on the box, blue with a nice design the other side sort of looks satanic, well not quite but its red and black and has the same design just with a different number layout. The only problem was the rules, even the online English rules on BGG are just "translated from google".

Red Side of the board, photo courtesy of BGG.

Who would enjoy Rondo?

Family Gamers: Rondo would appeal to family gamers because of its simplistic rules, quick playing time, neutral theme. Rondo also builds math skills and critical thinking skills, and as in other tactical games you are forced to think in ways that you do not in everyday life. I believe Rondo would be a greatly perceived by everyone in the family regardless of age.

Casual Gamers: Because the rules are quick to pick up the game has a short enough playtime that you can play it as a filler. The main reason Rondo will do well in a casual gaming group is its seemingly total neutrality, what I mean is anyone who can play chess, checkers or tic-tac-toe can play Rondo and that is part of what makes it such an amazing game.


Gamer Gamers: If you like a game that is totally adaptable to your playstyle, Rondo is it. At first glance the strategies seem fairly simple but there are endless ways to shape what seems to be a simple abstract game into a power gaming session of a game that plays as if it was designed for you. If you like scoring small points every turn, you can. If you like planning a few turns ahead and scoring huge