In February 2021, I posted a video overview of Die Seher von Santiiba from Leo Colovini, Teodoro Mitidieri, and Zoch Verlag — however for some purpose now unknown to me, I did not submit that video right here. The sport has hit the desk once more just lately, nonetheless, so now I’m overlaying the sport in full, whereas including a second video to deal with the one facet of the sport that does not work for me: the component-to-box ratio.

Die Seher von Santiiba (“The Seers of Santiiba”) has a easy idea: Anticipate what others will select, and you may revenue. On your flip, you roll the 5 cube — the cube have pips for numbers 1-3 and numerals for numbers 4-6 — then everybody else secretly chooses one die they assume you’ll select.

Gold on white was not a really perfect selection;for readability, we learn off the numbers after rolling

You name out a shade — “Brown!” — and if anybody reveals on their crystal ball that they selected brown, then you could take the reward related to that die: pips offer you motion on the purpose monitor, whereas numerals offer you a card of the matching shade. The participant that caught you, that learn your future intentions of their crystal ball, receives this similar reward instantly, whether or not motion on the monitor or a card.

If nobody selected that shade, then you may take both the conventional reward or the “reverse” reward, utilizing the numeral for motion and the pips for a card. If you’re taking a reverse reward, then you’ve performed “unfairly” and due to this fact should select one other shade to place your self liable to being caught. If you’re taking a standard reward, you may cease selecting colours and accumulate your reward(s), or you may select once more.

If all opponents have revealed their crystal ball, then you definitely lose all of the rewards you’ll have had and your flip ends. Everyone else has collected one thing, and you bought bupkis since you have been too clear in your needs.

If, nonetheless, you’ve chosen 4 cube with out all the opponents catching you, then you may declare both the conventional or reverse reward for that fourth die, then finish your flip and accumulate every little thing.

My hidden guess

Thus, Die Seher von Santiiba is a straight-up Vizzini-style problem of outguessing your opponent, whether or not you are the one making the prediction or the one selecting cube. Initially everybody begins with nothing, so you’ve little to go on by way of who is selecting what, apart from anticipating that somebody will choose a excessive numeral within the hope that nobody will catch them in order that they’ll transfer on the scoring monitor, however as the sport progresses, folks begin accumulating playing cards and so they begin separating on the monitor, giving them — and also you — extra incentives for what to decide on.

Here’s why: The sport ends when somebody reaches 30 on the scoring monitor, then everybody compares their playing cards. Whoever has the fewest inexperienced playing cards should flip their blue playing cards the wrong way up, altering them from a price of 4 to a price of 0; whoever has the fewest blue playing cards a lot flip their brown playing cards; and whoever has the fewest brown flips pink and the fewest pink flips white. White playing cards are the tie-breaker, so if we tie on fewest inexperienced playing cards, then whoever has the fewest white loses that tie. If we tie for white playing cards, then we each lose that tie. After all colours have been resolved, you sum the worth on all of your playing cards and transfer your determine forward on the scoring monitor. Whoever is then farthest forward wins.

Thus, you’ve a two-stage race of quick motion throughout play and delayed motion at sport’s finish primarily based on who has what — and that is what drives loads of selections. Everything is public, so you may monitor who has what. If you haven’t any white bowls, then you are going to lose ties, so I do know you’ve an incentive to choose the white die in your flip, however you realize I do know that, and if you do not have the fewest playing cards of different colours, then ties do not matter to you — or maybe you are going onerous on motion within the first stage of the sport, hoping to construct sufficient of a lead that the cardboard factors will not matter.

In different phrases, the sport is all about studying others whereas staying unreadable your self. In one latest taking part in, a participant with no brown playing cards about midway via the sport selected brown on his first guess, and all three opponents revealed brown. Boom, flip over! Next flip, he did it once more, considering we would not count on that — but all three of us had as soon as once more chosen brown. Double increase! Next flip, effectively, what will we do now?

Seher is totally centered on direct participant interplay primarily based on our standings amongst each other, and it creates nice moments that construct on repetition of selections, with little rewards as you guess or get away with one thing. As the energetic participant, you may press your luck to attempt to seize extra on a flip, so the sport indulges that need on high of outthinking others.

I had performed 3 times on a overview copy after I recorded the video beneath, and now I’ve performed 5 occasions. The two-player sport works, but it surely lacks the joy of the sport with three or 4 gamers as a result of one profitable guess is all that it takes to finish your flip.

In that video, I complained about how the elements float contained in the field. I can perceive why Zoch launched the sport in its customary giant sq. field. Seher would not have a ton of elements, but it surely has playing cards, a sport board, punch boards, plastic doodads for the crystal balls, and customized wooden elements, so it has loads of issues to supply from completely different locations, and I think about the manufacturing price deserves a big field to convey the “correct” worth of the sport — however that does not imply I have to preserve the sport in a big field.

An hour’s work was all it took to shrink the sport to one-quarter of its unique dimension, now making it much more shelf pleasant. The sport design has held up effectively for me, and now the sport field is way extra to my liking. If you want inspiration for comparable shelf slimming, perhaps this video can assist: