Game Review

Concept:

Use the triangular tiles to play a variant of dominos. Points are scored based on the numbers on the tile played and when special placements are made.

The Anniversary Edition has a special headline reading "Now with larger, easy to read numbers!" Presumably, this addresses an earlier complaint that the numbers were too small.

Gameplay:

There are 56 triangular tiles in the game. At the start, all of the tiles are face down in an area (or box top) called the "well." Players randomly draw their starting pieces -- The specific number depends upon the number of players: A two player game uses 9 pieces per player to start.

The player who draws the largest "triple" (all three numbers the same on the tile), begins the game by placing that tile.

In turn, each player places a new tile that lines up with the placed tiles. To place a tile, two of the three numbers must align with the adjacent tile. If the tile is placed such that it would touch two other tiles, then all of the adjacent numbers must match and the new tile must have two numbers matching up with a single other tile.

If a player cannot place a piece he/she must draw a new piece from the well. Drawing from the well penalizes the player by 5 points. Players must continue to draw until a matching tile is found. Each tile drawn costs another 5 points.

Players score points as follows:

• Placing a tile -- add each number on the tile to score. (Ex. 5 + 3 + 1 = 9)

• Completing a Hex or Pie -- When a player can place a tile that completes a hexagonal shape (e.g. the 6th piece & all 3 numbers match), Score the tile's points plus a bonus 50 points.

• Making a Bridge -- Bridges are made by matching one side of the tile and the point opposite; Score the tile's points plus a 40 point Bonus.

Remember -- each tile drawn from the well loses 5 points.

The round ends when no player can place a tile (and the well is empty), or one player runs out of tiles (without having to draw.) A player who places his/her last tile gains 25 bonus points, plus the total of all of the remaining tiles his/her opponents have yet to play. If the round ends because no on can place a piece, then the player with the fewest tiles wins the round -- and gets the points for his/her opponent's tiles, but no bonus.

Winning Conditions:

• A complete game may take several rounds -- the rules state that the first player who reaches 400 points wins.

Our Opinion:

This is a very fun, yet mathematical game. All of the Zombies enjoyed playing the game a lot.

Triominos is quick to learn -- the rules are about 2 pages long and have pictures to illustrate the "pie" and "bridge" bonuses.

It was commented that not only is there a lot of placement strategy and math work in the scoring, but younger kids can play by matching patterns as well. In the case of younger kids joining in, the adults would keep score.

Since playing this game, the Baroness has challenge me several times for two player rematches. She is inclined to play games like Boggle and Scrabble -- word games, but she really likes Triominos too. In one regard, the patterns in Triominos are like the word puzzles presented in the other games.

Give this game a try, we think you'll enjoy it.

Where to buy:

Any local toy store -- Our copy was from a Kay Bee Toys and cost about $7.