For those of you drooling over getting a copy of the forthcoming Caylus Premium Edition from Ystari that costs EU65 just for the game alone, here's your chance to get a free set, courtesy of Ystari and Boardgamenews.
Caylus has been the darling of the Eurogame community since its debut, so much so that Ystari Games is releasing a Caylus Premium Limited Edition at Spiel 07 that comes with metal coins, a special figure of King Philip, and a completely redesigned look by superstar Mike Doyle.
Ystari Games is donating a copy of the Caylus Premium Edition, which retails for €65, for a contest on Boardgame News. To win the contest, you must determine the largest possible score that a player can obtain in a two-player game. To put everyone on the same ground, assume the following:
- You take the first turn.
- The jeweller tile is not included.
- You have embedded a homunculus in your opponent and can make that player do exactly what you want.
To give everyone an idea of what a winning score might be, I turned to the sourceof all things Caylus. “I had thought about the idea a while ago, but never did any serious research on it,” says Caylus designer William Attia, who speculates that the winning answer might be in the
vicinity of 300.
While solo Caylus scores near 370 have been posted on the Geek, Attia says that in a two-player game, “You probably have to sacrifice quite a few points, especially in the beginning of the game, to allow the second player to get enough cash so that he won’t pass too early in the last two-thirds of the game (where most of the points are scored). Also, the second player might help rush up the building of the early castle sections to reach the most valuable favors earlier (while keeping the maximum number of game turns).”
To enter this contest, which has a deadline of September 25th, you must send an email to the BGN editor with your high score in the subject line along with the words “Caylus Contest.” In the body of the email, you must detail the steps you took to achieve that score. These details will be painstakingly checked by yours truly. If two individuals tie for the high score, the player whose opponent scored the most will win; this keeps you from tanking the other player too badly. If people are still tied, then the player who submitted his or her entry first will win.
CK Au (jack208)
Boardgame Meetup photos at Flickr Angkor Wat blog