Dicey coop testing your dexterity and ingenuity . Teeter Tower Review.
During the holiday season, many families come together to celebrate and spend time with one another. These gatherings can be a wonderful opp...
During the holiday season, many families come together to celebrate and spend time with one another. These gatherings can be a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with loved ones, share a meal, exchange gifts, and create lasting memories. However, they can also be a source of stress and tension. One way to alleviate some of this stress is by playing board games together. Board games can provide entertainment and laughter and can also be a great way to bring the whole family together. Nonetheless, the holidays are a time for forgiveness and coming together, and many people find that spending time with their family and enjoying a few rounds of their favorite board games can be a source of joy and happiness during this special time of year.
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| A big table, friends, family and a board game. My favorite place to be. |
Of course, some board games can also lead to arguments, as some people might get a little too competitive or when there is a big skill gap between players. In those case thing about cooperative games where everyone wins or loses together. Gamewright recently released a new coop game that requires no reading or difficult rulebooks to dive into and is quick to setup and play together as a group. The game is called "Teeter Tower: A dicey dexterity game."
The game box is a about the length of and half the width of a shoe box and contains a rules sheet/ flyer, 42 dice in 3 different colors, 18 double sided tiles made of thick cardboard, 1 "capstone" tile, 1 "capstone" die, a large base block and a fabric dice bag with a nice thick pull string on it to keep it closed. All the components have a simple design, and they have a nice tactile feel to them.
The game is recommended for 1-4 players aged 8 and up, but it definitely can be played with more players if you do not want to leave anyone out. A typical game will take you about 20 minutes to complete.
In this game you work as a team to build a tower made up of dice and tiles. The dice and the tiles come in three colors that determine the challenge in HOW you can place the dice. You see each tile has number and color spaces that dictate where you place dice. And it follows 3 basic principles. 1) Any die of any color maybe placed on a white space as long as its number matches. 2)Any die, regardless of number, may be placed on a matching color space. and 3) A die MAY simultaneous touch both color and white spaces as long as the first two rules apply.
Each player will take turns selecting 4 dice from the bag, role them and use at least one, or all of them to be place with the best placing tile from one of the three stacks on the table. Then they place the tile followed by the dice and try to create the next layer towards the top of the tower without knocking it over all while creating a stable foundation for the next player. Since you are working as a team you are highly encouraged to discuss your options with everyone playing. You win if you can complete the tower by using all tiles and placing the capstone tile and capstone die on top. You lose if at any time ANY dice fall off the tower, including the capstone die OR if you run out of dice in the bag before placing all of the tiles.
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| All the pretty dice! |
The tricky part of the tower building is the use and placement of the dice. If you go wild and use all four of the dice every tile, you will run out before the game is done and lose. So, it is important to decide where and when to use how many of these. Sometimes the combination with the tile is so easy that any placement will create a stable platform for the next turn. In some cases, it is the exact opposite, and you might be forced to use the maximum number of dice to at least have an opportunity to keep the tower going. Of course, everyone has a different perspective and so each turn the discussions of what is a better option and why can lead to fun, hectic hilarious moments. Especially when the player does not listen and knows a I told you so is coming their way, or when they succeed against impossible odds and cheers fill the room.
If the tower building is getting too easy for you? Add a little twist to your game and play the twisted tiles option where each following tile needs to be turned to lineup with the dotted line on the card below it. This option brings a whole new challenge to the game and makes deciding on the correct tile even more important. Think ahead and think structural. Lucky you do not have to do it all alone.
Teeter Tower is a fun cooperative game that does not take a lot to setup and explain. The dice are on the smaller side and that might mean big hands have a harder time with it. Personally, for me as I have very shaky hands at times it was definitely hard to play the game, though that do not diminish the fun for me personally. A bigger version might be a good option in those cases. The game could possible also work with house rules including a competitive version more like Jenga if you wanted to add a little spice, but at least in our family we prefer teamwork over competition more. The components are of good quality and are well in sync with the asking price of the game. The replayability is very high, especially in group play, and with the twisted card option. Add to that the randomness the dice pulling and rolling and no game is quite the same.
If you are looking for an easy party game and not fall back on Jenga then Teeter Tower can offer you something that both feels fresh and familiar and is great for the whole family to play.
