Postmark Games has carved out a small niche for itself by publishing affordable print-and-play roll-and-write games, and to date they’ve featured several games, including Voyages, Scribbly Gum, Waypoints, and Aquamarine.
Welcome to the Koala Rescue Club in this latest installment! Koalas are an endangered species, so it’s our job to protect them. In this dice-rolling and drawing game, you plant new trees for koalas to live in, then help them find a safe home. Each turn, roll the dice to determine which arrangement of trees and koalas you can draw. Fill areas to earn points, and complete rows and columns to earn special bonus actions. Volunteers can help you by modifying the shapes you can draw, and skybridges open up new areas to plant. Don’t forget to build a hospital to keep your koalas healthy!
To start the game, choose a map and print a copy for each player. Usually, advance press versions only have the first map, but there are usually a variety of maps to choose from with each Postmark release. The map has several green circles representing trees with koala icons inside. At the bottom, there is a dashboard area with player aids, an area for volunteers, an area to record dice rolls for the two rounds of the game, and achievement badges.
The game is played over two rounds, with 15 turns each. On each turn, someone rolls a d6 and the player writes this number in the first free white box in the area for the current round. Then, using the shape that matches the number rolled, they circle a tree or roll a koala to a new location. If you have a volunteer, you can cross one out and mentally correct your roll by one. You must use the entire polyominoe based on the number. If you can’t or choose not to use one, it’s a consolation to convert it to one space (tree or koala).
To plant a tree, you simply circle a tree that isn’t circled yet. Again, you must use the entire polyomino. If you want a koala to be its new home, you can only do so on a tree that is already circled. The rules require you to draw a small circle of koalas inside a circle of trees. My brain finds that hard to comprehend, so I opt for the old fashioned X-out.
It is important to note where you have adopted your koalas because if you adopt a full row or column of koalas, you will get a bonus indicated by a white circle at the end of that row/column. This will allow you to plant one tree, adopt one koala, get a volunteer, fill a space in the hospital, or open a bridge to make other areas of the board available. When you first start the game, only area A is available, so in this game you need to make sure you have a space to move quickly. At the end of each turn, you check if you have achieved one of the criteria for three merit badges. If you are the first to achieve it, you will get a higher score. Others who completed badges during the game will get a lower total score.
Each round area on the dashboard has 15 boxes, once you fill all the boxes in the area the round ends and points are added up. You get 1 point for every fully treed area, 1 point for every area full of koalas who have found a new home and 1 point for every full hospital. Points are added up at the end of each round.
At the end of the game, add up your scores at the end of the two rounds and your Merit Badges to calculate your final score. The player with the most points wins. If you’re playing solo, you can check your score in the rules table.
Koala Rescue Club is a puzzle polyomino game with two layers of decisions. First, you need to draw trees of a certain shape. Then, you need to draw the placement of koalas on those trees. Since you need to plant trees before you can house koalas, the first part will be mainly planting trees and the second part will be mainly planting koalas.
Cascading bonuses give you access to additional actions. Keeping things going in a chain can make for some impressive turns. Pay attention to the scoring criteria: what you score in the first round will automatically score you in the second round, so it may be worth running out of volunteers or deviating from your overall plan in order to complete your scoring objectives before the first round ends. Finally, don’t forget about merit badges: they’re great for scoring, and getting them before anyone else will give you an even higher score.
This is a well-made roll and write game. If you’re looking for a new game to play, this is definitely a fun one. 10% of proceeds go to the Australian Koala Foundation, so you’re also helping to support a good cause. Founded in 1986, AKF is the leading not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to the effective management and conservation of koalas and their habitats. For more information, visit www.savethekoala.com.
If you’d like to sign up for Kickstarter notifications, please go here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/postmarkgames/koala-rescue-club
Like this:
Like Loading…
About Dale Yu
Dale Yu is an editor at Opinionated Gamers. He also serves as a volunteer administrator for BoardGameGeek and is a former contributor to BoardGame News.
Source link
