Hansa Variant - Changing Winds
When playing Hansa I am regularly bothered by the "one-way rule". I recently found a Hansa variant on the homepage of game designer Michael Schacht. Although I believe this is not a new piece of information it can't hurt to "repeat the message" every now and then (yes, I am indeed currently watching TV commercials).
Following the original rules, the ship is not permitted to move against the wind. This mechanic is visualized by directed arrows. The Changing Winds variant allows players to pay an additional gold and move the ship up against the direction of the arrow. Basically, movement along the arrow costs 1 gold, while the opposite direction costs 2. Each player can decide to change the wind multiple times each turn. Of course, this requires sufficient financial resources.
In my opinion, this variant makes the game a little bit less confrontational. It removes the option of out placing the ship to a location too distant for the next player. On the other hand, game play should become a little bit more flexible and less frustrating for inexperienced players.
Comments
Thank you. I hadn't heard of this variant before and it sounds like a neat twist to the regular rules.
Posted by: Mary (Sodak Lady) | September 1, 2006 5:11 AM
Thanks for pointing that out! Hansa is a favorite of mine, and I'll definitely try the variant sometime. (I've tried the scoring variant, too, but it wasn't very compelling.)
Posted by: Mark Johnson | September 2, 2006 12:45 AM