YORKTON - When it comes to abstract strategy games of course this Meeple Guilder is immediately interested in anything new.
It’s a case where a game which pits two payers against each other without the luck of dice being rolled, or cards flipped, is the best of what board games have to offer.
That does not mean all abstract strategy games are created equal. There are elites games; Chess, Hive, Tak, Arimaa and others, although the top tier list is admittedly far shorter than the subpar, bland, or just bad ones.
The fun is exploring new offerings to see where they fit on the mental list.
That brings us to Nimbus from designer Aiden Zelandonii and publisher Neural Forge (neuralforge.com.au).
When this one arrived from Australia the box was rather plain, and it was larger than expected – not always a good thing storage wise.
But, inside, Nimbus was just WOW!
The game board is lovely wood – always a plus.
The pieces are chunky pyramids with the tips in pastel colours. Now the colours might be an issue for the colourblind, or in certain lighting, but they are also marked with symbols of the four ‘elements’ each piece can convert too, so differentiating them is not difficult.
Combined this is a showpiece game – the kind you want on the coffee or end table or office desk just to draw attention and create conversation. There are many abstract strategy games which fit the showpiece/heirloom tag; many chess sets, Cathedral, Terrace, Abalone, Entrapment, Coerceo, Bladder (in a quirky way), Camelot, and Citadel to name a few, and Nimbus jumps onto this list in a flash.
Nimbus is a strikingly gorgeous game.
Oh, and the large box is actually wonderful as it is foam core loaded with recessed spots for each piece and the board for safe storage and transport to a coffee shop for a game meet up.
But, how does Nimbus play?
Well this is not a game where you will be good at it with just a play or two. While there are only four different kinds of ‘piece’ – actually each can evolve in any; nature/fire/water and lightning – but they are not familiar movements, so they take some getting used too. There are even metal guides to help understand the piece movement.
Nimbus has a learning curve –one that is rather steep.
“Players can expect a tactical experience which shares a lot of similarities with chess but with the added dimension that pieces can change the way they move throughout the game,” said designer Aiden Zelandonii via email. “Imagine if your rook became a bishop. Nimbus can also be a bit mind bending initially due to running on a triangular grid, our brains are much more accustomed to processing square or hexagonal grids.”
At first look it was a tad surprising given the elemental theme of Nimbus that a rock-paper-scissors capture was not incorporated, but Zelandonii said that may come one day.
“You are right that a trump system comes naturally to the style of pieces,” he said, adding “the first version of Nimbus did use one however, it turned out to be a terrible game.”
But work continues.
“There is definitely a way to make a good game using Nimbus pieces and a trump system and we are looking into new games along these lines so we can expand Nimbus to not just being a single game, but a game system,” said Zelandonii. “If anyone reading this has a great idea, we'd be happy to hear it.”
It also struck me early on that the board seemed ‘small or tight’ for the game.
“We actually never tried a larger board,” said Zelandonii. “As the movement modes where developed their range was increased from what they were to fit the size of the board so we never felt the need to go larger.
“Additionally, from a product design point of view the current board size pushes the limits of the equipment we had on hand to start manufacturing games.”
As it stands Zelandonii likes the game as it stands – and it is outstanding in spite of our questions.
The designer said, “Nimbus was born from asking myself the question ‘Can I come up with an idea for a game that is just pieces and a board that also looks good like a fancy chess set’.
“I was then thinking about aesthetics I like and Egyptian came to mind. That led to the tetrahedral pieces and the design just flowed from there.
“In contrast to most of my other designs, I didn't set out with much of a goal other than to make a good game that looked pretty and had few components.”
And in the end the elemental nature is what the designer likes best.
“The best element, in my opinion is lightening,” he said. “It has the same range as fire and although it has gaps in its coverage and is grid locked like bishops in chess, the difficulty in blocking it outweighs that for me.
“The interesting thing I've found after seeing so many people play is that everyone gravitates to different elements more or disagrees about which is strongest.”
It is interesting how pieces are at times more limited by position. Water is far ranging, but often not in the direction you want, as an example.
That is where wise piece adaptation is critical.
“The ability to change the movement mode of your pieces throughout the game is easily the most unique aspect of Nimbus and this provides a much more dynamic gaming experience than similar games, as changing the mode of a single piece can completely change the threat structure of a board state,” said Zelandonii.
Nimbus rules also offer up four different start positions, and that creates some added play variation too with a game that out of the box quickly feels as deep if not more so that chess which says a lot about how highly we regard this one.
Nimbus is a showpiece on looks, and play wise is one where you will want a 'bestie' to play this one as often as possible to get the most out of this one – a game that should become a classic.
I’d peg Nimbus as the best abstract strategy game since the 2017 release of Tak in terms of overall play. It actually looks better than Tak, but Tak is easier to grasp and explore but both rate top marks.
