I said it looked like a silly and stupid dexterity game. ( Whether that sounds like a positive or a negative, i leave it entirely up to you :P )
Well, did it live up to what i had expected of it ? Let's find out !
Knowing that i wanted to check the game out, i dragged us over to the Korea Games booth on Day 1 right after Dion had satisfied his gaming impulse buys. Haha. And lo and behold, Coconuts was in full view and there were a few tables set up for demos.
I didnt managed to get in on a demo but had the privilege to watch one play out right in front of me. It was a 4 player game with one of the players being the demo instructor herself. She was great at multitasking ( part playing her turns and part explaining to me how the game works ).
And for those who are thinking, no i didnt think it was rude. I did not expect her to stop her game to give me a run through of the rules.
Anyway, in Coconuts, players take turns to attempt to shoot a rubber (?) coconut using a very cute ( or freaky, depending on preference ) monkey catapult into an area of cups. You only get one shot per turn and if it lands into a cup, the player takes the cup and puts it in front of him/her. If the coconut misses the cup, then its the next player's turn. The goal of the game is to form a pyramid of 6 cups in front of you ( 3 base, 2 middle, 1 top ). The player who does so first is the winner !
Alternatively, if all the coconuts run out, then the player who has the most coconuts ( counted by emptying the cups in front of them ) is the winner.
Cups placed in front of you are by no means yours. They are all up for grabs !
So if someone sinks a coconut into any of the cups in front of you ( part of your pyramid ), they will take that cup and put it in front of them. This means that there will be quite a bit of back and forth going on between players.
There are also two types of cups in the game. Yellow and Red cups. Yellow cups are the basic cups. Sink coconut in and its yours. Red cups have a bonus attached to them. Sink a coconut in and you take the cup, plus, you get an additional turn. So as you can guess, the red cups are hotly contested for.
Lastly, players will each start with 2 action cards. These cards allow you to change / disrupt the flow of the game and will either benefit you or hinder others. But really, these cards do only one thing, add laughter into the game. :)
The action cards' abilities are as follows:
- take an additional shot
- force a player to skip a turn
- choose a player to take a far shot ( twice the normal distance )
- force a player to aim for a specific cup
- make the player shoot blind
- all players may blow when another player is taking his/her shot
After receiving an explanation of the game plus having some questions answered, i turned around and saw that Dion had already purchased the game ! Impulse buying at its best people.
But anyway, i didnt purchase the game as i had intended to. My major concern was how long and draggy the game could be with the back and forth stealing of each others' cups. I had also witnessed it first hand at the demo booth as well as it seemed like neither player could get a pyramid of cups done.
( I had not known then that the game also ends when all the coconuts run out; i had found that out after reading the rules before playing the game that night )
Well, on the same night, we opened it up and started a game to end the day.
And really, WHAT A BLAST !!!**
** intentionally bolded with CAPS
Coconuts was amazing ! Its hilarious, ridiculous, hilarious, and simply FUN. You would think 4 grown people flicking coconuts across the table to be absurd and silly... and it is ! Its absurdly fun and silly of anyone to think otherwise.
Its not easy to get the coconuts in, and there is great joy at a spot on shot into a red cup. :)
And whether the game stalls and drags on ? Well, it ended with Dion being the victor ( via Pyramid ).
The old hand showing a sure hand. ;)
I think we took all of maybe 15 mins ? But that was probably the best 15 mins of the night. Haha
For the doubters out there, we had a similar scenario that night.
~Dion takes out Coconuts~
Mr Skeptic ( Mr S ): Erm, are we playing that ?
Jon & Dion in Unison: Yes !
Mr S: Sorry, i think i'll pass. will watch from the side
Jon: it'll be great !
Mr S: its ok, i'll just sit here with player 2
Player 3: may i join ?
Dion: Sure !
~Game Starts~
~Laughter all around~
~Mid Game and Player 2 is shooting REALLY poorly~
Mr S to Player 2: hey, you dont know how to do this, let me show you
Player 2: dont bluff, you want to play right ? i'm not letting you ! make you regret saying no. hahaha
Mr S: just one shot, i'll be much better than you !
Player 2: nope. make you wait for the next game. hahaha
~Play Continues~
~Mr S attempts to block a shot when Player 2 has to shoot blind~
~Game Ends~
~Mr S thinks he will get a shot at game 2, but room has to close for the night~
~Cue Visible Disappointment on Mr S's Face~
Mr S. attempted to buy the game on Day 2 afternoon, but it was sold out.
( I got mine in the morning. hehehe )
That's the long story people. Short story ? Coconuts is AWESOME.
Buy it ! Play it ! Love it ! Unlock "Life is Complete" Achievement ! Haha
This here is my game of the con. I'll say it again. Game of Essen 2013.
Hands down.
I sat through and observed a demo of Russian Railroads, which to me was also very impressive. But since i didnt play it i won't comment on whether it is better than Coconuts :P ( or whether it should be Game of the Con
But i played this, and i loved it. That's all. And I'm not monkeying around.
Pre-play Thoughts: looks like buckets of fun. hope its not a draggy game
In-game Thoughts: i should have picked up a copy ! it better not be sold out tomorrow !
Post-play Thoughts: Dear Lord, i pray it is not sold out tomorrow. Amen.
Jonathan
waaahahhahahah ...... you shld named who Mr S is .....hahahahaha ? Well written hilarious short piece.
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