Trango

Trango is a strategic pattern game, with just enough chance in it to keep it as fun as it is challenging. It's a tile game, played with interlocking triangular tiles. The object is to get points by building high-scoring configurations of your tiles.

The game can be played by up to 4 players of strategic-game-playing-age. It takes less than 10 minutes to learn, which is made easier by having the rules printed on the box for easy review by all players, as well as on an included pamphlet.

A great deal of loving attention has gone into the game. And deservedly so. The game takes about 20 minutes to play, and every minute of it is engaging. The triangular box, the 4 triangular compartments for each of 4 different color tiles, the interlocking triangular tiles - all add a welcome touch to the play experience. The interlocking tiles are especially innovative. Because pieces are not just placed next to each other, but actually joined together, the whole, growing configuration of tiles can be easily moved and repositioned so that each player can look at all sides of the constantly changing board.

The single die is designed so that it is much more likely that you'll throw a one, slightly less likely that you'll throw a two, and the least likely that you'll throw a three. What you throw determines how many tiles you can play on a turn. Because you never know how many tiles you or your opponents will play, there's always hope that your attempt at creating one of the four scoring patterns will succeed. Naturally, the larger the pattern that you attempt to create, the higher the score potential, and the more likely it is that you will be blocked. Playing to reduce someone else's chances to win is as crucial to your success as playing to increase your own.

Recognizing possible configurations requires visual as well as strategic thinking. You need to envision how each tile, in each position, can be used in the creation of a winning pattern. And, once you manage to score, it is: a) more likely that you'll be able to score again by adding to that scoring pattern, and b) equally more likely that you'll be blocked.

Because of the random factor imposed by the die, playing with two players is as engaging as playing with three or four.

All in all, Trango is thoroughly satisfying. It makes you think. It makes you laugh. It is indubitably Major FUN, and, from time to time, surprisingly so.