…A Seven-Man Game and I Began to Think She Was Insane! – Java…Not a Seven Player Game!
Seven Javas a-Swimming!
The Rules:
Java is a tactical game with very little luck involved! Which make me like it a lot as games which no matter how good you are at them you can still be beaten by a bad throw of the dice annoy me (yes I realize this is a high percentage of games). However it is NOT a seven player game unfortunately. We’re running thin on the ground for games that are higher than six players so from now on not many of the games we do will be the right number of players but they should still be entertaining games that we recommend. Java was part of the very first post we ever posted on this site so it seemed fit that it should get a mention. To read the first post we ever posted and about Java in detail click HERE!
For Christmas?
Why not? Its fun, and anyone who loses at it only has themselves to blame, not a poor hand of cards or a dodgy set of dice. It’s up to four players so can be played in a nice small group! However it being the colonizing of a small island it may set Aunt Jean off about the power and supremacy of the British Empire, so if you want the keep the potentially racists old ladies at bay it may be better to give it a miss?
Happy Seventh Day of Christmas and Happy New Years Eve! I hope you are keeping the spirit…by spirit I do not mean Vodka!
So! First post! If you’re reading this WELL DONE! If not… I don’t blame you.
First post and Obscurity!
The aim of this blog is just to talk about games; mostly obscure ones if we possibly can… Let’s be honest not many people want to talk about Monopoly. The other aim is to show our ideas and designs for games and give some away for FREE, so you can test them and give us your feedback. We have one in the works right now so keep an eye on this space as the first ten people to email us with their addresses will get a properly produced copy sent to them completely free of charge – providing they promise to give us feedback!
Even if it’s just to tell us we’re terrible and should just leave.
Sneak Peeks:
Here’s the tiniest sneak peek of the game under development:
Yes those are Warhammer pieces, Draughts pieces and a few Othello pieces.The basic concept of the board – It will be much prettier once it is done!
So the first on our list of Obscure games is an awesome game called Java.
As far as we can figure from searching for it online it’s pretty hard to come by, lucky for us we picked it up in a charity shop for £3.99 on a whim. It’d never been used before as none of the pieces had been pushed out of their holders. Only downside we could find was a dent in the box but at £3.99 we’re not complaining…. Much.
The game in essence can be seen as a strategic planning game. Your aim is to take control of the island of Java through building cities and enlarging them by placing more land pieces strategically. To win you have to score more fame points than your opponent, you accumulate these through building palaces and enlarging them and through palaces festivals or irrigating. From this run down of the game it sounds kind of boring and probably doesn’t make all that much sense… In fact when we were reading the rules we were thinking… Wow this could really suck. However it has a sort of charm to it that is unexpected and you quickly find yourself starting to try to out think your opponent. It also helps that you’re allowed (and encouraged to in the rules) to make the board more three dimensional by stacking pieces on top of each other, this is a visual bonus as the board ends up looking pretty cool!
Now, as this is the very first post I’m not going to go on too much as I don’t want to bore you to death. If you have the opportunity to get hold of a copy of Java, go for it! It’s entertaining and tactical, it makes you have to constantly watch your opponents moves and think. It’s also very easy to turn the tide so for those who like games that aren’t a set thing from within the first four or five moves this is a good game.
Hopefully we’ve ticked all the boxes with this post. Next post will be a full update on our own board game – which by the way is called ‘Breach the Keep’ cool name right? And after that we’ll see where life takes us.
Tame The Board Game 