Hello everyone,
I'm the designer of Recess! I'm very pleased at how this game has turned out. I'm quite proud of the the results and if you don't mind me saying so I think that the nun turn track is one of the coolest inclusions in any game I own.
If you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer them. Thank you for your interest in Recess!
Morgan Dontanville
Just bought a copy in FLGS in Hong Hong, and played a quick game inside the shop. Seems to be a very good filler!
Some initial impressions and questions :
Components
The printing is done in Hong Kong and is less colourful than it could be. The boards have a rough surface but the children pieces are very cute. (How do I measure one minute if the previous player did not use up the time?)
Rules
The rules are very clear. Easy to teach and understand, and fun to play as well. The kisser ended up second in the test game. (However the one-page rulebook did not mention the fact that nuns cannot move through obstacles. The playmat did.)
I have two small question:
a) During the "nun" phase, can I choose to not move anything? I assume you must move at least one space
b) In the rare occasion that I have no coin, do I not need to pay anything when attacked or when another player kissed?
Glad that you enjoyed Recess!
I've found that turns very rarely go past a minute, so I don't usually use the timer until/unless a player starts to dawdle. Then, you can flip it as a "get moving!" measure.
I'm pretty sure that nuns are not allowed to move through obstacles.
I'm not necessarily the authority on this, but my close read of those rules suggests that you are not allowed to pass your nun movement.
That makes sense to me.
>> How do I measure one minute if the previous player did not use up the time?
If you feel the need to always use the timer, I recommend getting another cheap 1 min timer to flip while the other one is running out or using a kitchen digital timer (There are a number of great games that require or could use a digital timer so it is a good investment).
>> However the one-page rulebook did not mention the fact that nuns cannot move through obstacles. The playmat did.
No, Nuns may not move or see through obsticles.
a) During the "nun" phase, can I choose to not move anything? I assume you must move at least one space
Yes, you must move the nun unless your time runs out, you could be gamey about this, but if you were to wait out the turn to not move the Nun you would be giving the next player extra time to asses their turn.
b) In the rare occasion that I have no coin, do I not need to pay anything when attacked or when another player kissed?
[b]There is no system of debt in Recess! But there is payback, so if someone saps you to your last dollar it is in everyone's interest to beat the bucks out of that player.
If one person is to the point of running out of money it is also in other player's best interest to tattle on the attacking player as it punishes the player that is getting ahead of the pack, while feeling safe about letting the last place player off the hook. Plus, players tend to remember favors in such a short game.[/b]
I'm glad you enjoyed the game, it has brought me some great laughs.
Thank you,
Morgan Dontanville
Played another game yesterday with 5 (last one was 4).
With 4 more children pieces on the board, the game seems much more chaotic! There are so many pieces that you can always find someone to attack, and someone who tried to break off a fight will usually become the next victim.
Is it correct that the children walking away from a fight cannot attack another child in the same turn?
Game dynamics change dramatically as you change the number of players. With any game, the more players that you add, the more chaos will ensue. I see what you are saying, I enjoy some of the free for all aspect. Were this not a 15 - 30 minute game I think the chaos would be too much for me.
As this is a light romp, I feel that the battle royale effect of a five player game becomes quite entertaining. Especially as you can tattle, push your kids closer to the kissing goal, protect your kids with the nun's line of sight, and ultimately send others back to the start (with them losing movement as well).
The other thing to keep in mind is that with five players, each player has less turns so if you set your goals on moving forward, you can take advantage of the extra movement you get from breaking up the kids.
That said, I played this again two nights ago with 4 and I felt much more in control. I think it is fine with 5, but the 4 player game certainly is easier to regulate your strategies.