| Recommended Age: | 7+ |
| Our Recommended Age: | 6+ |
| Players: | 2-4 |
| Cost: | $27.99 |
| Play Time: | 15 minutes |
| Contents: | 60 Stones Illustrated Rules |
| Company Site: | www.blueorangegames.com |
| Skills: | Visual Perception Focus & Attention |
Aztack is a fun game from Blue Orange Games that takes dominoes to a whole new level. Be the player to get rid of the most stones by stacking and placing tiles, but mind the catch! You have to match the shape or color in order to stack them so look carefully! This is a great game for the whole family! No reading involved means even young kids can play, but it is also challenging enough for older kids and adults!
Aztack has you building a temple using the tiles with Aztec glyphs on them to stack higher and higher. The glyphs are based off of actual Aztec glyphs but parts of the real glyphs are left off. You can google search them and you will see that they kept a good part of the original glyphs, enough to tell what they are which is awesome. I love when games bring historical fact into it!
The tiles are pretty well made plastic. They are not too heavy but have some weight to them. Not those super light you-feel-like-you-could-snap-them kind. Also, they are embossed with the glyph which I prefer over stickers. They are also the only component of the game besides the instructions.
The box is a standard lift top lid type made out of sturdy material and there is a plastic insert that beautifully holds all the tiles (or as they call them, stones) stacked neatly on top of each other. Have I mentioned my love for this type of organization? Well I love plastic inserts that hold the pieces! Ahem…k moving on…
Object:
Get rid of the most stones to win.
Setup:
Take all 60 of the stones, turn them face down and mix them all up. The kids love this part…I like the neat stacking part but that’s just me. Now you have to create the base of the pyramid you are building. Take 12 stones, turn them face up and then put them in 2 side by side rows of 6. Be sure that each of the 5 colors appears on at least 2 different stones and if this isn’t the case swap out a stone for one with the missing color or colors.
Every player draws 12 stones and puts them face up in front of them. Now you have to decide who goes first but the game doesn’t tell you how so you get to decide. We just roll a die. It seems to be the easiest way. Now time to play!
Play:
Each player, taking turns of course, places a stone on the base matching the glyph or color. There are rules of course! A stone can be placed on any level but it has to be laid flat. No tilting in this game. You can place a stone over two stones as long as your stone matches both colors or both glyphs that you are playing on top of.
If you can’t place a stone then you pass and the next player goes. You aren’t out or anything so don’t worry. As a bonus if you can place a stone that matches both color and glyph then you get to discard a stone from your pile! Woo hoo! There is a really good example of all the rules (not as many as you were thinking right?) in the instructions. In case I confused you…it happens.
Winning:
To win either be first to place your last stone OR in the case of all players being stuck with no remaining moves then the player with the fewest stones wins! In the event of a tie then the winner is the last person to place a stone…so keep track of that!
Aztack sounds more complicated than it actually is, sorry if that was my fault, hehe. After about a round or two everyone, including kids, get it. Though some of all ages need a reminder on the rules, specifically the Bonus discard one! Yeah we have to remind everyone, including me, that you get to discard a stone if you match both color and glyph for both parts of your stone.
There are a second set of rules for what they call “Speed Stack” and I love it when companies do that! In this case you take out the turn taking and just shout out your match of “Color” “Glyph” or “Color & Glyph” and put it down. You win the same way and a tie is broken the same as well. We haven’t done this one yet because the it isn’t quite fair to the kids and if their dad and I play we can’t play this way cause we are too competitive hehehe…
I’d say 6 is a good age to learn this game and if you are wanting a game that can “grow” with your kids this is a great one. It reinforces or teaching matching and colors. In fact you could start with just that part until they understand how to play the stones and then play normally. We did that when the Gentleman was about 4 and now he wins a lot against me though his sister gives him a bit of a challenge now. I’m used to losing, I think I just have the worst luck hehe. Oh well, as my kids will tell you the most important thing is that we all have fun. I always do when playing a game with my family.
Show us your winning stone! @MyGeeklings @BlueOrangeGames #Aztack
