UBONGO! TRAVEL EDITION
Designer: Grzegorz Rejchtman | Publisher: Kosmos
Ubongo! is a family friendly puzzle game, and in its full form, you’ll be trying to claim gems by completing the puzzles within a one minute time period. These consist of a board containing an unusual shape, and you’ll be given Tetris-style shapes to fit into it based on the roll of a dice. The race begins, and upon making the correct shape, you shout “Ubongo!”. It’s generally a pleasant, harmless game, and a great one to play with children.
The travel edition builds on this successfully, except instead of having specific pieces dictated by the dice rolled, you use all of the pieces. Instead of racing against the same clock, you’re racing to reach eight points, and your fellow player has 20 seconds to complete their shape after you shout your Ubongo! Instead of a board, you’ll receive a stack of two sided task cards to cycle through. It becomes an effective card-andtoken version of the original.
However, where some will make their tokens more sturdy, or even waterproof, the Ubongo! tokens are the same cardboard tokens as the main game. That lack of durability is a concern, as there’s a reasonable chance pieces will end up spilled into the footwell when travelling, and receiving an accidental stomp. They may be sturdy enough for sensible play, but outside the safety of the board game shelves, it wouldn’t take much for a piece to break.
Having said that, the gameplay makes up for it a little. It’s simple but effective, and clever enough to make you wonder if the full version of Ubongo! is really necessary, as the fun of the puzzle is well encapsulated in these even simpler rules. The cards are balanced, so adults and children can play fairly, and there’s further recommendations on difficulties and solo modes. Ultimately, as a version to play quickly and repeatedly for travel, it does well.
CHARLIE PETTIT