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Alea Analysis #5: Adel Verpflichtet (Big Box #5)
Adel Verpflichtet is an unusual Alea game for a couple of reasons. First, it's one of just two big-box games that wasn't printed in English in the Alea version (Chinatown was the other). Second, it was the only Alea big-box game to have been previously published in another version; in fact the original printing of Adel dates way back to 1990, far predating the Alea series itself.
In 1990, Klaus Teuber's Adel picked up both the SdJ and the DSP; it was also one of the very first German games to make it to American shores, as Avalon Hill's 1991 By Hook or By Crook. Thus, the game had serious pedigree. Still, I'm pretty surprised to see it in the Alea series.
The game is a classic simultaneous selection game that reminds me most of Basari (or, if you prefer, Edel, Stein & Reich, the 2003 redevelopment by ... Alea). Its biggest twist is the fact that you make two simultaneous selections. The first time you choose a location and the second time you choose an action in that location. The end result is that you have a little bit of information about what other players are doing before making your final choice. Maybe that allows you some more strategy, but I find that the selections still end up being pretty random (or based on "people reading", if such really exists). Perhaps more importantly the two-step simultaneous selection probably makes the game more manageable with more players.
The goal in Adel, by the by, is to collect sets of antiques and put on shows for points, but you can steal money and antiques and you can capture thieves along the way, all as simultaneous selections options.
I think the game has two things really going for it.
First, it's a quick, light game. It's easy to explain and easy to understand, yet does allow as much strategic depth as you can get out of any simultaneous-selection game. Of all the Alea games to date, I think this is the simplest, beating out both Ra and Chinatown, both of which I consider a little more gamerly.
Second, it plays really well with a lot of players. The Alea version supports up to 5, while Uberplay's more recent edition goes up to 6. Because everything is simultaneous, there's very little downtime, and everyone gets to remain involved in interesting ways.
In a review of the game, I could stop there. However, in discussing its fit into the Alea series, I'll note that I think Alea players would generally find it too light. Between the simplicity of the system and the randomness of the card draws for antiques, it's a fair amount less controlled than anything else in the Alea series, except perhaps Chinatown (which similarly has random draws that can really help out an individual, without much you can do about it).
Here's how I rate it in the series:
The easiest version of the game to get is Uberplay's Hoity Toity from several years ago. That's also the aforementioned version that supports 6 players. It's also out of print now, but it hasn't been for long.
In 1990, Klaus Teuber's Adel picked up both the SdJ and the DSP; it was also one of the very first German games to make it to American shores, as Avalon Hill's 1991 By Hook or By Crook. Thus, the game had serious pedigree. Still, I'm pretty surprised to see it in the Alea series.
The game is a classic simultaneous selection game that reminds me most of Basari (or, if you prefer, Edel, Stein & Reich, the 2003 redevelopment by ... Alea). Its biggest twist is the fact that you make two simultaneous selections. The first time you choose a location and the second time you choose an action in that location. The end result is that you have a little bit of information about what other players are doing before making your final choice. Maybe that allows you some more strategy, but I find that the selections still end up being pretty random (or based on "people reading", if such really exists). Perhaps more importantly the two-step simultaneous selection probably makes the game more manageable with more players.
The goal in Adel, by the by, is to collect sets of antiques and put on shows for points, but you can steal money and antiques and you can capture thieves along the way, all as simultaneous selections options.
I think the game has two things really going for it.
First, it's a quick, light game. It's easy to explain and easy to understand, yet does allow as much strategic depth as you can get out of any simultaneous-selection game. Of all the Alea games to date, I think this is the simplest, beating out both Ra and Chinatown, both of which I consider a little more gamerly.
Second, it plays really well with a lot of players. The Alea version supports up to 5, while Uberplay's more recent edition goes up to 6. Because everything is simultaneous, there's very little downtime, and everyone gets to remain involved in interesting ways.
In a review of the game, I could stop there. However, in discussing its fit into the Alea series, I'll note that I think Alea players would generally find it too light. Between the simplicity of the system and the randomness of the card draws for antiques, it's a fair amount less controlled than anything else in the Alea series, except perhaps Chinatown (which similarly has random draws that can really help out an individual, without much you can do about it).
Here's how I rate it in the series:
- Taj Mahal (Plays: 7)
- Princes of Florence (Plays: 4+) [ Read my Review ]
- Ra (Plays: 15) [ Read my Review ]
- Adel Verpflichtet (Plays: 2) [ Read my Review ]
- Chinatown (Plays: 1)
The easiest version of the game to get is Uberplay's Hoity Toity from several years ago. That's also the aforementioned version that supports 6 players. It's also out of print now, but it hasn't been for long.