Hamster Rolle

From: Zoch List Price: $43 Players: 2-4 Playing Time: 10-30 minutes  Type of game: Dexterity Skill level: 10 Complexity: 2  Reviewed by: Peter Sarrett, Issue 26, Summer 2001

If you’re talking quality wooden dexterity games, you’re talking Zoch— the German company that more or less created the genre with Bausack and then followed with Bamboleo. Their latest creation is Hamster Rolle, a wooden ensemble every bit as crowd-pleasing as Bamboleo but with a more solid game structure and less catastrophic end conditions.

The central piece of equipment is a ring of lightweight yellow wood, approximately 12 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches wide. Roughly (but not exactly) evenly spaced around the interior of the ring are a dozen small platforms dividing the ring into twelve compartments. Each player begins the game with identical sets of seven pieces, each a different size and color. The first to get rid of his pieces wins.

Players take turns placing their pieces into the vertical ring. Each game begins at the bottom of the ring and proceeds in the same direction (either clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on one’s orientation). Each piece must extend further in that direction, either within the same compartment as the last piece or in one of the next two compartments, but no two pieces of the same color can be in the same compartment. There are no other restrictions. Players can lay their pieces flat, stack them atop each other, lean them, place them on edge— whatever they prefer, as long as some part of the piece extends further in the buildwise direction than the last.

As more weight gets added, the ring tends to roll until a new equilibrium is achieved. As one side of the ring rolls “down”, the other rolls “up” and carries previously-placed pieces with it. An arrangement which was fine on the opposite side of the ring is often unstable on the other, and eventually pieces tumble. If they land inside the ring, they remain there. Any which fall outside the ring must be taken by the most recent player, adding to the supply he must rid himself of to win.

The character of the game depends a lot on the players. If players are nice to each other, cramming lots of pieces into the lowest compartments, it’s a placid game with little excitement in the early stages. If players are a bit more evil, however, it gets interesting in a hurry. Why play another piece in the bottom compartment when you can skip two chambers ahead, lean a small piece against the wall, and give your opponent a major headache? The compartmental dividers double as shelves for pieces to rest on, but they don’t offer a great deal of space. As the ring rolls, its interior surface becomes the shelf. But much of the building happens in the vertical segments of the ring, where players must rely on the tiny perches.

The strategy here goes beyond applied physics. The color exclusivity rule makes it possible to force an opponent to use a piece which is completely unsuitable for the available compartments. Creative placement can force the opposition into the next compartment, or discover opportunities where none seemed to exist. The slender, lightweight gray rod is particularly rife with tactical possibilities— useful in tight spots since it can often be tucked into the gap created by leaning pieces, it can also create headaches for the next player who will find its convex shape to be an unforgiving balancing surface.

Dexterity games are great ways to bring non-gamers into the fold, and the intriguing vertical ring of Hamster Rolle hooks onlookers. It can be played strictly for laughs or with a more serious, analytical mindset, making it a particularly fine example of the genre.