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Main Catalogue | BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES | DDD Verlag

1655 - Habemus Papam

Price: £16.99

Card Game for 3-4 Players, ages 10+, from DDD Verlag Rome, 1655 anno domini. An announcement shocks the whole Christendom – pope Innocent X is dead. With lightning speed cardinals travel to Rome, center of religious power and intrigue. Suspense is palpable, when the players in their role as Preferiti -- the most likely candidates to ascend the Holy See -- try to gain as much votes as possible, using bribery, beguilement and tactical calculation. In the end, only the cardinal with both: all the votes money could buy and a proven mastery on the political stage, will be elected pope. One is for sure, if the white smoke rises, it will be declared: \'Habemus Papam! We have a pope!\' Content: 120 playing cards, 52 gems, 4 view screens, 1 card base, 1 rulebook, 1 information sheet. ----------------------------------------------------- COUNTER MAGAZINE REVIEW: ----------------------------------------------------- 3-4 players, 30-45 minutes designed by Christoph Bauer reviewed by John Humphries The year is 1655. Pope Innocence X has died. The cardinals have gathered in Rome to elect a new Pope. Each player is a cardinal attempting to gather enough votes to be the one elected to the Papal Throne and become head of the Holy See. Votes are acquired in various and nefarious ways. Persuading other cardinals and factions to vote for you; cosying up to kings Louis XIV for votes and Philip IV for money; buying votes and if all else fails bringing about the death of opposing cardinals. The box contains 120 cards of which there are six types distinguished by the designs on their back; 52 gold cards in denominations of 1,2,5,10 and 20 coins, 20 Cardinal cards, 18 Political cards, 18 Action cards, 8 Order cards and 2 Camerlengo cards. 52 gems (coloured glass actually, 4 screens, the rules booklet and an information sheet. 18 of the cardinal cards each contain a portrait of a cardinal who was at the 1655 election, together with his age and the faction to which he belonged. The other two cards are the Black and White smoke. As I am sure you already know, each time a vote is taken the papers are burned and if black smoke billows from the Vatican chimney is signifies that no decision has been made. However, when white smoke issues forth, it tells the world that a new pope has been elected. The 18 cards are shuffled and the black smoke card inserted approximately halfway down and the white smoke card placed among the bottom three cards of the deck. The Political cards and the Action cards are shuffled separately and the three decks placed face down in the centre of the table together with one of the Camerlengo cards. The other one is placed in the card stand provided and is placed in front of the start player for the round. The Camerlengo is the chaplain who deals with the Pope\'s secular matters. Each player receives a selection of gems and gold cards and a screen behind which the above are secreted. Players also are dealt two Order cards. (More about these later). At the beginning of each round the player with the Camerlengo turns over the top card of the Cardinal, Political and Action decks. Players who have previously acquired Action cards may now play and resolve them if they wish. All players now bid for turn order by taking between 0 and 3 gems in their closed hands and revealing them simultaneously. Quantity supersedes quality. So the player who bid the most gems takes the first turn in the next phase. However, as in most cases there is a tie with the quantity, quality comes to the fore. Diamonds (white) are the most valuable followed by rubies (red), sapphires (blue) and finally amber (yellow). Thus a bid of 1 diamond and 1 sapphire will beat one of 2 rubies. In bid order, the winner being first, players take one of the top cards from the decks. Cardinal cards are worth one vote at the end of the game and are placed face up in front of the player\'s screen. When the Black smoke card is revealed, all players receive 5 gold for every cardinal card in their display. Players must also return one of their Order cards. The White smoke card signals the end of the game. After it is revealed, each player has one more turn. Political cards are also placed in front of the screens. These cards include those for Louis XIV, which give votes, Philip IV who provides gold and Cardinal Mazarin who will exchange gold for votes. The more of each of the above cards one can collect, the greater the reward. For example having 1 Louis XIV card gives 1 vote whilst owning 4 cards awards 6 votes. With 1 Mazarin card a vote will cost 10 gold but with 3 such cards a vote will only cost 7 gold. Another very useful Political card is Cause of Death which when played means that all the other players must lose the oldest cardinal from their display. Action cards provide a range of benefits from receiving gold from the bank to exchanging two Cardinal cards in players\' displays. These cards are placed behind the players\' screens. The rules state that these cards must be played immediately, ie, at the beginning of the next round. However, we decided to use them when they are most beneficial to the player. There are also 4 faction leader cards among this deck, when taken they are placed face up in the player\'s display. Choosing the Camerlengo enables the player to take from the supply, 1 ruby, 1 sapphire, 1 amber and 1 gold. This is very important as all gems used in a bid must be returned to the supply and this is the only way in which players can replenish their gem stock. Therefore a player\'s gems must be carefully managed when bidding. Whilst the game is easy to play, simply a matter of bidding gems and taking cards from the decks, a good understanding of the scoring system is essential to gain the most valuable cards. At the end of the game each Cardinal and Faction Leader card in a player\'s display is worth 1 vote. Louis XIV cards are worth a number of votes depending upon the quantity of such cards in the player\'s display. Gold can be turned into votes, the exchange rate being dependent upon the number of Mazarin cards the player has. A couple of other Political cards also provide votes. Several of the Cardinal cards contain an additional symbol and one extra vote is earned at the end of the game for each pair of Cardinal cards with the same symbol. Finally we come to the Order cards which players received at the start of the game. Each cardinal belongs to one of four factions namely French, Spanish, Innocence X and Urban VIII and each identified by its shield. The Order cards show a combination of three or four such shields and by collecting Cardinal cards with shields which match the Order, additional votes are gained. Needless to say the player with the most votes at the end of the game is the winner and elected pope. The bidding for turn order becomes increasingly important as the game progresses and cards are revealed which are essential to own in order to gain votes. At the same time it is necessary to carefully manage one\'s gem store as there is only one way to obtain additional ones. The rules state that Action cards must be used immediately, i.e. at the beginning of the following round, however, we decided that they could be kept and used when most advantageous to that player which seems more sensible. There are only 7 different actions, many of which appear twice in the deck. Several plays showed that the player who was able to collect a large amount of gold and gain the majority of Mazarin cards to get the best gold to votes exchange rate, invariably won the game. Although the box says that the game is for 3-4 players, it does work with 2 as my wife and I proved during the Christmas holidays. An information leaflet enclosed with the game gives brief details of the events which actually took place in 1655, which help to add flavour to the game. Whilst 1655 Habemus Papem is not the most exciting card game to have appeared recently, it does not take up too much time to play, is quite good fun and a good filler.

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Main Catalogue | BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES | DDD Verlag

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