Tabletop Spotlight: Hellapagos
You’re stuck on an island and a storm is coming. Time is running out and so is the food…Can you and your “friends” make it off the island in time?
Here at BoLS we love games that promote “Co-opetition” which means it’s Co-operative, but at some point it’s also going to be Competative. Our buddies at Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy know this so when Evan pulled out Hellapagos, I was ready to learn more:
The basics of the game are simple: Gather resources, build a raft and escape the island. However, this is a social game and the player count is anywhere from 3 to 12 players…and resources are limited! You only have a finite amount of food and water stored and while you can gather more, you do that at the cost of not working on the raft. As a collective, if you fail to build the raft to escape, you all lose. So why do you need resources like food and water? Because if you ever run out, you have to vote to decide who goes without – and that’s an individual lose condition.
It’s a delicate balance of getting resources, making yourself generally useful, but also trying not to get yourself kicked off the island. You see, not all resources you gather are useful – so while you might think scavenging will yield you useful items, they can also end up being a waste of time. On top of that, fishing is a great source of food – but there is a good chance you might only bring back enough food for one. Is that a good thing? Or was that a waste of time? Oh and if you go inland to find water, you might get bitten by a snake instead. Again, that’s not a good thing…
The voting process is also pretty intense. Only the “chief” can call a vote and it’s actually a way to protect yourself from getting kicked off if you use it strategically. If you DO get kicked off, don’t fret, because in one variant you ghost still gets to cast a vote…It’s basically like the survivor TV show, but boiled down and playable in the comfort of your own living room!
Hellapagos is a pretty good pick-up if you’re looking for a fun social game. Can you make it off the island or are you going to become it’s next victim? One way to find out!
Hellapagos
After the sinking of your boat, your group of survivors finds themselves on a desert island where water and food are scarce. The only way to escape this nightmare is to build a large raft together to escape the island, Time is short, because a hurricane is on the horizon …
Each turn the players will have to choose one of four actions: fishing, collecting Water, search for wood, or search the wreck of the boat. Team up to survive but be prepared to sacrifice your comrades in case of shortage.An almost cooperative game where you will have to be as deceitful as a diplomat to guarantee you a place on the raft for the return trip !!
It was supposed to be a three hour tour…
