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Palago

Palago
PalagoWiki.gif
Palago tiles
Players 1-5
Age range 6+
Setup time 1 minute
Playing time 30 minutes
Random chance Medium
Skill(s) required Strategy, Artistic flair

Palago is a creative art puzzle/game designed by Cameron Browne and Mike McManaway (inventor of Tantrix). A Palago set contains 48 identical tiles which can be used for a series of puzzles, a strategic two player and a co-operative multi-player game (called Palagonia).

Cameron Browne, an Australian mathematician and author of two books on game theory, created the tile design and the two player version (originally called Lambo) in 2007. The named was changed to Palago, due to the resemblance of the tiles to the island of Palau and some strategic similarities to the game of Go. Browne proposed the concept of “Palagonia: A World of Shapes” to describe the many possible creature shapes that can be made with the tiles, several of which have been rendered as “Palagonian Puzzle Creatures” by Franco Giuliani, an Argentinian artist. The multiplayer version - also called Palagonia - was designed by McManaway and Browne in 2009, and uses all 48 tiles plus two specially designed “Palago” dice.

Both Palago and Palagonia can be played on any flat surface. To start Palago, each player chooses a colour and then draws a tile out of the bag to see who goes first (though having no significance in play, half the tiles have the colour of one player on the back and half have the colour of the other player).

The first player places two tiles in the middle with both colours matching. Play continues with each player always placing two tiles per turn, and obeying the basic rules.

Basic Rules:

To win:

Palago can be played with any number of tiles. The game is drawn if the tiles run out before either player wins, (although with 48 tiles this is unlikely).

Palago is balanced between attacking and defending strategies. In fact, early in the game it can be wiser to defend without counter-attacking. This is because a player's overall position deteriorates with each attack while defending often seems to improve it. Then, when the timing is right, players should go on the attack and try to convert their superior position into a win.


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