Clacks Review: dominate Discworld's messaging system!

In the book, Clacks is the informal name for the new Semaphore Messaging System, with claims to be the fastest way to send long-distance messages around Discworld, hence competing with the existing Ankh-Morpork Postal Service.

In Discworld, Ankh-Morpork is the great apple, the world's most important city, the economic center, also chaotic and corrupt, ruled by the cynical and cunning Lord Vetinari.

Lord Vetinari's goal, with Moist von Lipwig's help, is to usurp the Clacks, a new semaphore messaging system based on lamps with shades atop tall towers, belonging to the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, led by the unscrupulous Reacher Gilt.

This turns into a race between the Ankh-Morpork Post Office and the Clacks operators to see who can most efficiently send messages between Ankh-Morpork and Genua. The book is a brilliant satire on capitalism, technology, and bureaucracy, filled with Terry Pratchett's signature humor.

Clacks: A Discworld Board Game, or simply Clacks, is a 1-to-4 players' game, age 8+, by designers Leonard Boyd and David Brashaw. Art by Amber Grundy.

Clacks was published in 2015 by Backspindle Games Ltd., and hasn't been released in Brazil. The main game mechanics are: competitive and cooperative, action points, pattern recognition, and take that.

Clacks is one of eight boardgames based on the Discworld series, by Terry Pratchett.

Let's play!

Playing the game

The Grand Trunk Semaphore Company has been challenged by Ankh-Morpork's Postal Service system. The goal is to see who can send a message faster and more efficiently from the city of Ankh-Morpork to the city of Genua.

Therefore, Grand Trunk needs the best Clack operators on their system. You'll compete with your opponents to find out who will be the best, fastest Clacks operator in Discworld.

This is the scenario for Clacks!

Clacks is how the Discworld's messaging system is called, with a tower network that goes all around the continent.

In the game, you can play competitively, seeking to be the fastest Clacks operator and thus be hired by Grand Trunk, or play cooperatively, as existing Grand Trunk employees, against the Ankh-Morpork Postal Service. They challenge you to a race, to see who can most efficiently send a message from Ankh-Morpork to Genua.

In either game mode, your goal is to show that Clacks is here to stay!

In today's review, I'll focus on the competitive game mode. Each player starts with a Clacks Card, which contains a 5-letter word related to the Discworld universe. This is the word you'll transmit!

To transmit, we will have to use the Clacks lamps, and for that, we will have the help of the jacquards, which facilitate the sending of messages. However, everytime you use the Clacks, you wear them out a little, so you also need to manage the stress limit on the gears.

In the competitive game mode, only the central area of ​​the board will be used, the Clacks exchange area, where each player will manipulate the lamps to generate the perfect combination of each of the letters in their word card.

Additionally, we'll also have an Incident Report Card, which are cards that change the outcome of some lamp tokens, and that can either help or hinder our opponents.

On your turn, you perform these actions:

- move your pawn to a tower selector button;

- use at least 1 jacquard;

- if you formed a letter, mark it as completed on your Clack card;

- replace any used jacquards.

You start the game on your selector button, which can be green or red. You can only move through the selector buttons of your color. You'll choose a tile on the board, one of your color's selector buttons, and from there, you move to a different selector button, from where you will attempt to transmit your first letter.

This move is mandatory, unless you didn't transmit any letters the previous turn, in which case you can try transmitting from the current location without having to move. At the start of your turn, you only have 5 stress points to spend, between moving around the tower selector buttons and using the jacquards. Each time you move, you spend 1 stress point, so be aware of this.

After moving, it's time to use at least 1 jacquard to manipulate the lamp tokens to your advantage, and try to create the letter pattern on your Clack card. The alphabet is simple, somewhat reminiscent of Braille.

Whenever you use a jacquard, you also spend some stress points, which are also deducted from your starting 5 from each turn. You'll have to manage this carefully.

Now it's time to check if you successfully formed your letter, from left to right, on your Clack card. You can only form one letter per turn, and if you do, you must place a token on the Clack card to indicate that the letter has been transmitted.

Finally, all that's left is to replace the jacquards you used, always leaving 3 jacquards available to you. If you happen to pick up a jacquard with a red symbol, take an Incident Report Card from the pile.

These cards can be used at any time, either on your turn or another player's turn. They can switch lamp tokens on and off, cause a blackout, limit the use of jacquards, and so on. They significantly alter the game's outcome and are highly strategic; use them accordingly.

This is a turn of Clacks!

Ending the Game

In competitive mode, the end of the game is triggered when a player successfully sends the last letter from their word. They win the game at the end of the round, when all players have completed their turn.

If more than one player completes their message in the same round, the winner is whoever spent the fewest stress points on their last turn. If the tie persists, the tied player with the word that comes first in alphabetical order wins.

In Clacks, being well-positioned between the selector buttons makes all the difference, for two basic reasons:

- it helps you transmit from a good location;

- it prevents an opponent from using that location.

Use your 5 stress points wisely, as they're key. Avoid wasting them on movement, so you can maximize the use of jacquards and transmit your letter.

Use Incident Report Cards to your advantage, or to delay your opponents; this will make all the difference. If played at the right time, it's possible to transmit one letter per turn - it's certainly not easy, but with good positioning and good use of jacquards, it works.

I say this, for example, because there's one called Blackout, which turns off all lamp tokens. This can help you a lot, as there are letters that use few lights on, and this makes it easier to form your letter, and at the same time it can also make it hard for your opponents to progress.

During the game, lamp tokens change constantly. After all, everyone manipulates them, turning the lamps on or off, so there's no real way to predict what will happen. Clacks takes you out of your comfort zone, forces you to think quickly, and position yourself well. This is what makes it so great.

Finally, always keep an eye on the letters your opponents are trying to transmit, so you can end your turn in a position that benefits you while also hinders the opposition. It's part of the game!

Based on these tips, develop your best strategy, position yourself between the selector buttons, manipulate the lamp tokens correctly, and win at Clacks!

Unboxing:

Rules:

Gameplay:

If you're looking for a challenging game that will take kids out of their comfort zone and keep them entertained, Clacks is the game for you.

The idea of ​​forming a letter with a pattern of lights is sure to capture kids' attention. Clacks is all about that: you must try to form one letter at a time, on each turn.

The children's spatial awareness will be tested, as to transmit a letter, they must position themselves in the center of the transmission. They will also have to develop a strategy to manage the 5 stress points that can be spent on their turn, using the correct jacquards to switch the lights from on to off, and vice versa.

Logical reasoning will be put to the test throughout the game, and that's a great entertainment for the kids: turning the lights on and off to transmit letters. There will be laughter all around, as they turn off a light that disrupts their opponent's plans, or turn on a light that also disrupts another player. These will be memorable moments.

Pedagogically, Clacks encourages strategy, management, decision-making, logical and mathematical reasoning, spatial awareness, and, best of all, it's fun!

I recommend Clacks for your collection!!!