{"id":3557,"date":"2002-01-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-01-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/2002\/01\/23\/die-erben-von-hoax\/"},"modified":"2002-01-23T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2002-01-23T11:00:00","slug":"die-erben-von-hoax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/2002\/01\/23\/die-erben-von-hoax\/","title":{"rendered":"DIE ERBEN VON HOAX"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Erben<\/p>\n

DIE ERBEN VON HOAX<\/h2>\n

Publisher<\/b>: Spielzeit Verlag, Am alten Pastorat 42, 51465 Berg.-Gladbach (under
\nlicense of EON)<\/p>\n

Author<\/b>: V. Hesselmann, rework of the original rules by EON (J. Kittredge, P.
\nOlotka, W. Eberle, E. Horn)<\/p>\n

Game tested<\/b>: German Edition, 1999<\/p>\n

Tester<\/b>: Moritz Eggert<\/p>\n

Scenario<\/b>: Who will inherit the “Legacy of Hoax” (translation of the
\nGerman title)? Will it be the fat baron with his ability do declare practically
\neverything as illegal? The wily judge who turns these accusations into lawsuits mostly
\nprofitable for himself? The preposterous Monk who can pardon the poor punished git…for
\na price? The sneaky thief who can steal even the hidden treasures? The shrewd trader who
\nexchanges goods with you – even against your will? The mysterious magician who can steal
\nriches with his magic – and basically annoys the hell out of everybody by being immune to
\nmost actions? Or the peaceful farmer, who is the only character in the game who seems to
\nbe happy just harvesting his grain while leaving everybody else in peace?<\/p>\n

To find out you will have to assume all this roles – whenever and however you want.
\nBut be aware that you only have one true identity…which makes you an imposter most of
\nthe time, because if anybody finds out who you truly are…you’re out of the
\ngame!<\/p>\n

The game<\/b>: Even today the name EON is almost legendary. This group of dedicated
\nand imaginative gamers invented more all-time classic games than you can shake a stick
\nat. One most only mention games like “Cosmic Encounter” (their most famous
\ngame, re-published only recently by Avalon Hill\/Hasbro, also in German),
\n“Dune”, “Runes”, “Borderlands”, “Quirks” to bring
\na gleam into the eyes of collectors and gaming buffs. There was always a common trait of
\nall their games: they were wilder, whackier and more interactive than most other games.
\nYou will never sit quietly waiting for your turn in an EON game – all-round chaos and
\nplayer communication are always part of any EON-design. But EON seemed to be a phenomenon
\nof the 70’s\/80’s, slightly out of joint with the current fads of gaming. I was
\nvery intrigued when I found out, that the original EON team was still alive and kicking,
\nworking on an Internet-version of Cosmic Encounter (see link below). And even more when I
\nwas introduced to a German reissue of their classic game “Hoax”. And “Die
\nErben von Hoax” is more than a new edition – it is an improvement on an already
\ngenial game done in collaboration with the original authors, adding a point-scoring
\nsystem, many clarifications and even a new character, the trader.<\/p>\n

Describing the game does not do it justice, but I will try nevertheless…Each player
\n(up to 8, minimum 4 to be fun) is dealt a secret identity from the ones described above.
\nTo win you must survive (which means nobody discovers your true identity) and also guess
\nsuccessfully what the other players are (kicking them out of the game and earning
\npoints). When it’s your turn, you can act as any of the characters (apart of one you
\nchoose before the round starts and which is “blackened out” on your game card),
\nmostly to get some kind of resource (there are three in the game: grain, gold and wine).
\nYou try to get “trio’s” of resources (one of each kind) which you can
\nexchange into a “question” about another player, which he has to answer
\ntruthfully by secretly passing you a card with an identity he is NOT playing (therefore
\nincreasing your knowledge about the identity he IS possibly playing). All other players
\ncan always react to any statement of identity: for example if a player takes 2 grain as
\nthe farmer, a baron might declare this illegal, another player might punish it as the
\njudge, and yet another player might pardon you as the monk, but taking one of your grain
\nas a price. In fact this combination of events will happen all the time, and you will
\nfind it EXTREMELY difficult to gain a trio. Once you have one, you might be safe, as a
\ntrio can not be torn apart…except by the thief. Bummer!<\/p>\n

But of course nobody forces you to believe any identity declared by a player. You can
\nalways “hoax” him, which means raising your finger and stating “I
\ndon’t believe you are the…”. If 50% or more of the other players join in, the
\nso accused has to say the truth: Either he “blackens out” the false identity
\nfor the rest of the round, unable to use it anymore, or he indeed IS the identity he
\nstated – meaning he is out of the round, but with 3 safe victory points more than you.
\nThere is also the real “accusation” “I believe you ARE the…” which
\nis dealt with secretly by passing accusation cards, and which is extremely dangerous as
\neither the accusing player (if he was wrong) or the accused player (if the suspicion was
\ncorrect) gets kicked out. The surviving player of this duel gets 1 VP, which isn’t
\nhalf-bad as well. If you make it to be one of the 2 last players in a round you get at
\nleast 1 VP extra, if you are THE last, you get 3 VP.<\/p>\n

Several rounds (usually 3) are played to determine the winner – you win the moment you
\nhave 10 VP’s.<\/p>\n

Playing time<\/b>: The first rounds will be very confusing for new time players –
\nThis is not a complicated game, but you have to know all 7 roles well to act
\nconvincingly. A game, once in flow, will last about an hour, not more, take 10-15 minutes
\nfor explaining the rules thoroughly. The rules (in German) are very complete and might
\nseem overly detailed at first glance, but in fact are very intelligently done and
\nunambiguous.<\/p>\n

Similar games<\/b>: “Sein oder Nichtsein” (first German edition, closer to
\nthe original hoax – as a curious side note: This game used caricatures of the then German
\ngame-of-the-year jurors as pictures for the various identities), “Hoax” (the
\noriginal game published by EON)<\/p>\n

Westpark Gamer’s Opinion<\/b>: This is a highly enjoyable game with lots of
\nlaughs. It is mostly a game of psychology – each player slowly develops his own strategy
\nof deception and bluff. One of the most obvious ones will be to use your true identity to
\ndo something extremely annoying to as many players as possible (like the baron raising a
\ntax), therefore provoking the “finger” “I don’t believe you
\nare…”. If you indeed are, you will have 3 points, and be normally well off. But to
\nbe successful you’ll also have to understand the strategies of the other players,
\nthough, and that will be much more difficult. This makes just watching the game and the
\nother players as important and fun as being active in it. The best strategy will have
\neverybody insecure about your identity all the time, therefore preventing the
\n“finger” and the unwanted blackening out of identities (which reduces your
\naction possibilities). The Victory-point element is a brilliant improvement on the
\noriginal game, as it now also induces tactical thinking – sometimes it’s better to
\ndoubt a player even if you’re not sure, if it makes you one of the last 2 players
\nwith the potential to garner even more points. This prevents the stand-still-situations
\nsometimes apparent in the old game, when everybody was scared to doubt as it was an
\nautomatic win for the wrongly doubted player. Now “tactical out-doubting” is
\ncrucial to the game.<\/p>\n

“Die Erben…” might wear off slightly if you constantly play it with the
\nsame people, but even one single new player changes the whole complicated equilibrium of
\ndoubt and certainty. In short: a wonderful classic which everybody should know and play
\nagain and again. And a truly innovative game design unlike no other game.<\/p>\n

Moritz’ Rating<\/b>: 10 (ok, you guessed it)<\/p>\n

Westpark Gamers’ Rating<\/b>: 8 (19.9.2001)<\/p>\n

Links to further information:<\/b><\/p>\n