When I first read over the rules for Message to the Czar (Winning Moves and Rio Grande Games, 2003 - Christiane Knepel), I thought they sounded fairly interesting. Some of the mechanics were unusual - I’m not sure I’ve seen them in games before. And the theme, delivering a letter to the Czar in ancient Russia, certainly sounded interesting - almost sort of a race theme. The rules seemed fairly simplistic, so I had an optimist attitude when bringing the game to the table for the first time.
I wasn’t quite so pleased after playing the game. The rules were solid, but the end game was so out of touch with the rest of the game, that I felt like there were two different games melded together. The first main part of the game felt like an abstract strategy game, where players jockeyed for position, but I was impressed by the interesting strategies available. All this mattered little, however, because the end of the game was that of a “push your luck” variety. I’m not opposed to these types of games, but the mixture with the nearly abstract maneuvering was jarring.
The board has four rows (villages) of inns, each with a different name - but essentially the same. The bottom and top rows have five inns each, and the middle two rows have four. Each inn is split into four different rooms, or sections. Some of the inns may be closed down, depending on number of players (up to five). Each player gets twelve courier tiles (officers, Cossacks, attachés, and diplomats). The couriers are distinguished from each other only by the fact that they can only go into one of the four specific inn sections. For example, Cossacks can only go into the top right room of an inn. Players take the couriers, shuffle them, and place them face down in a stack in front of them. Thirty coins are shuffled face down on the table, with faces showing “Njet”, nothing, “1”, “2”, or “3”. One player is chosen to go first, and each player in turn order turns over their top courier tile, placing it in the appropriate room in any empty inn. They then take the message tile in their color and place it on their courier, and flip over their next courier face up to start a discard pile. The game is ready to begin.
On a player’s turn, they have one of four options...
- Place a courier: The player may either take any of the couriers in their discard pile or the top courier from their draw pile. They then place it in any available inn, as long as they place it in the correct room, and only if the inn has two or less couriers in it. Inns are maxed out with three couriers, and a fourth may never be placed. If the player, after doing this, has no courier in their discard pile, they turn the top courier over to form a new discard pile.
- Hand off the message: The player may transfer their message from the courier who has it to any other courier in the village.
- Travel to the next village: Each “full” inn (one with three couriers) has an arrow pointing to one of the couriers. The player may move this courier, and must also move the courier who is next clockwise in the inn (the other courier gets left behind) to the next village. The player may move them in any order, placing them in two different inns. If there are no available inns (either all the specific rooms for that type of courier are full, the inns themselves are full, and/or the other courier went to the inn), then the courier may “skip” the village, going to the next one. If a courier is in the last village, they are returned to the player’s draw pile; and if they have a message, that message is given to the palace guard directly above the inn.
- Bribe the guard. This can only be done if a player has a message on a guard. Each guard has a specific number of rubles they need (6, 8, or 10). A player turns over one coin at a time, placing them face up in the palace. At any time, they may stop and keep all the coins they have collected. However, if they turn over a “njet” coin, they forfeit all the coins they’ve collected this turn.
Once a player has gotten the amount of rubles (or more) needed to bribe their guard, they win the game!
Some comments on the game...
1.) Components: The game is produced with pretty good quality. Everything is clear and easy to distinguish. My favorite components were the little wooden letters - they were just a nice addition. Little cardboard “closed” signs are provided to show which inns are shut down, if playing with less than four players. The coins are small but not too small, and the numbers on them are quite clear. The tiles and inns on the board are the main components, and they do match up well. The inns have a slightly odd shape, and it’s pretty simple when glancing at a courier to see in which corner of the inn they reside. I like how each room has an arrow pointing at another room; so that if a courier is in a room, they cover up their arrows. Everything fits in a small box - same size as the popular game Transamerica, although players will probably seek to have some plastic bags to keep the components separate.
2.) Rules: The rules for the game are printed on four pages - colorfully illustrated, and very well formatted. Of course, the rules are extremely simple, and there’s not much to teach. From what I can understand, the original game, Muscat, has very different rules and is more highly acclaimed. Either way, the game is simple to teach, and even kids pick it up fairly easily.
3.) Luck: I don’t mind luck in a game, as long as the luck is balanced. The problem with Message to the Czar is that you may better place your couriers, you may better move the message up through the ranks, you may successfully outwit your opponents, yet LOSE the game because of your unlucky coin draws. That is ridiculous, and anyone who loses a game because of this (it WILL happen) will go away angry and bitter. Going into a game, knowing that it’s luck based, is one thing. Playing a game that has some fairly decent strategy then gambles it all away at the end is another.
4.) Strategy: Until you get to the end phase of the game, there are some interesting tactical decisions in the game. Knowing just what inn to place your couriers in is crucial, and knowing which courier to carry your message even more so. Should you try to keep your couriers together, or force another player to move them up along with their couriers? I liked these decisions; and although I’m not sure they really fit the theme all that well, the game play was good. The first person up to the top should win, I think. Forget the stupid endgame. I like “playing chicken” when drawing coins, but that should be in a different game, or at least not be so important.
5.) Fun Factor: For me, the game has two negatives. First of all is the moronic endgame, which I’ve already railed against. Secondly, it’s an abstract game at heart, and I’m not a big fan of those. I think I might have enjoyed this one, however, without the endgame. A game is only fun if it ends fun, and this one is really only fun in the beginning and middle. Fortuantely, the game only lasts about twenty or thirty minutes, so it’s not an excruciatingly bad thing, but long enough to where I’m not sure I’ll play it again.
I can’t really recommend this game - I’m not sure I’ve gotten my money’s worth, even with buying a used version at a discount. There’s the hint of a good game here, but the endgame positively just ruins it. Perhaps someday I’ll get a chance to play the original game, Muscat, which I hear is better. However, now all I have is Message to the Czar. Sadly, I think he’s just going to have to wait a while, as all my messengers got disgusted with the annoyances of his guards and quit. This game is going to languish on my shelf, until I can find a way around the end game. It’s sad when one rule like that can ruin the entire game.
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games.”
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