When Angelo Porazzi told me that he was sending me a copy of his latest game, TaTaTa! (Angelo Porazzi Games, 2005 - Angelo Porazzi) in a shipment to me, I was quite pleased. I really enjoyed Angelo’s other two games: Peacebowl (a fun, light football-type game), and Warangel (one of the best fantasy light war games I’ve ever played). When I got the package, which had some more Warangel armies and other games in it, I was a little confused. Where was TaTaTa? Finally, when I opened a game, I found it - it was in a very small box, and I almost missed it (along with Angelo’s message to me - “To-To-Tom”. In fact, as I type this review, I notice that I have to quickly scour my desk to find the game. TaTaTa is one of the smallest game packages I have yet spreads out to be a fairly good-sized game.
Make no mistake, the small package doesn’t mean the game isn’t good. I found TaTaTa! to be an interesting mix of mechanics, but in a pleasing way. The theme was that of an airplane race, where the planes can shoot each other down and generally be a nuisance. Those expecting an experience like Wings of War will be surprised, though, as TaTaTa! combines memory elements with card management, while maintaining a bit of “take that” element. It’s fun, tactical, and allows players to interact with each other. Turns are fast, and players have a lot of choices to make when playing the game. It’s a nice light game that can easily be carried around - something that fits the bill often in my case.
There are two versions of the rules: Basic and Advanced. I’m just going to briefly review the advanced rules, as I prefer them to the rather simplistic basic rules. Each player takes an airplane and matching base card of their color. The base cards are placed on the board in a circle type formation, with three to seven “sky” cards (depending on how long of a race you want) placed face down between each - to form a race track. Each player places their plane on the non-smoking side onto their base. A pile of thirty-six “deck” cards are shuffled, and each player is given four of them for their starting hand. One player is chosen to go first, and then play proceeds clockwise.
On a player’s turn, they may play the cards from their hands to do take actions. Each card has four numbers, often different, in the four corners of the cards. Each number has a different color and allows the player to do a different action.
- Black - Action! The first card a player plays must use the black number, which is the action number. This number determines the total amount of cards that player may use this round.
- Blue - Fly! Blue numbers allow a player to move their plane a number of cards up to the sum of all the Fly! cards used. Planes may not land on spaces that are occupied by other planes.
- Red - Tatata! If an opponent’s plane is directly in front of them, a player may use a Tatata! card to fire at that plane. A plane in a base is safe from attack.
- Green - Move! When being attacked by a Tatata! card, a player must play a move card(s) with a total number higher than that on the Tatata! card, to dodge the attack.
- Pink - Loop! These cards allow a plane to use a Tatata! or other cards to attack a plane directly behind them.
When a player moves their plane, the sky card they end up on is revealed. Some of these cards have no effect, but most do something crazy or unusual. Some of the sky cards have yellow borders, meaning that they are picked up and added to the player’s hand, who can use them later. These yellow-bordered cards allow special attacks, smoke screens, and other odd effects. After a player uses one of these sky cards, they insert it back into the track wherever they want. Other sky cards, which cannot be picked up, include ones that give the player extra cards, damage the plane, or allow the plane to hide from others who are shooting at it.
Whenever a plane cannot avoid damage from a Tatata! card or a sky card, they are flipped over to the “smoking” side. If a plane is hit while on the “smoking” side, they are returned to the previous base and must spend one movement point to turn their plane back to the non-smoking side, so they can continue the race.
As planes pass their starting base, the base is rotated to show what lap they are on. The first plane to successfully complete three laps is the winner!
Some comments on the game...
1.) Components: I really love the artwork on Angelo’s game; he may be a clever designer, but I think he’s an artist first and foremost. All of the cartoonish, crazy artwork on the cards is from one large picture, but Angelo maneuvers it so that each card feels differently - and no two cards look alike. Speaking of the cards, they are quite small about the size of the cards of the original Ticket to Ride. While this means that they may be too small for some, I thought the small information contained on each card allowed this compact design. The very small box that holds all the cards is very easy to carry around, although it may not be as sturdy as it could be. The cards are of good quality and take a lot of wear easily. Several blank cards are included, so that players can design their own planes, sky cards, or action cards.
2.) Rules: The rules for the game that I initially read were a little confusing, but Angelo has worked to make them more easily readable - I was pleased with the latest version; they were easy enough for me to understand. The game is extremely easy to teach, even to young children. However, I do think that the basic rules might be better for most people to learn, as players ignore the four numbers in the corners of the card, and only use the top left number, which matches the background and words on the card. After one lap or game of the Basic rules, I would move on; as the advanced game is so much better!
3.) Memory: Memory, while not the determining factor of the game, still plays an important role, as it really behooves players to remember which sky cards are where. If a sky card deals four damage to a plane, you best remember not to land there! And conversely, if a card keeps your plane safe from attacks, and you have a trigger-happy player on your tail; it’s nice to know where the safe haven is. The fact that several of the cards can be placed in different locations shakes things up a bit and helps keep the memory element a little off balance. If you don’t like memory games, I still don’t think this one will bother you, as you can survive without taking undue time to memorize which cards are where. But it helps.
4.) Interaction: What better interaction can you ask for than shooting at each other in planes? Getting shot down is not game-breaking, as you only go back one base. But it can cost a player valuable time, and therefore is best avoided. Shooting at each other is a little more difficult than it seems, as a player has to get right behind another player, and what if the sky card directly behind them is a dangerous one? The key to the game, I think, is knowing how to use the looping cards correctly. Knowing how to shoot someone down who is coming after you is a good maneuver and fun to pull off.
5.) Luck: At first, some of the players I gamed with complained about how getting / landing on the right cards gave some players a big break. But since the game is three laps, and players know many of the cards going around the second time, the luck does even out. And even a card that seems like it is bad has some kind of use. Usually a card has good numbers in two of the corners, and so using a “4” for my action card means that I’m not using it for my fly card. Players who manage their hand well and save cards for when they are attacked by others will do better. Yes, there’s luck, but it evens out over the race.
6.) Fun Factor: After several dryer Eurogames, I was pleased to play a game brimming with theme once again. Players were laughing and making shooting noises as they shot at each other, and other special sound effects were made to accompany the fun everyone was having. It was a race, which allowed players to take pot shots at each other. How could that not be fun?
7.) Time and Players: The game supports six players; but since the game provides two extra customizable airplane cards, I suppose you could go up to eight. However, I played a game with seven players; and while it worked okay, we had to shuffle the action deck a little too much. I think the game flows most smoothly with about five; but it does accommodate up to eight, which is something nice to have. Either way, the game time wasn’t that long, lasting forty-five minutes in our longest game, making this an easy game to pull out and play.
I enjoyed TaTaTa! quite a bit. It’s not a game I want to play all the time, but it’s one I’ll play often, if only for it’s diminutive size and the fact that it accommodates large groups. The cards are hilarious and well illustrated, and game play is funny and fast. Small elements of memory (knowing where the cards are), “take-that” (shooting at other planes), and a race game combine to make a unique experience. Angelo packed a lot of fun in this small box!
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games.”
