Pyramid Review
Dos Rios
Published by Mayfair Games
Designed by Franz Benno Delonge
Graphics by Franz Vohwinkel
Translated by William Niebling
18 board pieces, 40 river tiles, 15 harvest cards, 44 player counters in four colors, 40 dams, 50 money bills, & rules sheet; full-color, boxed, for two to four players; $49
Seems like every other game on the market sees players securing land, hunting on that land, or pulling crops from that land. Mayfair's Dos Rios ("two rivers," if you haven't gotten at least the Sesame Street crash course in Spanish) goes the farming route, putting you in the role of hidalgo as you try to keep the water flowing to your precious crops.
The object of the game is to be the first to complete your buildings.
The setup phase entails laying out the initial path of the two rivers, called the Rio Verde (Green River) and Rio Moreno (Brown River, though watch with amusement as people try not to become confused and call it by actress Rita Moreno's name). The top of the board shows the mountains and the bottom, the city and its surrounding river-fed lakes. The river, represented by several short blue pieces, has to follow certain rules as it meanders down the board, going from higher elevations to lower-lying land. Hills and forests also dot the landscape, separated into hexagonal spaces. The rest of the playing field has crops of corn, grain, and tobacco.
The pawns are called campesinos, and they're the only unit players have . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 23, 2005
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