Adh Mor far more fun than anticipated

 

Up front Adh Mor, it apparently means "Good Luck" in Irish, was not a game that was on my radar.

And when I opened the small box and saw that you rolled dice my interest didn’t tick up even a little bit.

Then Trevor and I set up the game, read the rules and started rolling dice – about five-minutes from box opening to that first dice roll.

Immediately, we were captivated by this one from prolific game designer David McCord and publisher NewVenture Games.

So to begin with, as are most of the games from this publisher, Adh Mor has a solid wood board, and nice wooden pegs. It comes in a small box as many from this publisher does, so it’s highly portable -- so ideal for a coffee shop.

In terms of game play it’s about as simple as you can get. The game begins with just four of each player's pieces on the 6x6 board, (each player has 18).

There are two dice, one a common D6, the other with three white faces and three black.

A roll of the unique dice dictates the choices available to place or move a peg, so if you roll white you must move a peg which starts on a white space.

A piece moves any combination of directions based on the D6 – without moving through the same spot twice.

The exception is a roll of six, which means you add a peg to the board.

Obviously, the more pegs there are on the board the less move options you will have on a roll.

The game is for two, and plays in 20-minutes according to the box, but it tends to play longer it seems – almost to the point of seeming just a bit draggy in mid game. Early there are numerous moves, and late you hope for low rolls and longer moves, which become difficult on a more crowded board. That middle game play seems just a bit slow, although not so much so that it drops this game more than a smidge for Trevor and I.

A most pleasant surprise to be sure – maybe the biggest positive surprise of the year to date

Adh Mor is just a fun little dance in a phone booth which is easy to recommend.