Review: Uluru  

It's been a while since I've played a puzzle game so trying out this game was a really nice and revitalizing experience. Upon opening the box, we come across some beautifully designed components. A long gameboard with card slots and weird animals in front of each, the player boards, some cards and glass tokens,an hourglass and .... wait a minute! what are these?....little birds in different colours. What's happening here?  Welcome to Uluru!

And the story goes like this... We are in Australia near Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia, which is sacred to the local people. In this area, wild animals, are transformed to dreambirds, while sleeping, and begin dancing around Uluru. After they finish their dance they all have a wish: To land somewhere around the sacred rock but in a specific place in relation to the other dreambirds. But there is a small detail in that...The birds don't take into account each others wish. Here is where you come to save the day! Your job is to correctly interpret each of the 8 coloured dreambirds wishes and try to combine them so that they are all fulfilled simultaneously . Alas, you don't have much time. Dreambirds will soon finish dancing and demand their wishes to come true. It really doesn't matter if you don't know the story behind the game. I didn't know it when I played it for the first time but even if I had it wouldn't really add a sense of greater immersion, as it's not something that has actually to do with the gameplay.

Each player has his own game board with Ayers Rock depicted in the middle and 8 positions on which dreambirds can be placed.  The dreambirds wishes are represented by "wish" cards where particular placement restrictions are shown. The cards have levels of difficulty, and that is very clever, allowing a vast variety of players to enjoy the game. First level cards have simple restrictions like "I wish to be placed next to that bird". Other wishes include, placing a bird opposite to another, in a space of exactly two positions apart, in a 90° angle or the exact opposites from the above. At the beginning of the game, cards of the level being played are shuffled. At the beginning of each turn, 8 cards are revealed and placed on the main gameboard on the special card slots and immediately the hourglass is turned over and the game begins. Players must then simultaneously try to place on their game boards all birds according to their wishes before the sand in the hourglass is depleted. Afterwards all boards are checked against the wishes and players receive negative points (glass stones) for each unfulfilled wish. The game continues for a total of 6 turns and the player with the fewer negative points is the winner.

Player game board

When players feel comfortable enough with the first level cards, they can try out the next level cards which include more complex wishes like "I wish to be placed tha same way as that bird" or "I wish to be placed in the opposite manner from that bird". For those who truly feel clever enough, there is the ultimate challenge of playing with the flipped side of the main game board which produces the extra challenge of the birds having two wishes. Having to fulfill 16 wishes simultaneously instead of 8, alas within the same time limits!! Isn't that a real challenge!

Wish cards

Now let's see how the game scores with our scoring system. The system comprises as usual of the following key elements:

Components – The aesthetic quality of the components as well as the quality of the materials used can add to or subtract from the value and feel of the game.
Gameplay – Is the gameplay interesting enough? Does the game have enough depth or do all sessions seem to be the same?
Learning Curve – The amount of time required to learn the rules of the game. Also how comprehensible and easy to remember  the rules are.
Theme – Is there a sense of immersion when you play the game? Can you imagine being in the world it depicts?
Replayablity - Ok, that was fun! But do I want to play it again? Will it stand the test of time?

Fun – What it all comes around to! Enjoyability. Does the game make you laugh or have a good time in general while playing?

Components -  All game components are designed in beautiful detail. The game boards have nice colours and graphics and materials used are solid and appropriate. Nothing wrong here! 8/10

Gameplay - This is the heart of the game, especially for puzzle games. I found the game pretty challenging. It's fast and requires your full attention. A little distraction can cause a disaster as there is little time for rechecking bird placement after initial positioning. Sometimes all wishes can't be fullfilled but you don't have to worry about that, as it will result in negative points not only for you but for all other players as well. Mechanics of the game are pretty simple as in most puzzle games and, from this point of view, it may not seem very appealing to hardcore board gamers. Luck simply plays no role here, it's just your brain against the others'. 7/10

Learning Curve - Rules are very simple. All that has to be learned is how to interpret the cards correctly and there are not so many cards there so the game can be learned within minutes with minimum effort. 9/10

Theme - The story behind the game is of minor importance here and after playing the game for a while you might even forget all about it as well. So this is not a game of immersion. Unless you wake up someday and realize you/ve dreamt that you really were a dreambird hovering over Ayers Rock last night !!... 3/10

Replayability - The game seems pretty interesting and fun, although continuing to play several games in a row isn't highly recommended as it will surely result in a severe headache!! My personal feel is that it certainly can be played a lot, mainly as a "sideway" game, during a short break from some other activity. So, many games throughout the years, yes, many games in a row, no. 7/10

Fun- Well, this always is a subjective matter. If you like mind games then it's surelly a lot of fun. The idea of providing cards of varying difficulty and the double-sided game board guarantees that the game will find more targets in the market as the age target group is broad as well as the player expertise level (casual players and seasoned ones). On the other hand, there is no interaction at all between players, something that always subtracts some points from the overall fun factor.   7/10

Pros:

• Simple, fast, challenging!
• Easy to learn
• Different levels of gameplay. Can be played by kids, casual or expert players

Cons:

• No immersion
• No player interaction

Overall: 7/10

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