This year Hanukkah comes to a close tomorrow, December 5, at night-fall. The familiar – at least in name – celebration commemorates the rededication of the
How it Plays
Rarely has such a little title made a simple game sound more
epic! In Candle Quest, players are
trying to collect eight different candles by buying, selling, and auctioning
the little wax sticks in a race to complete their personal menorahs.
A deck of candle cards is shuffled and each player begins
with 12 shekels behind a privacy screen.
Candles come in eight colors and have varying face values – one number
indicating its cost and a second its selling price. On your turn, you may either flip a card from
the top of the deck or loot a previously sold candle. Both actions are resolved differently.
When drawing a candle card, you can either buy it straight
up for its listed purchase price, paying the proper amount in shekels and
adding the card to your "menorah" behind your player screen. Or you can sell it for the smaller value
indicated, taking that amount from the bank and placing the card in your trash
pile in front of your screen.
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| Candles, shekels, and a couple player screens. |
Alternatively, you can put the card up for auction. In that case you begin with an opening
bid. However, you only get that one
bid. After your initial ante, each
player in turn has the opportunity to bid higher than previous offers. After all players have bid or passed, the highest
bidder wins. If that is you, then pay
your bid in shekels to the bank and take the candle. If it is another player, then that individual
will take the candle. However, he/she
must then pay you the amount bid.
If you decide to loot a discarded candle, then you do not
draw a card on your turn. Instead, you
may purchase the top card from any trash pile, including your own. There are two special rules involved with
looting. First, you must pay an amount
equal to its combined purchase and
sell value. However, second, you can pay
all or part of that cost with one or more of your previously earned candle
cards. Simply discard a candle, or
candles, of equal value; or discard a candle card and then pay a number of
shekels required to make up the difference.
Finally, there are two special cards. First is the ubiquitous “wild” card, known
here as a Dancing Candle. The rules for
acquiring them are the same as with normal candles. Second, there are a handful of Unlit
Candles. If you draw one of these, you
must discard one or more candles equaling the unlit candle’s value, pay that
value in shekels, or use a combination of candles/shekels in a similar fashion
to looting. If you’re able to
discard/pay the required amount, you get to keep the unlit candle and take
another turn. It won’t help you complete
your menorah, but you may be able to use it later in looting. If you cannot pay the full amount, then you
must instead discard your highest candle or pay in all of your shekels, get rid
of the unlit candle, and forgo the bonus turn.
In the base game, the first player to collect one candle in
each of the eight colors wins. There is
an advanced variant in which players earn points based on the face value of
their collected candles, plus shekels, with a bonus for having completed their
menorahs. In this version, the player
with the highest score wins. There is
also a very basic version which omits the auctions and looting, recommended to
introduce the game to the youngest of players.
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| The wild and crazy dancing candle! |
Burning Brightly or Flickering
Out?
Bidding is one of the more difficult mechanics for children
to grasp. I've even gone
on record against auction games for kids.
The basic technique may be well and simple. But the larger intangibles are not. Objects in any auction are always worth only
what players are willing to pay for them.
Therefore, it is easy to overbid unnecessarily. Plus, there is a “game within the game” of
trying to artificially drive up the price of something you know an opponent
wants, while trying to guard against another using the same tactic against you. This can really frustrate kids.
Candle Quest is a rare exception to all of that – for
several reasons. First off all, the
auctions are extremely simple and fast.
It lasts one round and you get one bid.
There’s no multi-round gamesmanship.
There’s no hemming and hawing and hesitating indecision. And while it’s still possible to artificially
drive up the value of a candle you know another player wants, it’s harder to
pull off and you have to have the money yourself to do so.
I think the main difference to this design’s bidding is that
the personal value of a candle is determined by colors – at least in the base
game. Therefore, the worth of each card
varies quite a bit from player to player, especially as the game
progresses. While there is more
contention over candles in the early game, the interaction starts to diminish
as everyone increasingly fills out their menorahs. Rather than being anti-climactic, this
element reduces stress and anxiety that kids might feel from not being able to
acquire what they need. That tension is
replaced with the mystery of drawing or looting the right cards and having the
necessary shekels on hand when the opportunity arises.
Another benefit to Candle Quest’s bidding mechanism is that
the starting player earns the money if they lose. One, that makes opening up an auction an
attractive option to earn money, especially if its selling value is pretty low
– you’ll usually make more money from an auction as opposed to just straight up selling
it. Two, if you lose out on a bid, you
get the winning payment as a consolation.
Both of these aspects are attractive because you want lots of
shekels. Being able to buy outright
any flipped card or discarded candle is the surest way to secure what you need.
 |
| The kind of, sort of dreaded unlit candle... |
Now, cutesy art aside, Candle Quest is not just for kids. It also works as a sophisticated filler – primarily
because it’s also a game of hidden information.
When bidding, you mostly have just your good (or poor) memory to guide
you, not knowing exactly how many shekels your opponents have nor which candles
they still need to complete their menorahs.
All of this keeps the auction process smooth and still tosses in a nice
element of bluffing and deduction. Plus,
you can always buy cards that you know someone else wants, just to keep it from them. Or you can use an auction to try and buy a
candle for less than its original purchase price. Kids are likely to struggle with these parts
of the game, but it will be right in hobby gamers’ wheelhouses. On top of the basic rules, you can add the
advanced variant which makes bidding for higher value candles more interesting
and nuanced.
I would be remiss to note that, as a card game, luck of the
draw does play a factor. Early on, it’s
not as noticeable since your menorah begins empty. Therefore, just about any card will do. Plus you can use the auction to coax shekels
out of other players. Randomness becomes
more acute as you and others fill out your menorahs. However, the obvious situation where bad luck is annoying is when drawing an unlit candle without the having the shekels to pay for it,
thus losing a candle as a result.
The components are all fair.
The cardboard shekels are good, while the cards and player screens are a
tad on the flimsy side, but certainly serviceable. The player screens do have helpful references. The illustrations are cute and
imaginative. When my 6-year old daughter
first spied the animated menorah on the box art, she immediately beamed, “I want
to play the Beauty and the Beast
game.” So it will serve well to attract
the younger crowd it generally targets.
At the same time, it will likely deter older gamers in peer settings. Not to mention there are many other light,
auction games for adult hobbyists already established (For
Sale, Money).
 |
| Purchase price on the left, selling price on the right. |
In any event, Candle Quest is still a kid’s game at
heart. In fact, it is a re-theme of the
monster building game, It’s Alive!,
by the same designer. The two titles
have essentially identical rules, while the former’s artwork is not so
gruesome. As a result Candle Quest is a
delightfully fast, light, and simple bidding game perfect for introducing
children to the genre, as well as new family and casual gamers, while still
offering some depth for experienced players to enjoy.
Pros:
Simple, fast auctions
Bidding works well to provide choices
Hidden information creates tension
Great as filler or beginner bidding game
Cons:
Doesn’t play well with 2
Luck of the draw is a factor
Not much more to offer than other light, auction titles
iSlaytheDragon would
like to thank Victory Point Games for providing a review copy of Candle Quest.
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