Onstage / SangDen

The Game

OnStage is a trick-taking game from Vietnam. I first saw the game at the Asian Board Games Festival Malaysia (in Penang) in July, but I had to take care of my booth that weekend and didn't have time at all to play others' games. It was later, in November, at the Thailand Board Games Show that I managed to try the game myself. I had a local assistant for my booth at the fair so I had some time to explore others' games. 

The most eye-catching part of the game is this little stage you build with the game box. The setting is traditional Vietnamese opera. But this stage is not just for show. It is a practical visual tool that supports gameplay. 

During game setup you line up the twelve performers randomly in a queue next to the stage. Before the start of every trick, the first in line goes on stage. The players compete to attract performers who are on stage. The performers hold one to three flowers, which represent their popularity among the opera fans. The flowers are also your victory points. You try to win tricks in this game so that you can attract performers. 

The trick-taking mechanism here is mostly standard. Whatever the start player of the trick plays is the lead colour, and everyone else must follow suit if possible. Only when you don't have that colour then you can play any colour. By default, it is the highest card in the lead colour which wins. The exception is when the trump colour is in play. The trump colour is determined by the performers on stage. If there is one single colour of performers which has the most flowers, that colour is the trump colour. In case of ties, there is no trump colour. If any trump colour card is played in a trick, then the highest card in the trump colour wins. The trump colour keeps shifting during the game, because the combination of performers on stage keeps changing. 

When you win a trick, you will hope to win one performer from the stage. This doesn't always happen. When you win a trick, you can only claim a performer in the same colour as the winning card. If there is no such performer, you don't get anything. Well, other than ridicule from your friends. The cards numbered 1, 4 and 7 have special powers. You get to manipulate the performers on stage. You may add, remove and even swap them with another still in the queue. What this means is the trump colour might change in the middle of a trick, because you can manipulate who are on stage. 

The cards have 1 to 3 flowers. When you win a trick with a card, you can only claim a performer in the same colour. If there is a performer with the same number of flowers as the winning card, you must take that performer. If that particular performer is not on stage, then you may take a different performer in the same colour. You will notice that the higher numbers have fewer flowers. It is easier to win a trick with a high number, but when it comes to picking a performer, you might be forced to pick a lower valued one. 

There is a shoot-for-the-moon mechanism. If you find that things are going poorly, you can try to aim for this rare situation of being the only player to not win any performer. If you can achieve that, you get to take all remaining performers who are still on stage. If there are none on stage, you get to take all performers still in the queue. Needless to say, being able to do this is difficult, especially in the 3 player game. With 5 players, it might be easier, and it is something everyone will watch out for. If you aim to do this, but accidentally win just that one lousy performer, you will be royally screwed. 

The Play

I'm not specifically a fan of trick-taking games. I don't dislike them, but I don't seek them out. I do think the trick-taking mechanism in general is a good one. There are reasons why this genre is so popular. I have played many trick-taking games recently. Sometimes I get a nagging feeling that trick-taking games are a shortcut to fame which small publishers are taking. Come up with a small twist, slap on a pretty theme, and voila! You have a product that has many ready fans. I must admit I am slightly negative towards this abundance of trick-taking games. The moment I tried OnStage, I immediately decided this is a trick-taking game I want in my collection. Probably the only other trick-taking game I feel so strongly about is Sticheln. I find that in OnStage, the tweaks to the standard trick-taking formula come together really well and create a fluid yet smooth experience. You get many surprises, and also opportunities for clever plays. 

You don't always score points when you win tricks. It depends on whether you are able to claim a performer. The stage situation keeps evolving, so it is not easy to manage your hand. If I distill the game down to just the mechanisms, this is a pretty abstract trick-taking game. However the opera performer setting matches this combination of game mechanisms very well. This certainly enhances the play experience. 

The spotlight on the stage is not just for show. It serves a purpose. If there is a trump colour in play, you place all the performers in the trump colour in the spotlight. This is a good visual cue for everyone. It makes gameplay smoother. 

Eight flowers mean eight victory points. 

The cards are in four suits (colours) and are numbered 1 to 9.

The Thoughts

Among trick-taking games, I wouldn't say the game mechanisms in OnStage are very radical. It is nowhere near as radical as Cat in the Box. I like OnStage more than Cat in the Box because the latter can be quite a stressful experience. It is an excellent, very clever and innovative game, and at the same time it stresses me out because I need to play defensively to avoid creating any paradox. Not that stressful is necessarily bad. In OnStage, I feel more positive and energised because the ever changing situation presents many tactical opportunities. You want to manipulate the performers on stage to your benefit. You have to consider how things will change when you claim a performer from the stage. You want to save your strong cards for the right moment. You won't always win a performer when you win a trick. However there is still the advantage of dictating the lead colour for the next trick. I am keen to see what other games Michael Orion will be making.