Orapa Mine

Orapa Mine is a game from Korea. You are mining specialists and your company is about to start mining a huge gemstone mine. Your job is to detect the exact positions of the gems. You do this by directing ultrasound signals into the ground and observing how these signals are reflected by the gems. 

The game is for 2 to 5 players. With 2 players, each sets up a puzzle, and you race to figure out your opponent's puzzle. With 3 or more players, only person needs to be the facilitator and sets up a puzzle. The others are the players competing to be first to solve the puzzle. 

The puzzle is five wooden pieces placed on a grid. On your turn, you shoot a signal from a specific position. State that by referring to a number or an alphabet along the edge of the grid, and your opponent or the facilitator tells you where the reflected signal comes out, and what colour it is. Whenever the incoming signal hits a gem, it is reflected. The angle of reflection depends on the angle of the gem face it hits. Depending on the colour of the gem, the signal turns into that colour. If it hits gems in two or more colours, it becomes a composite colour. The position the signal exits the grid and its colour are the information you can use to solve the puzzle. 

On the inside of the screen you can see all the colour combinations. The colour of the outgoing signal tells you the colours the signal has hit and bounced off. For example if the outgoing signal is green, it means the signal has hit blue and yellow gems. 

Every player gets a sheet like this to record the clues and to calculate the positions of the gems.

Orapa Mine offers quite a unique gameplay experience. I find it very interesting. There is some strategy in how you set up your puzzle. You want to make it hard for your opponent to work out the positions and orientations of the gems. I did a two-player game. I needed to delay my opponent working out my solution so that I had more time to work out his. You also need to put some thought into where to direct your signal. You want every turn to count and to give you more information. This game is a logic puzzle and it challenges your creativity in identify all the possible positions of the gems. You will do a lot of thinking. If you don't like that in games, you won't enjoy this. However if you like challenges, this game will give you a healthy dose. I get particularly excited when the outgoing signal is a mix of many colours. That's when things get really interesting. If you want to further spice things up, play with the advanced modules - a transparent gem which reflects the signal without changing its colour, and a dull black gem which absorbs the signal!