#1018 JARVIS PORTER LTD. - KAN-U-GO (Around 1960)

T. G. Porter Ltd. copyrighted this game in the year 1934, and many other companies followed and exploited the license, such as Milton Bradley (MB) or Waddington´s. The game I own is a reprint or reissue, probably from the late 50s or early 60s by Jarvis Porter Ltd.

We could easily describe the game as a card Crosswords or maybe a Scrabble (which, by the way, was patented in 1948), that consists of a set of 58 cards with letters printed on them, each of them with a value assigned, the higher the value, the more often (in Scrabble it is the opposite) that the card appears in the English language plus two Kan-U-Go cards. Players have to get rid of their hand cards by forming one word in the manner of a crossword, and the first person to do that, wins the round. All the other players score the sum of the numbers written on the cards that they could not place. It is only allowed to place up to 4 cards in each turn (although the word formed may be longer, as your hand cards combine with the cards lying on the table).

The cards are small sized, and not many, so you can play in an ordinary table. Well, an ordinary table from many years ago, not the current standard table from your 40 m2 apartment. The instructions come in a booklet pasted to the cover of the box. There is “patience” version as well.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: KAN-U-GO
• Year: 1934 (Game) / Around 1960 (this reissue)
• Company: Jarvis Porter Ltd. (United Kingdom)

#885 KOSMOS - "KOSMOS FÜR ZWEI" SERIES (IV) - SEVERAL GAMES

Being this a relatively long series, there are other games, which are not very good, or that I didn’t got to enjoy much. Some of these include:

Asterix & Obelix (2006)

Avalon (2003)

Caesar & Cleopatra (1997)

Das Riff/ The Reef (2000)

Druidenwalzer (1999)

Elchfest (1999)

Halali!/ Tally Ho! (2000) (original 1973)

 

Hellas (2002)

Kahuna (1998)

Odin’s Raben/ Odin’s Ravens (2002)

Petri Heil/ Gone Fishing! (2005)

Rosenkönig/ The Rose King (1997)

Sudoku Duell der Meister (2006)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Asterix & Obelix, Avalon, Caesar & Cleopatra, Das Riff/ The Reef, Elchfest, Halali!/ Tally Ho!, Hellas, Kahuna, Odin’s Raben/ Odin’s Ravens, Petri Heil/ Gone Fishing!, Rosenkönig/ The Rose King, Sudoku Duell der Meister
• Year: Between 1997 and 2006
• Company: Kosmos (Germany)
• Size: approx. 20 x 20 cm (game box)

#884 KOSMOS - "KOSMOS FÜR ZWEI" SERIES (III) - SEVERAL GAMES

These are other games which in my opinion are good or even very good games.

Babel (2000) – Very complex card game in which you have to gather and place cards to form a step-pyramid. Each step is more complicated and need more cards. Complex rules.

Blitz und Donner/ Hera and Zeus (2000) – Excellent card game similar to Stratego, love the theme and the games are always very exciting.

Die Pyramiden des Jaguar (2002) – A relatively simple game about placing your cards/numbers in rows, but quite nice overall.

Einfach Genial Reiseedition/ Ingenious: Travel Edition (2006) – A classic game in its travel edition.

Jambo (2004) – Best of the best. Trading game with lots of chances. I also own the two expansions, that make the game even more exciting.

Lost Cities (1999) – A classic game about placing cards in the right order from your hand to the board. IT has been reimplemented many times, including the “Spiel des Jahres” Keltis. Quite cool theme as well.

Perry Rhodan Die Kosmische Hanse (2007) – I haven’t played this one yet (except once a long time ago), and I love the theme, based in the German space pulp-hero Perry Rhodan.

Sakkara (2007) – A tile placement and resources game. Get tiles from the maze to build a pyramid and play your spells to get even more tiles and avoid your opponent to finish the pyramid before you do it.

Summer Time (2006) – Despite the low ratings, this one is a very cool game, the theme is also fun (not everybody will think like me), and placing cards to get points and special combos is a simple and strong game mechanism.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Babel, Blitz und Donner/ Hera and Zeus, Die Pyramiden des Jaguar, Einfach Genial Reiseedition/ Ingenious: Travel Edition, Jambo, Lost Cities, Perry Rhodan Die Kosmische Hanse, Sakkara, Summer Time
• Year: Between 1999 and 2007
• Company: Kosmos (Germany)
• Size: approx. 20 x 20 cm (game box)

#883 KOSMOS - "KOSMOS FÜR ZWEI" SERIES (II) – HERR DER RINGE and BLUE MOON (2001 to 2004))

I will continue today with a nice series of three games devoted to The Lord of The Rings. I haven’t read the books (only the Hobbit) nor seen the movies, but I love two of the following games: the Decision and the Search. The Duel is not especially good, although it comes with a 3D board which is quite nice.

Especially “The Confrontation” is a great great game. A bit like Stratego, but more interesting in terms of tactics combination of characters and certain events which may happen during the game.

Der Herr der Ringe: Das Duell/ The Duel (2002)

Der Herr der Ringe: Die Entscheidung/ The Confrontation (2002)

Der Herr der Ringe: Die Suche/ The Search (2001)

Also very intersting is Blue Moon (2004), one of the games in which you have to build yourself a deck of cards (in this case, they come already built, but you can mix them up), representing your race (or your people) and you have to fight against the other player, who has a similar set of warriors. By combining cards, you can make combos to either attack or defend and the game is perfectly balanced,  so you can win or loose depending on your tactic and the one followed by the rival.

This game had a lot of expansions, here I am showing “Die Khind”, which is the only one I own currently. At some point, when they went out of print, these expansions became almost impossible to buy due to their stratospheric prices, but they have probably being reissued, or maybe a similar game has been released, because now they are affordable again. A few positive points are the great illustrations and the amazing universe created with at least six races and then even more expansions with other creatures, events and more.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Der Herr der Ringe: Das Duell/ The Duel, Der Herr der Ringe: Die Entscheidung/ The Confrontation, Der Herr der Ringe: Die Suche/ The Search, Blue Moon
• Year: Between 2001 and 2004
• Company: Kosmos (Germany)
• Size: approx. 20 x 20 cm (game box)