Snoozefest 'Splains BoardGames: July 2006

I bought this game from (and was taught to play by) the designer at my first Essen (2005)!
A good set-collection, pick-up-and-deliver game
Fantasy theme: dwarves digging in mines for gems, creating jewelry
Only 2 actions per turn, so you have to optimize: need to work with others some, but hopefully not too much!
Watch out - don't let the end of the game sneak up on you!
I'm trying to host the file on the Internet Archive ... I hope it works!

Thanks to Tom Vasel for bringing a copy to Origins all the way from Korea!
This is exactly the same game as GemBlo, only smaller and not as pretty. I really prefer the look of the pieces in the original game (like cut gems) over this version, in which the pieces look like Blokus pieces.
Good abstract game, easy to teach. Blokus seems more intuitive, although that may simply be a matter of familiarity. This game also seems to have more legal plays (at least, early on) because every piece has MANY corners, whereas Blokus pieces only have a few corners to play off of ... so it's easy for people to start playing very quickly.
I'm still no good at these kinds of games!
Lastly, I know the music in the review isn't Korean ... but that's all I had in Garage Band!

DISCLOSURE: Based on a free review copy from the publisher.
Images from Boardgamegeek.com and the included rulebook.
I've covered the Advanced Rules, which may actually change: the publisher sent the game to several playtesters and modified the rules based on comments (wow!) - even going so far as to send out new playing pieces. I'd suspect the rules may still be subject to change.
This is a roll-and-move player-elimination filler game. It's actually kind of fun, although the rules seem overly complex (for a filler), with lots of special cases and details. Still, I'd expect this would be fun for families and kids, if not necessarily for eurogamers.

Snoozefest 'Splains BoardGames