Game for two players, review, test and critique

With Marabunta, a two-player duel awaited us in this game encounter. Like some other great games, it was written by Rainer Knizia. Of course, we had to check if this also applies to “wandering ants raid” – at least that is how Marabunta could be translated after some research.

Ingrid Desmidt's design is beautifully executed with fun colors and a picturesque design. The interior of the Space Cowboys toy box is also well designed, with separate spaces for each item. This means that all game materials are stored perfectly and do not fly around loosely in the box.

marabunta – a pile (ant) of bases

Marabunta comes with a small but complete rulebook. However, this should not scare you, as the explanations are well implemented. Examples and pictures also help you understand the rules. So, after a very short study of the rules, nothing stands in the way of an exciting duel.

In Marabunta, everyone has their own plate. Victory points and collected items are indicated on them. In the middle is the stadium with its honeycomb-shaped structure. You now have to take turns capturing fields in order to claim colored areas for yourself and collect victory points.

Now comes the special trick with Marabunta: the person whose turn it is rolls the dice and then has to divide this roll into two groups. Now the other person selects one of the piles to claim the values ​​in it. So you have to think tactically and diplomatically so that you don't have to play your turn with a bad stack. This led to exciting duels time and time again, as everyone tried to analyze the other person and predict their next move.

Marabunta – a small box with a big impact

At first glance, the Marabunta toy box looked like a deck of cards. So, when we unpacked, we were of course surprised to be greeted with a game plan and all kinds of materials. Here Marabunta does not need to hide in any way from the games that come in large boxes. On the contrary, it easily outperforms some larger games despite its small size.

Our group also liked the fact that the game board can be reused over and over again thanks to the special coating. The drawn fields and crosses are simply cleared and a new round can be started.

At the end of our review, all that remains is to say that Rainer Knizia has once again achieved great success. We may still throw dice in duels for the ant kingdom more often.