27.9.2016

Camel Up (and definitely not Camel Cup) may not perhaps be the first game you might expect to be reviewed on a family gaming blog. For most people when you think of family board games you might suggest Monopoly, Cluedo or maybe even Risk. And for a very long time we thought that too but times they say are changing and more non-traditional table top games are finding their way into the mainstream. Camel Up is the 2014 Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year winner. The award is given by a jury of German-speaking board game critics who review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months and is highly coveted in the board game industry but is it any good?Let’s find out.What’s it about then?In Camel Up 2 – 8 players take on the roles of the Egyptian high society who are in attendance of the most famous and craziest camel race of all time where camels stack up on top of each other and pyramids are turned upside down! The aim of the game is to be the player who has gained the most money during the course of the race, with opportunities to win big bucks for the overall winner, as well as betting on who will win each leg.Wait a minute! A family friendly game involving gambling, are we sure?Although bets are placed, we don’t think any youngsters would think of this as gambling and in fact 9 year old Miss Gamer is probably Camel Up’s biggest fan.What’s in the box?Camel Up contains;5 coloured camels, 5 coloured dice, 15 Leg Betting tiles, 5 Pyramid tiles, 40 Race Betting cards, 8 Desert tiles, 50 Egyptian Pound coins, 20 Egyptian Pound cards, 1 Leg Starting Player marker, 1 Pyramid (some assembly required), 1 Game board and 2 Rule books (one English and one German). Also in the box are a few clear plastic bags to help with storage as well as a couple of spare elastic bands for the Pyramid.Initially setting up the game will take around 20 minutes but after that each new game should be ready within 5 minutes and a typical 4 player game takes about 30 to 40 minutes. After each race has finished tear down and packing away again should be a 5 minute affair.How do you play it?When it is your turn each player can perform one of four different actions; take a leg betting tile, placing your desert tile, taking a pyramid tile or betting on the overall winner or loser. Let’s look at these options in more detail.Take a leg betting tile – During the set-up each camel will have 3 betting tiles each with a different amount (5, 3 and 2). If you are the first player to take a camel betting tile and that camel wins you will gain the most (5 Egyptian Pounds (EPs)) as you took the risk the earliest, the second player will get 3 EPs and the third 2 EPs. If that camel came second rather than first, then everyone who took a tile would gain 1 EP. The risk we mentioned earlier is that if the camel you pick comes third, fourth or fifth then you have to pay 1 EP back to the bank.Placing your desert tile – Each player is given a dual sided desert tile at the start of the game, which can be used to help or hinder the camels in the race. One side of the tile depicts a desert oasis, which if a camel lands on gives them a quick boost by moving them one place further along the track. The opposite side shows a desert mirage, which if a camel lands on has the opposite effect moving them one place further back on the track. A backward step will also place the camel to the bottom of any camel stack whereas a forward step will place them on top. Whenever a camel stack lands on your tile you earn 1 EP.Taking a pyramid tile – So how do the camels move we can hear you ask. The movement of the camels are controlled by 5 coloured dice (one for each camel, with numbers 1, 2 or 3) which are placed inside a pyramid dice shaker. Taking a pyramid tile means that you will take the dice shaker, give it a good rattle, turn it upside down and release a dice. This really is a neat little mechanism and the kids enjoy giving the pyramid a good shake. If done correctly one die will emerge randomly allocated a side and the corresponding camel will move that many spaces. A leg will end when all 5 dice have been rolled. If the camel whose die has been rolled has other camels stacked on top of it, then all the camels move the indicated number of spaces.Betting on the overall winner or loser – The big bucks come from correctly predicting who will win the race, and who will be left eating the Egyptian sand. Each player is given 5 small cards (one for each camel) and they can choose to place a single card face down in either the winner’s enclosure or the losers circle. The cards are face down so that each players bet are kept secret until the end. Players can place more than one card in either the winners or losers pile but much like the leg betting there are big rewards for being the first player to get it right and a small penalty to pay for getting it wrong. At the end of the race the cards are flipped over and the first player to correctly guess the winner gets 8 EP, second 5 EP, third 3 EP, fourth 2 EP and anyone else 1 EP. For every player who incorrectly placed a bet, they all pay 1 EP back to the bank. The same process is repeated for the pile of cards in the loser’s section.Once the race is over and the final round of bets is paid everyone counts up their Pounds and the player with the most is the winner.What’s good?As a family friendly game we feel the best thing about Camel Up is how different it is compared to the likes of Monopoly. Although every player is trying to gain the most money it is all done in a friendly manner, there is no stealing from other players and everyone can take an action on their turn to try and earn coins. This is one of the few games we can play as a family where everyone is happy about the outcome. As mentioned before the pyramid dice shaker is a great little touch that is actually useful and serving of a purpose as well as adding to the theme of the game. The stacking of the camels and the way they move also mean that it is possible for a camel at the back of the pack to come storming through to win at the end meaning more often than not each race is unpredictable.What’s bad?Some races can feel like they are dragging on if you roll lots of 1’s and vice versa some races can be over pretty quick if the right dice come out when the camels are stacked. With more than 4 players you can sometimes feel like you have no play other than to roll the dice, which give information to other players who can then take all the betting tiles, leaving you with no other play than to roll the dice. Both of these are addressed by different modules in the expansion pack.House RulesTo make the game a little simpler for Master Gamer (who is only 5) and even more family friendly we have a couple of house rules we play to. The first is that on each leg your first action is not allowed to be a dice rolling action – but only because we find the kids just love shaking and spinning the pyramid and so each leg would be over after only 2 turns and each race would end with players having less than 10 EPs. Secondly we say that once a desert tile is placed on the board it is not returned at the end of each leg, but can be moved to a different place on the board on your turn. This just helps with the end of leg clean up and means it is one less thing for the younger players to have to worry about. And finally to try and help spread the winnings we play that each player can only take a single leg betting tile from each camel’s stack.Final VerdictWe feel that Camel Up is deserving of its Game of the Year win and as a family of gamers we highly recommend this to anyone out there who is looking to play an easy to understand game which will appeal to players of all ages and both sexes.

5.1.2016

Camel Up (or “Camel Cup” as I was calling it for ages!) is one of those board games I wasn’t expecting much from. Although I could see it won the ‘2014 Spiel der Jahres’, it just looked a bit second rate. But I was very wrong!Like most board-games, it seems overly complex to start with – but once you jump in and get into the rhythm of the turns, you realise that the mechanics of the game are actually quite simple and incredibly clever. The objective is easy – You have a camel race, you can bet on the overall outcome of the race and you can also bet on the individual legs of the race. How many legs there are per race depends on how many players and what they decide to do – so no two games are the same.At the end of the race, the player with the most money wins.During your turn you can move the camels, or place a bet. You can also place a piece on the board to interrupt the flow of the game. What you decide to do depends on how the race is going – once you’ve placed a bet you will want to try an influence the race so that the result favours you, or you may simply want to disrupt an opponent’s game. When you first see this game it looks like a game of chance, and I find those a little boring. But this is no simple game of chance, strategy plays a big part in the game and there’s not set strategy guaranteed to work every time which means that you have to analyse the board. For example: if a camel lands on the space where there is another camel, it is placed on top of it. This means that the freshly placed camel is ahead of the ones underneath *AND* moves along with them, however the game can all change very quickly and a leading camel can become a loser in just 1 or 2 moves.There is a unique dice thrower used in this game, it takes only a moment to construct (and then never needs constructing again, it fits in the game box) which adds a great element and the kids loved rolling a die. At first I thought it was a pointless novelty but it actually works very well and serves to add a level of randomness to the dice rolling as well as making it quite a neat and tidy game to play!The box recommends ages 8+ and I would agree that children under that age would probably fail to grasp the strategy element. However our 5 and 6 year old kids loved being part of the game (they partnered with an adult to do the dice rolling and counting the coins). This also makes for a great adults only game, ultimately it’s about gambling and can get very competitive! If you like you can swap the cardboard money for real money to add more excitement for kids – you literally need only about £3 to replace fake pence with actual pence, if you’re really daring you could use pounds instead of pence!!! During the final moments of the game it genuinely gets very exciting and it’s rarely obvious who is going to win until the last couple of turns.In a nutshell: A great game with a strategy element to keep your mind busy and enough random chance to ensure everyone has an opportunity to claim victory! Early bets give the most reward, but also carry the greatest risk. It's not often a game works brilliantly with 2 players as well as it does 8, but this is always fun regardless of the number of players.

15.8.2014

This is an ideal game for both serious gamers and families. Plays up to 8 players. Set up time is around 5 minutes and a game can be completed in around 30 minutes.This is essentially a betting game, where each player bets on the position of each camel throughout the running of a race. The camels race around a 16 spared track, and each race is split into 'legs' (each leg ends when each of the 5 coloured camels is moved with it's own coloured die).Each player receives 5 cards (one for each camel in the race) and an oasis/desert tile. To begin, each of the 5 coloured dice are rolled and the camels are moved onto the track. The interesting thing about the movement is that if a camel lands on a square that is already occupied,

30.1.2016

Another one of my recent 'modern' board games that's simple to learn, plays up to 8 people and keeps everybody guessing which camel will win right until the end! As ever with these new games, the artwork is fantastic on the board, cards and the pyramid. The aim of the game is to predict which camel will get round the pyramid first...or come last. The overall winner and loser of the race is only a part of this game though. On your turn you can choose to pick up a betting tile match the colour of the camel you think will win the 'leg', or place a bet with one of your own cards on the overall winner or loser of the race, place your 'dessert' tile on the board to help move camels on,

13.6.2014

A serious board gamer or just looking for a bit of accessible fun?Both are catered for with this game.Up for game of the year 2014 and easy to see why...My friends and I play a good number of games on a regular basis and this immediately established itself as a go to winner.A simple board and ostensibly basic set of playing options make this game really easy to grasp (no four hour rule read through and stumble through first play here) mean you will be up and running in a few minutes and enjoying, rather than enduring, your first play.You do not race a specific camel, rather you all bet on the leg and overall winner (and loser) which earns you coins. The winner is the person with the most coins at race end.

13.8.2015

Really fun to play with a group of friends or family. I have played with 1,2, 3 and 4 others and think it works best with at least 4 players.The game revolves around betting on where the camels will end each turn and ultimately who will win the race. Each turn you can choose to bet on the stage, the ultimate result, place a counter on the board that can help or hinder the camels, or move a camel. When all the camels have moved once that 'stage' is over and the winning bets are paid out for the camels in 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Then the next stage begins and it continues like this until one camel crosses the finish line and the bets for overall winners and losers are paid.

5.4.2016

Oh I LOVED this Game! I loved the the theme (camels were my favourite animal as a child) and though I am not really into games involving any kind of betting or racing, I found this great fun! The components are nice – wooden and good quality, and includes five brightly coloured wooden dice too! (I’m always a sucker for games involving more than one dice!)Basically, the game is a ‘Camel Race’, whereby players move (determined by the clever pyramid) randomly each camel, but although there is obviously a great deal of luck in this game, there’s much strategy involved too as to what players can do to either help or hinder the leading animals. You place bets accordingly,

8.1.2015

I like to buy board games to play with my children of 6 and 4. Trying to find something that's entertaining for them to play whilst simultaneously entertaining for us adults is quite a difficult task. This game has certainly done the trick, being both tactile, attractive to look at whilst also being a great game to play and completing in a little over ten to fifteen minutes.The chunky camel tokens are very nicely done, as is pyramid dice dispenser. The artwork on the board is also lovely with lots of little touches like names 'carved' into the bricks of the pyramid and a comically collapsed camel on the board to denote the place where you bet on the losing camel.We've played about ten games

16.9.2015

I bought this to play with my 8 year old daughter who is board game mad. It works well with 2 people and takes about 15 minutes a game. We usually play 2/3 games when we have it out. It's more fun and takes longer if we can convince more people to play, and once they've played once they don't want to stop.You basically race the camels around the track taking bets as you go as to who is going to win each leg or be the overall winner and loser. There are tokens you can put in front of certain camels to help or hinder them and coins given and taken away for each right or wrong bet. The scoring system is pretty simple and clear.It comes with a cardboard pyramid dice shaker that I thought was a bit of a gimmick but is actually great and adds to the magic of the game.

28.12.2014

Bought this as a Christmas present for family members. It is now 28 December. The game is already a big hit and has had a lot of use, which is OK as the pieces are very sturdy. We have played it with children from eight years old. Children and adults all love it. The rules are easy to follow. We did make one or two mistakes in the very first game, but a careful re-reading of the rules (which are quite short) put this right. The camel races are invariably close run things, with overall winners and losers difficult to predict until the last minute, and the lead changing hands in unpredictable ways. Games usually last a little over half an hour, which is a nice length; we usually play two or three games in succession.

26.12.2015

We play a lot of family boardgames and this game is an excellent choice as a family boardgame for the following reasons:i) It's relatively simple to master the rule mechanics so can be mastered by children about 8 or 9 and above, but it's not trivial, so, you can apply your brain cells to winning.ii) It's very fluid, and one can make a late comeback, so, players not doing so well don't get dejected.iii) It has a fairly short playing time, about 25 minutes for 4 players, maybe 40 minutes with 8 players.iv) It works with a wide range of number of players 2-8, and it really works with this range, no fudges required to accomodate 2 players, but 4 and more is the most fun.v) Components are all of good quality.vi)

29.10.2015

My favourite game!! It beats Catan, Istanbul .. for me this is a simple but tactical game full of surprises! I've started a record score and 'leg' record! This has been fun for everyone I've played it with! I can't wait to get the expansion next, which I'll be getting this for mostly playing a with 2-4 players just to extend the playing time of fun!!! I now love camels, I'm an adult, and I've only played this with adults.. and I'm sure kids will love it. The camels are lovely wooden pieces, no need for stickers, great board and pyramid and card pieces and money coins. It might look a little complex but it's amazingly fun and simple to grasp the idea of! I like simple games, and this is one very fun one!

28.11.2015

This is a gem of a board game! It may take a little while to get your head around the rules but once you've got it, it's actually really easy and more importantly a lot of fun to play. I worry that cardboard pyramid might get ruined by my kids inadvertently bending the essential piece but a little dice bag would work just as well.If I were to voice one concern, and it is a minor one, it's that placing bets costs nothing. That's perfectly fine within the context of the game as it keeps things light and fun but, as it stands, this game does not properly explain betting. If you're trying to educate your kids then you might want to modify the rules a bit so that you pay up front instead.

25.2.2015

Really Great way to teach your kids the perils of gambling!This is a great fun game beautifully produced with nice components and great colours. Maybe the most elaborate dice dispenser ever in the history of gaming.This is a game that plays better after a few goes as you get to understand the use of the different options open to you.Basically it's about racing camels and betting on which one will win that round and the overall race.Though it's recommended from 8 up my 5 year old has it pretty well understood. Just needs a few pointers now and then.I think this game plays better with more players, I would say three is definatly 3 players is the minimum.Finally it's cheaper if you buy through amazon.de the German amazon.

26.10.2017

The product arrived on time and in excellent condition.Camel Up is incredible, quite simply put. It's concept is simple to understand, Camel's move around randomly and you bet on them. The player who wins the most money, wins the game. It's enriched by the methods of betting being fairly complicated, the ability to bet after each leg, and the competitive nature of the game. Many a time have I thought my camel would come out on top, only for the entire game to change with one roll. Likewise, whilst everyone else has betted on a sure loser, I have betted the opposite and by the grace of whatever gods may be, come out victorious. The game is fun for young children, all the way up to adults.

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