Kogworks

by Madhujith

(Bangalore, India)

Kogworks
Board game manufacturer:
Mind Challenge Ltd.
Number of players:
2- Players
Ages:
6+

Quick verdict

If you are looking for a very light game to be placed while you are waiting for someone, or have just have a few minutes before you leave or during lunch/coffee breaks, this is a good game. It’s also a great way to keep kids engaged.

The game and gameplay

This is a 2-player board game which takes about 5-7min to read the rules and understand it. I personally feel that Kogworks is one of Mind Challenge’s better products, compared to a host of other games and puzzles that they have out in the market like Heist, Kingdom Quest, Kaleidoscope etc.

This is a game played with thirty gears (spur gears), fifteen of each color. Players try to make a chain that connects the gears to a final golden gear at the top of the board; when the bottom one is turned the entire series should turn. This is the game in a nutshell.

The quality of the plastic is good and robust. I say this, as all these gears are constantly moving and everything needs to be strong.
This is a very simple game that offers good tactical depth. However, if there were any category called as very light games, I would gladly put this under that.

Setup is easy. Place three gears, One each in red and blue and the gold colored gears at three corners of the board. Each player chooses a color and starts placing a gear on alternating turns.

After each gear, each player must prove that his base gear (the corner gear) can turn. Players can block the other by forming a triangular formation. Players cannot have two of their gears in a corner forming a triangle.

Players win when any one of the following conditions is met: The first player to reach the gold gear and successfully turn it by turning his/her base gear (either red or blue); or successfully blocks his/her opponent in a way that they can’t turn the base gear.

The box says it takes between 15-30 minutes to play. Usually takes somewhere between 10-15 minutes, with occasional games going up to 20 minutes. So it plays fairly fast, with very little downtime. It’s great for a coffee break!

I would say Blokus is a far better game than this, but might take a little longer to play.

A good game should go on anywhere between 40-45 minutes. Very rarely when the game gets real close I’ve seen it go on for an hour. But you really won’t figure out how time flew by!

It is very fast, interactive with both players going at each other and loads and loads of tactics and some strategy.

Pros and cons

Quick game play, nice components and light strategy are some of its advantages. It is fun to fix the gears and watch them turn.

This game looks attractive but fails to impress you in terms of depth of game play. This is a very superficial game and you might lose interest after a few plays, as it lack both in variety and depth.

The verdict

This is one of Dr. Woods’ better games. Others like Kingdom Quest are heavily flawed and may not be worth your time. This, being a very light game that also plays really fast, can form an addition to your collection.

If you’ve played Kogworks, then please leave a comment or rating by clicking the Comments link below.