For some reason, I really enjoy Stefan Dorra’s designs. I’m not sure why, but they just seem to work for me. Tonga Bonga is a racing game of bribery that in my opinion, hasn’t really gotten the attention it deserves. So… why do I like it so much? Read on.
My reviews all (will) cover several things: an overview of the game, the components and their quality, the ruleset and its clarity, the fun factor, value for the buck, and the lowdown.

Overview

Tonga Bonga is a game of boat racing to various islands in the South Pacific. Everyone is trying to make the most money by delivering goods to 4 of the 6 islands on the board and then racing back to Tonga Bonga for a bonus. To do this, you must bribe your opponents by offering up cash for them to place their workers (dice) on your boat. You then need to roll the dice well… or poorly, depending on your objectives. By rolling well, you can claim the money that your opponent’s are bribing you with. However, if you roll poorly, they don’t go very far. So really, both options are good for you.

Favre4MVP has outlined the rules very well here.

Components

In the box, you’ll find a large board, 4 sets of dice and wooden cubes in different colors, 4 boats, and some really great molded plastic money. Oh, and lots and lots of air. As one of the pics for the game shows, the box is a standard Ravensburger size box, but it could have been about half the size, were the board a quad-fold. Ah well, at least they didn’t skimp on the bits. The boats are awesome with your sail representing your color. The dice are great too, with the pips going from 1-5 and the sickboy. Yup, it shows a guy puking over the side of the boat. Possibly one of the best ideas for dice ever. The money is close to the highest quality I have in any of my games. Manila’s might be slightly better, but Tonga Bonga’s is much more visible from a distance.

Components: 9 out of 10

Ruleset

The rules are short, well written and clear. Except for the fact that I always forget to rotate the starting player, they’re great.

Ruleset: 9 out of 10

Fun Factor

Tonga Bonga isn’t a heavy game, by any stretch of the imagination. That’s possibly why I like it so much. The great fun in this game is in bribing your opponents. Offer up a bunch of money for each of your sailors and you’ll likely get some high valued dice from your opponents. However, you can offer practically nothing if you just want to annoy them. This is equally fun… and even better if everyone rolls high. Then they are forced to give you high dice with practically no reward, which always plasters a big stupid grin on my face. Of course, my opponents don’t seem to like it much. Heh.

Fun Factor: 9 out of 10

Value for the Buck

Here’s where Tonga Bonga falls down a bit. As far as I know, it’s out of print. That doesn’t mean it’s hard to find, but you likely won’t find it on the shelves of your FLGS in North America. Here on BGG there’s always a few up for grabs as well as on ebay.co.uk or ebay.de. However, you’re likely going to have to fork out around $50USD for it, including shipping… which I’ll admit is pretty steep. Nonetheless, if your group enjoys light, quick games with a dash of luck, a smidgen of backstabbery with a sprinkling of tough decisions, you could do far worse than Tonga Bonga.

Value for the Buck: 6 out of 10

The Lowdown

Tonga Bonga likely won’t be remembered as Stefan Dorra’s best game. However, it fills the niche for a light racing game with a good amount of player interaction with resource management and backstabbery. Good family fun.

The Lowdown: 9 out of 10 (not an average)

Bizarrely, this is my first review on the ‘Geek. I’m approaching 75 games in my collection and for whatever reason, Combo King has inspired me to write a review.

My reviews all (will) cover several things: an overview of the game, the components and their quality, the ruleset and its clarity, the fun factor, value for the buck, and the lowdown.

Overview

Combo King is a dice-rolling game where all players try to get rid of the cards in their hand (4-5 per player, depending on # of players) by successfully completing the required roll as described on each card. Players get chips when successfully completing a combo. Players may use the chips to roll again during a turn, take extra turns, force other players to draw cards, or discard a card. It is simple, fun, and fast-paced.

 Components

In the box, you’ll find a deck of 60 cards, 8 dice, a rulebook(page), and 36 poker chips. I was quite impressed with the quality of all the components here. The box is small, but frankly larger than it could be. In my opinion, this is okay as long as it’s not ridiculously large. In this case, it is not. The insert is well done and is lined with a felt-like substance. Although this is cool, they missed a tiny opportunity here; they could have left one side of the insert empty so that it could be used as a rolling tray. Nonetheless, it functions well. The dice are very large and feel good in your hands and roll really well. The cards are of decent quality; they aren’t the thickest I’ve ever seen but are better for it as they shuffle really nicely. As they aren’t used excessively, I’m sure they will last a very long time. The poker chips are the surprising inclusion here; they are chunky and fantastic. In many games at this price range, you’d expect mini poker chips or even Bingo-style chips, but not here. They are one of the reasons I bought the game as being a game designer, getting some nice components to ‘borrow’ for a prototype is handy.

Components: 9 out of 10

Ruleset

Not much to say here; the rules are short and clear. They comprise of a single double-sided page. During play, the only question that arose was if you are allowed an extra roll at any point during your turn, not just at the end. For instance, when attempting ‘Avalanche’, your three rolls have to each be lower than the previous. We surmised that, as it does not say that you *can’t*, then you can. Otherwise, the rules are easy to understand and don’t omit anything significant. They can be downloaded as a PDF here: http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/pdfs/Rules/ComboKing-RU…

Ruleset: 8 out of 10

Fun Factor

Combo King’s big attraction is likely this. It is simply FUN. It is not deep, nor strategic whatsoever. However, it offers quick bouts of tension on an ongoing basis; this is something many strategic, heavier games fail at. When you have 3 tries to roll a ‘Full House’ and you’re on your last couple of dice and you’ve got one roll left… The tension is at its peak when all players are into the game. I suspect that Combo King would be even better as a ‘beer and pretzels’ game. I’m not condoning drunkenness as a prerequisite for the game, but I imagine its fun would be increased with a beer or two. I’ll leave it at that. As for the number of players, the more the merrier. There is a deck of 60 cards and each player only has 4 or 5, with the possibility of using up to about 8 per game. There’s no reason why this game couldn’t play up to 8, really. All you’d need is about 8 more dice and possibly a few more poker chips. Even then, the extra dice wouldn’t get used that often as there are quite few ‘All’ cards that would require the use of more than the 8 included dice. That being said, it would definitely be worth adding these dice as it would make the game even more fun. The downtime between turns is very short, so the impact would be low.

Fun Factor: 8 out of 10

Value for the Buck

I paid $15 Canadian at a brick & mortar store here in Canada. I suspect buying from an online retailer in the US would be quite a bit less than that. For that price, the value of the game is undeniable, even for the components alone. Considering how many games it will take you to see and try all 60 of the combos, Combo King fares very well in the value department.

Value for the Buck: 9 out of 10

The Lowdown

For what it is – a fun, easy-to-play, quick game of dice – Combo King comes up sixes. It’s worth your dollar and your time as a great filler or a beer ‘n pretzels game to play with your buddies while watching the game.

The Lowdown: 8.4 out of 10 (not an average)