Tornado
- Board's Eye View
- May 8
- 3 min read
Stormchasers have a reputation for being high-risk thrill-seekers. They are often regarded as irresponsible in their pursuit of dangerously extreme weather conditions. In this game tho' by Pedro Berenguel Nieto, and published by GDM, the stormchasers are all apparently working in the interest of science: the 2-4 players are chasing and 'photographing' the tornado in response to a direct government appeal.
The tornado in this game moves around a 4 x 4 grid and players each turn program their action behind screens so that other players can't see where they are proposing to move their jeep and what action they intend to take. You can take a photo if your jeep is 0-3 squares away from the storm; the closer you are, the more points your photo is likely to be worth. Alternatively, your action can be to draw an equipment card; this could be a card that lets you take a snapshot or it could turn out to be a shortcut to an adjacent square or a card that gives you mooring pegs that avoid your jeep being moved.
The tornado moves each round, to one of the locations indicated on a card but selected by the player who for that turn holds a tornado token. If a player's jeep is on or moves to the square occupied by the tornado, their jeep is thrown two squares away, and you have to discard an equipment card... unless that player is able to play a mooring peg card. Likewise if another player moves their jeep into the square occupied by your jeep, you get bumped and your own planned movement is cancelled. Once again tho', playing a mooring peg card prevents this.
Because it's played on a tight 4 x 4 grid, Tornado is a highly interactive game where players are bound to find they are bumping each other, even if they are otherwise well-intentioned; especially if you're playing with a full complement of four players. Players probably won't be well-intentioned, however. Tornado quickly becomes a 'take that' game where players try to predict each other's movement and do their best to disrupt each other's plans. The tornado control moves between players each round but you can expect the power to choose the tornado's movement to be used as a 'take that' device against opponents. The mooring peg equipment cards provide a push-your-luck element tho' to all 'take that' actions: you may move the tornado with the aim of flinging away an opponent's jeep but if they have a mooring peg card to play, they'll be able to hold their position and snap a photo from the eye of the storm (worth 6 or 7 points.
Tornado is a fun, if chaotic, game. It's a push-your-luck 'take that' game but it's family friendly. There are four photo decks - one for each distance from the tornado - and the game ends when any one of them is exhausted. There are only 6 cards in some of the photo decks so you can expect games to run to no more than 20-30 minutes. The only point in having tiles rather than a fixed board to make up the 4 x 4 grid is to randomise the starting position of the tornado but it does give an opportunity too to show off Siscu Bellido's art.
