Reiner Knizia’s Ingenious was released in 2004 and immediately became one of my favorite games. It’s a game I’ll pull out to introduce people to the idea of modern board games. From the hex-ended dominoes to the long runs of colors on the board, to the quirky scoring mechanism (your lowest scoring color is your final score), Ingenious struck the right balance between the familiar and the new. It has easily lured friends to the table and made them curious for more.
The box for my copy (featured in a photo of my review of the Second Edition of Ingenious) is battered and torn. The tape along the back of the board wore through years ago, meaning we have to keep pushing the two halves of the board together whenever we play.
It is a well loved game.
In December 2024, Board Game Geek announced a new 3D version of the game. BGG’s blog editor, W. Eric Martin, posted the news, followed by a video review of the game. The catch, however, is Einfach Genial 3D has not been released in the US—and, currently, there are no plans for a US release.
Fortunately for me, I live about 25 minutes from Eric and get to play board games with him and a group of friends a few times a year. I contacted him, begging asking if I might borrow Einfach Genial 3D for a review here on Meeple Mountain. Eric graciously agreed, so here we are. (Thanks, Eric!)
NOTE: I’m going to assume you have some familiarity with the play and scoring of the original Ingenious. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, Ashley’s review (Hi SMASHley!) does an excellent job of teaching the game.
Setup and Play
The board for Einfach Genial 3D is about 1/4 the size of its progenitor’s board. Instead of an even-sided hexagon for the board, this game features a triangular-looking hex with six smaller hexes on three sides and three hexes on the other. As well, the original has a color/shape pre-printed on the six corners of the board. For Einfach Genial 3D, the six corners of the triangular hexagon-shaped board have slots cut into them. At the start of each game, you’ll mix up the six single-hex pieces to create unique starting points for each color.
Each player takes five (not seven as in Ingenious) random tiles and places them on a stand. As with the original, each player must put their first tile next to a different one of the six colors.
Your first moves will, by necessity, be on the board itself. However, since the board is quite small, at some point your best move will be to place a tile atop two other tiles already on the board.
Notice I said ‘atop two other tiles there? That’s because the tiles are designed such that you cannot place a new tile directly on top of any other single tile. They simply won’t snap into place. This means to build upwards, you must place a piece on top of the hex sections of two other tiles.
As usual, you score points in Einfach Genial 3D for each matching color in a straight line from the tile you just played. This means for each of the two hexagonal ends of a piece, you’ll have five possible directions to score in. When scoring a tile, you’ll score for all the like colors in line with the color(s) on your tile, regardless what ‘level’ they’re on. As long as they’re visible and in a straight line, they’re counted.
As you place tiles on the board and/or atop other sections of tiles, you will inevitably create hexagonal holes on the board. Since you cannot place a tile over these holes, your placement options on the already small board become even more restricted.
In all my games of Einfach Genial 3D, we ended up creating holes on each level of tiles on the board. This cut sections of the board off from other sections and made for some difficult areas to score in towards the end of the game when certain colors became scarce.
Thoughts
As someone who loves Ingenious, there is so much to love with Einfach Genial 3D.
This is a well-designed, well thought out game. The board, which felt too small when I first saw it, is just the right size. It allows for just enough first level play before players start taking advantage of scoring opportunities on the second (and then the third, etc) level.
The tiles themselves are a clever bit of design. They are thicker than the original game’s tiles, a necessity if they’re going to fit on top of other tiles. As previously mentioned, you cannot place one tile directly on top of any other single tile. This is due to a barely noticeable line of plastic running perpendicular to the top and bottom edge of each color/shape side and a corresponding plastic line on the underside that divides the two hexes.
This simple design element that makes Einfach Genial 3D so much better. In every game I’ve played, at least one player has cursed this design feature, only to admire it moments later.
The scoring board for each player is so much better here than in either my original version (thin flat cardstock with wooden cubes) or the Second Edition of Ingenious (thick cardboard with pegs). Here we have a two-layer board where each color’s scoring track is saw-toothed, making moving your plastic cube to a specific number much easier. (Note: In this version, you’ll call out “Ingenious” at both 18 and 27 points.)
It is strange, therefore, that the player tile stands are folded cardboard that, despite their thickness, are bound to fall apart over time. Both editions of the game’s predecessor came with sturdy plastic stands.
Also missing from Einfach Genial 3D is a cloth bag to draw tiles from. Minor, yes, but I still missed it in each play of the game.
I have played Einfach Genial 3D with four different groups of people, including casual gamers and my weekly group. (Including one game with my friend and fellow Meeple Mountain reviewer, K. David Ladage!). It has been a hit with everyone.
Halfway through a game with my nephew, he asked, “Why isn’t this game available in the US?”
My question, exactly—especially since I have to return my copy.
Einfach Genial 3D is a fantastic sequel-of-sorts. It doesn’t replace Ingenious so much as it augments the best parts of the original and creates a familiar-yet-different version with its own unique strategies. Every time I play it, I marvel at the way the board develops. When the game ends, I want to play it again right away.
I cannot recommend Einfach Genial 3D enough. It really is that good.
Einfach Genial 3D details
- Designer: Reiner Knizia
- Artists: N/A
- Publishers: 999 Games, KOSMOS
- Release Date: 2024
- Player count : 1 - 4
- Age range : 8+
- Time range : 30 - 45 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Hand Management, Highest-Lowest Scoring, Pattern Building, Team-Based Game, Tile Placement
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.72333 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
- More articles about Einfach Genial 3D.
Add Comment