Even after several plays, I’m not entirely sure Tower of Doubt is good. What I know is this: I’ve never played it only once, or even twice—Tower of Doubt has thus far been a three-play title when it hits the table. This tower is the sort that begs a few plays to understand the experience and gather an opinion. It’s quick and it’s easy. The question is whether those few plays will beg another try or birth frustration. I’ve seen responses in both directions.
Fidgety
Tower of Doubt is part of the Itten Funbrick series—small, slender, sleeve-boxes with simple games inside. I had a chance to play the more celebrated Viking See-Saw last year and loved what it offered. Tower of Doubt requires a steady hand like its cousin, but for entirely different reasons. This tower, or these towers, present an imperfect deduction challenge for two players.
Dexterity Challenge #1: The Setup. The game begins by reaching into a bag and pulling six towers, one by one, to stand on the overturned game box, a platform for the fun. Each tower is a rectangular prism, the top faces of which are occasionally decorated by dots. A tower may have zero to four dots. The towers stand such that each player can see two of the sides, a partial revelation of the tower’s total number. If at any point during setup a player sees more than they ought, the process starts over.
Dexterity Challenge #2: The Turn. As a turn, players grasp one of the towers and look at the number on the bottom in such a way that doesn’t reveal the information to the opponent. The tower must also be placed back on the platform exactly as it was. The active player marks it with one of their pieces by stacking it atop the tower and placing their meeple alongside (indicating that the opponent must, for this turn, select a different tower).
Play alternates in this fashion until each player “owns” two towers. Ownership is determined by having either the only marker atop a tower, or the top marker of two. In the end, players reveal and compare the value of their two towers to declare a winner for the round. The high score typically wins, but to make life interesting, a player owning both of the towers valued at two wins regardless of total score. The full experience is a best-of-seven count of these rounds and typically lasts 20-25 minutes.
For a greater challenge, players can begin with one tower in the bag, a blind option for player markers should early deductive attempts prove suggestive of the bag’s contents. I barely know what’s going on with all six towers in plain view, so I’ve yet to try this iteration—but I won’t rule it out.
Fun?
I’ve won Tower of Doubt. I’ve definitely lost Tower of Doubt. I’ve had several rounds, if not entire games, in which I wasn’t sure of the outcome until the final revelation. For this reason I declare this Funbrick an incomplete deduction game. In short, you don’t always win because you know. Sometimes the round ends on a hunch. Other times it is dominated by cat and mouse play.
You have two sides of six towers visible to you. You will “own” two. The fun is in the head game, the competitive dynamic. Placing a marker on a tower with zero visible marks (to you) to bait your opponent is a risk, a potential gain, and maybe a story to tell. Deciding whether your opponent is doing the same is similarly taxing. Accidentally finding the lucrative towers is an entertaining stroke of luck. Accidentally gifting them to the enemy is a less entertaining strike of luck. Figuring something out is downright exciting, especially if it results in capturing those all-precious twos. In a game like this, you must be excited to watch the narrative unfold or you won’t be happy.
I’ve had several people walk away intrigued, interested to play again if the game is nearby. I’ve had several people walk away saying, “I don’t get it,” and, to be honest, I understand. Tower of Doubt is delightfully named because you have to climb the tower, face the doubt, to see if it’s the sort of game that will stick around for you. I’ve had it for months now and it’s still around. I’d play right now if you asked. I might sulk away in the end, defeated, questioning my intellect, my interest, and my taste. Then again, I might just walk away thrilled at the demonstration of brilliance or, more likely, loose and mutual confusion that carried the moment along to an unpredictable result.
Almost inexplicably, I like it. It fits, three or four times over, in the beverage pouch of a backpack, sets up in a minute, and is over with conversation to spare before the timer dings to remove dinner from the oven.
Unfortunately, Tower of Doubt is not the easiest game to get a hold of in the Western hemisphere. My copy was an import from Japan that came without English rules. This particular title was not part of the most recent Kickstarter series from Itten, so the infusion of Funbricks worldwide does not include the spotted towers. As such, they come at a cost. There are copies floating around, though, if you’re interested. Mine’s not available just yet.
Add Comment