A wheelbarrow full of frogs is a management term, but also a Frisian folktale. The story is about an unhappy farmer who makes a deal with the devil, so that the devil will do the farmer’s work for 7 years. At the end of the contract, the devil wants to enforce his part of the deal, but the farmer and his wife come up with a ruse. If the devil manages to push a wheelbarrow without losing its contents, the devil gets his reward. However, the wheelbarrow is full of frogs and as soon as the devil pushes wheelbarrow out of it the frogs jump out and the devil loses…. As a manager, you have to ensure movement in your organization while trying to keep your frogs in line. In Aquarena, you try to keep your predators, including frogs and toads, in line and make as much prey as possible. Will you keep all the frogs in the proverbial wheelbarrow?
In Aquarena, players compete for the most points by taking prey. Each round, players play a number of predator cards at different segments of the pond. Be careful, however, because some predators become prey for other animals, and some predators are so territorial that they refuse to share their part of the pond with a peer.
Each predator card has an initiative value and a special property. The trait determines how much and what prey this card captures and what conditions are attached. Each turn, a player plays a card and also discards a card. At the end of the round, the pond segments are unwound with the cards being dealt in the correct order. If a predator captures prey, these cards no longer count, so order is important.
Aquarena is a short game where bluffing is an important element. The game reminds me a bit of the children’s games from Haba. It is easy to learn and nicely designed and elaborated. It also contains some important game mechanics that can be taught to younger players such as bluffing, game order and some spatial insight. For the frequent player, it is somewhat lacking in innovation, but it is certainly a fun challenge for fans of bluffing and cheating! Do the Aquarena!
