Game 61: Camel Up

 We're not 100% sure if the name of this game is "Camel Up" or "Camel Cup."  We've discussed it a bit among ourselves and with friends and have read arguments online.  Both titles fit - "Cup" because it's a race, and "Up" because the camels stack up as they go around the track. I imagine the game designers were purposefully ambiguous.  I have to make a choice here, so I'm going with Camel Up.  Below you see us setting up - Jacob clearly ready to take on us old folks in this game!  The cool pyramid on the board is what you used to shake and dispense the dice, which is pretty fun.
 The camel's are on the starting line reading for the initial roles and to take their starting positions.
 The 6-sided dice have only 3 different numbers on them, two each of 1, 2 and 3.  Each die is a different color, each one matching the color of a camel.  The color rolled indicates the camel to be moved, and how many spaces to move it.  But one option players may take on their turns is to set a tile on the track that moves a camel ahead one space or back one space.  If a camel moves back and there are one or more camels on the space behind it, it goes below the others.  If a camel comes from behind, it lands on top of the stack.
 Every player has multiple options on each of their turns.  One choice is to roll the dice, which gives that player one coin but gives the other players information for betting on the outcome of that leg and of the race as a whole.  Another choice is to bet by picking up a card of any of the colors; if the camel of that color is in first or second place at the end of the leg, the player earns coins.  If the camel is in any place other than first or second, the player loses a coin.  Another option is to place the +1 or -1 tile on the track to move camels forward or backward if they land there; each time a camel lands on that tile the player who placed it earns one coin.  Another option is to bet on the overall outcome of the race.  The betting is pretty intense.  The earlier you bet on the outcome the more likely you are to win a large amount of coins, but if you bet wrong, you lose a coin.  For overall bets you can bet on the loser or the winner!  Timing on that is very tricky.
 The camels can end up very clumped up, as above, or a bit more spread out, as below.
This is a very fun game.  The design is obviously very light-hearted, but the strategy, particularly about the betting, can get very serious.  All-in-all an excellent game that we enjoy very much!

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