[spectre] kolejka

[Geert Lovink]

Get in a queue with your family in front of a store and experience a  
rush of genuine emotions!

The board game Kolejka (a.k.a. Queue) tells a story of everyday life  
in Poland at the tail-end of the Communist era. The players' task  
appears to be simple: They have to send their family members out to  
various stores on the game board to buy all the items on their  
shopping list. The problem is, however, that the shelves in the five  
neighborhood stores are empty.

The players line up their pawns in front of the shops without knowing  
which shop will have a delivery. Tension mounts as the product  
delivery cards are uncovered and it turns out that there will be  
enough product cards only for the lucky few standing closest to the  
door of a store. Since everyone wants to be first, the queue starts to  
push up against the door. To get ahead, the people in the queue use a  
range of queuing cards, such as "Mother carrying small child", "This  
is not your place, sir", or "Under-the-counter goods". But they have  
to watch out for "Closed for stocktaking", "Delivery error", and for  
the black pawns – the speculators – standing in the queue. Only  
those players who make the best use of the queuing cards in their hand  
will come home with full shopping bags.

On the product cards are photos of sixty original objects from the  
Communist era. The merchandise includes Relaks shoes, Przemysławka eau  
de cologne, and Popularna tea, as well as other commodities that were  
once in scarce supply. The neighborhood also has an outdoor market but  
the prices there are steep – unless, of course, you manage to strike  
a deal with the market trader. In this realistic game you really have  
to be savvy to get the goods.

Are you brave enough to confront the everyday life of the 1980s?

> http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/85325/kolejka