TZAAR - A new game from Kris Burm

I'm a fan of Kris Burm's GIPF project. I've just become aware that he has designed a new game for the project entitled TZAAR. Boardgame News has a story on the new game here.

Apparently the new Belgian publisher of the GIPF project, Smart, is dropping TAMSK from the lineup and replacing it with TZAAR.

Here’s a description of TZAAR from Kris Burm (from Boardgame News):

TZAAR is a game about making choices. Both players have 30 pieces, divided in three types: 6 Tzaars, 9 Tzarras and 15 Totts. The 3 types of pieces form a trinity: They cannot exist without each other. The aim is either to make the opponent run out of one of the three types of pieces or to put him in a position in which he cannot capture anymore. The tricky question the players will have to ask themselves on each of their turns is: “Shall I make myself stronger or my opponent weaker?” Meaning: Will you capture an opponent’s piece and make him weaker, or will you jump on top of one of your own pieces and make yourself stronger? If you choose to jump on top of your own pieces too often, you will probably leave your opponent with too many pieces on the board. On the other hand, if you capture too often, you may end up with pieces that are not strong enough at the end of the game. What to do? Up to you to decide!

TZAAR will be released by Smart on a broad scale in 2008, but a special pre-release edition of the game—limited to 1,000 copies signed and numbered by designer Kris Burm—will be on sale at Spiel 07.