February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Heasman, who lives in Clonakilty in West Cork, is the man behind Tailten Games, a company dedicated to the preservation and propagation of board games.
Heasman was in the U.S. recently presenting his latest riposte to the plugged in generation, this being a new game which he describes as being “steeped in the ancient legends of Ireland’s Celtic heritage and royal past.”
And that game is called Tara, an abstract, strategy game named after the Hill of Tara where legend has it that the High Kings, as a company release put it, “contemplated the conjoined the ring forts of Forradh and Teach Chormac.”
The overhead view of the ring forts inspired the popular artistic Celtic knot work pattern making, now found all over the world.
And it was by way of this art that Heasman found inspiration when it came to inventing his new game, which has been taken up by both Barnes & Noble and National Geographic for retail sale.
Tara, according to Heasman, offers a choice of playing one of three different strategy games with the same playing board and pieces in the game.
Each game, aimed at ages 8 and up, he aaid, gives players a little bit of a history lesson and an artistic creation experience by working with the intricate Celtic knot designs on the tiles.
“There is no prior knowledge needed of Celtic knot work. The genius of this game is that it builds automatically before your eyes,” Heasman, who is president of Bandon-based Tailten, told the Echo.
“We are thrilled that Tara is being embraced by the U.S. market. The strategy of the game, along with the unique way that the game changes in appearance as it is being played, have been its key captivating features for consumers,” he said.
The game, and this will appeal to the serious board game player, is not overly easy, even in its relatively simple initial form.
Players can first play “Tara’s Sacred Hill,” a connection game of linking ring forts together with bridge tiles to create a landscape of Celtic knot work.
Building the three-dimensional knot work tiles, players also split an opponent’s territory in a divide and conquer strategy.
Playing the “High Kings of Tara” introduces the kings in all their ancient power, said Heasman.
“They do the work of building the ring forts. Like moving the knight in chess, plus many more twists and turns, kings capture enemy ring forts, but can also be rendered immobile by the opponent.”
In the third game, “Tara’s Poisoned Chalice,” the most advanced version of the three, there is a battle of spirits between High King L