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Posted By: Aslan Apr 07, 2005 - 07:56 am

I'm surprsed at the complete lack of board games on this site. Time to remedy that.


Heroscape:
The ultimate nerd game. If you purchase this, buy a big rubbermaid container to hold the game. It won't fit back in the box once you've opened it.

It's a war game. You build terrain out of plastic hexes. There are multiple scenerios to choose from. The warriors are pulled from a variety of sci-fi/fantasy/historical genres: dinosaurs, orcs, aliens, robots, dragons, valkyries, Romans, samurai, and Matrix-like agents to name a few. Battle ensues.

The rules are fairly simple. The characters and scenerios are well balanced. Games don't take nearly as long as I would have expected - something along the lines of 1-2 hours depending on scenerio.

The best part is imagining the huge battles cyborgs and zerg battling dinosaurs with the help of samurai and demons, etc. Very cool... in a nerdtastic sort of way.


LOTR Risk:
Often when board games use fiction or film to dress up variants there's no real change in gameplay (a la Monopoly). Ones that do change gameplay usually don't do a good job.

LOTR Risk, on the other hand, is a big improvement on the classic Risk game. First of all, there's a time limit. Hallelujah! Granted, the time limit can get very, very long, especially with the full version. But still, it's better than the original Risk which tried to force the game to end by continually increasing the amount of armies earned when turning cards in.

LOTR Risk also establishes the concept of a Hero, a point system, a well-balanced board, and quests, which really enhance the game. If you like the old Risk, I think you'll like Lord of the Rings Risk even more. Beware, though, that like original Risk, the game will likely take hours upon hours to play.


Robo Rally:
This game has been out of print for awhile, but if you can find it somewhere, it's worth the price.

You are the programmer of a robot that must wend its way through a very dangerous warehouse. Imagine a warehouse from a twisted Bugs Bunny episode, with huge, pounding pistons, bottomless pits, flame throwers, oil slicks, etc.

Your robot needs to travel from checkpoint to checkpoint. To do this, you give your robot a program. A program is made up of very simple moves: move forward, move forward 2 spaces, move backward, turn left, etc. At the beginning of every turn, you are dealt 9 cards, each of which represents one of those possible moves (turn left, for example). You will choose five of those cards to make up your robot's program for the turn. You'll want your robot to move past obstacles, avoid danger, and interact (or avoid) other robots. Each robot has 10 hit points. Hit points can be lost by stumbling into warehouse dangers or from getting hit by lasers from other robots. Each point of damage decreases the number of cards you receive at the beginning of your turn, which in turn decreases your ability to make good programming choices. Damage will eventually lock up your robot's program and eventually kill your robot.

Once the five cards are "programmed", they can't be changed for the remainder of the turn. THIS is the most interesting part of the game. Let's say, for example, that I've programmed my robot to turn right, move forward two spaces, land on a conveyor belt, get moved a space by the conveyor, back up (off the conveyor), turn left, then move one space. One of the other robots might have a program that Pushes my robot one space. Now, instead of my program taking me to a safe spot near the conveyor belt, my program takes me through two lasers, a crusher, and finally deposits me in a bottomless pit. Awesome.

It's a great thinker game. Not for the little ones. One of the best games of all time.


That's all I have for now. Anybody else have any favorite fantasy/scifi board games?

Posted By: Magus Apr 07, 2005 - 05:31 pm

I have LOTR RISK!!!!

But it follows different rules then regular risk. But we don't HAVE to play by those new rules.

OLD SCHOOL RULES ROCKS THE BAD MONKEY'S HOUSE!

Now THERE's a fun phrase I just recently picked up.