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Good evening gamers!  This is just a quick update to let you know that Games & Tea is now on both Facebook and Twitter!  If you want to keep track of our reviews without constantly coming back to the blog then just 'Like' us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.  Every time we post a review on here we'll link it to our respective pages, and it also allows you to keep up with little bits and pieces which aren't quite enough to justify a blog entry.

 

Our Facebook page can be found here, and we can be followed on Twitter at @Games_And_Tea.

 

We hope you take this opportunity to increase your interactions with us (we do love a good bit of interacting), and we look forward to seeing you on these two sites!

 

Back in gamer related news, we're currently working on a review for Warhammer 40,000: Relic, from Fantasy Flight Games, so do swing by later in the week to see what we thought of this epic scale game!

Dixit

The game reviews continue to come thick and fast here at Games & Tea, and today we're going to have a look at Dixit: a board game from Libellud for 3-6 players, designed by Jean-Louis Roubira.

 

 

Now the first thing you may notice is that unlike our other board game reviews, we're not splitting this one into two parts.  This is because Dixit is such an incredibly simple game that a 'box contents' entry would take up little more than a couple of paragraphs, and so we're combining the whole thing into a single article.

Don't less this fool you into thinking Dixit's simplicity makes it a sub-standard game.  This is an absolutely charming little game of creativity and flexing the imagination muscles, and makes for a very different but no less enjoyable gaming experience than a lot of games on the market.  So let's have a quick skim over the box contents.

 

 

The board itself (which we would have to describe with the words 'charming' and 'quaint') is styled quite uniquely, in that it's actually built into the box.  This may seem odd at first (and indeed threw us the first time we opened our copy), but this design is very intelligent, in that it leaves the players needing very little space to play Dixit.  In fact as long as you have space to put the box down, you have space to play the game.  Looking past the interesting design, the board is quite basic, simply consisting of 30 numbered spaces for the players to make their way along throughout the course of the game.

 

 

Being a board game, the next thing on the checklist is the set of playing pieces.  In Dixit these pieces are all shaped like rabbits.  Why rabbits?  We have absolutely no idea, but somehow it continues to add to the charm of the game.  We realise this is third time we've used the word "charm" or "charming" to describe Dixit, but frankly it's a term which cannot be thrown around enough as far as this game's concerned.

The 6 playing pieces are all coloured differently, and there are Voting Tokens numbered 1-6 to correspond with each colour of playing piece.  We'll come to the Voting Tokens and how they work in a moment.

 

 

Then the final element of the game is the deck of 84 Images.  These are very simple, containing no text, no rules, just a unique and beautifully illustrated image with which the players must tell their stories and work their way to the end of the board.  These cards each contain an abstract image, ranging from a lady on a ladder carving shapes in the clouds, to a small child casting a shadow in the shape of a vicious wolf.  The cards are all designed to have multiple facets open to interpretation, and in the game description below we'll explore the reason why.

And that's it.  That's the entire contents of the Dixit box.  "How could there possibly be a workable game mechanic in this?" you may ask.  Well, let us show you.

 

At the start of the game each player chooses their playing piece, taking the appropriate colour of Voting Tokens, and draws 6 cards from the Image deck.  The players take it in turns assuming the role of the Storyteller, and imaginations start to get rolling.  The Storyteller must choose one card out of their hand and put a story to it.  This story could be a sentence, a single word, a song, a sound effect, an action; anything at all, as long as the Storyteller is satisfied that it subtly links up to the image on their card.  With the 'story' told, each other player has to give a card from their own hand, face-down, to the Storyteller.  When every player has submitted their card the Storyteller shuffles them together and lays them out in a line, face-up.  Each player aside from the Storyteller then has to place a vote for which card they think best matches the story, and these votes dictate how far each player moves along the board.

 

Let us show you an example...

 

 

Here we have a cat painting a picture of some fish, which are coming to life and swimming off the edge of the canvas.  All in all it's a rather a bizarre sight.  However, the Storyteller is going to focus on one small element of the Image; the fact that the cat is wearing boots.  As a result his story for this turn is simply going to be one word; "Shrek", being a reference to Puss in Boots.

 

 

The other 4 players have selected cards from their hands to fit the description of "Shrek" the best they can.  From left to right we have a dragon, the cat, a sun over a host of umbrellas, a king, and a giant.  The sun might seem like an odd submission, but if you find yourself unable to match an Image to the Storyteller's story then it can often be useful to use this opportunity to discard a card you've been struggling with.

These cards are lined up left-to-right, with each card being given a number from 1-5.  Each player chooses a Voting Token with the corresponding number and places it face-down, so as not to influence other players' votes.  Once everyone has voted the tokens are turned over, and this is where the game gets clever.

If everyone votes for the Storyteller's card, or no one does, then the Storyteller stays put and everyone else moves 2 spaces.  This presents a challenge to the Storyteller, as it means that the connection between their story and their card can't be too obvious, but at the same time it can't be too subtle.  If some (but not all) players select the Storyteller's card then those players and the Storyteller move 3 spaces each, and on top of these moves, everyone (Storyteller aside) who received a vote for their Image moves forward 1 space.

The cards for the round are then discarded, new cards are drawn to bring each player's hand back up to 6 cards, and the game continues.  The winner is decided when the first player reaches space number 30 on the board, or by whoever is furthest ahead when the Image deck runs out, which in larger games will happen quite quickly.

Now you may have noticed a slight problem with this game; if you're playing with 3 players then only 3 cards per turn are being put down.  You'll obviously know which card you placed, so that leaves you with just a 50/50 shot of guessing the correct Image.  This is quickly and easily addressed in the rules, with the suggestion that each player aside from the Storyteller submits 2 cards per round, thus giving a greater degree of choice to their opponent.  That said, Dixit is definitely one of those games where it's a case of 'the more the merrier'.
 

So that's Dixit.  It might seem like a very basic game mechanic, but it works and is a lot of fun.  The simple, non-offensive nature of the Image cards means that it's a very family-friendly game, and for board gamers wishing to get their kids into the hobby you couldn't ask for a better game than this one.  Much like with our previously reviewed Gloom this is a game of imagination and creativity.  Whilst it doesn't possess the same drawn-out narrative element, it does require a lot of thought to go into how to create a short description which some, but not everyone, will guess.  Of course the downside to this is that once again you'll require players who can get the old grey matter working, otherwise you'll end up with a bit of an empty experience.

 

The Good Points

• It's a simple game to pick up, but quite intricate in its own way.
• Very family friendly, an excellent intro game for younger gamers.
• Light hearted and very enjoyable - Dixit isn't a game which will leave you grinding your teeth and monitoring your blood pressure.
• Very compact for a board game.
• The Image cards are very beautifully illustrated.

The Bad Points

• As with all imagination-based games, the right group of players is required to make it a good experience.
• The Image cards are large sized, which is fantastic for showcasing the artwork but makes finding card sleeves awkward.  Shuffling takes its toll quite badly on these cards, and we even started to see signs of wear and tear on our copy by the end of our third game.

Recommended Number of Players: 4+

Dixit is cleverly designed so that it can work smoothly with 3 players or more, but in our experience a minimum of 4 makes for a much better experience.  If only 3 people are available though by no means should this be written off.  Just because it doesn't work quite as well doesn't mean it doesn't work, and 3 player Dixit is still a thoroughly enjoyable game.  It is one of those games which benefits from having as many players as possible, so if you're a member of a large gaming group then a 6 player game would make for a great 30 minutes.

 

Average Game Time: 30 minutes

Regardless of the player numbers, Dixit does seem to have a fairly standard game time of around 30 minutes.  This makes it a great in betweener for a long game evening.

 

Replay Value: High

As the stories are unique to the imaginations of the players, Dixit is a game which is easy to come back to.  Even though the entire deck of Image cards is used in a game, they won't always end up with the same players, and each different player may see a unique interpretation to the card.  Eventually it may reach a stage where your imagination dries up for each Image, but in that unlikely event help is at hand...

 

 The Future: Bright (or at least as bright as your imagination)

Dixit was first release back in 2008, and since then has spawned a number of sequels and expansions.  These include Dixit 2, Dixit 3, Dixit Odyssey, Dixit Quest, Dixit Journey and Dixit Jinx.  For the best part these just add new Images cards into the mix, but once your copy of original Dixit has done the rounds with your gaming groups enough times you may find yourself wanting to pick up one of these to refresh the experience.

 

Price: £30

Dixit retails for roughly £30, which may seem a lot for quite a simple set of box contents, but for a great little game like this one it's worth every penny.  It shouldn't be too hard to find in specialist game stores, but it is a French game and as such might have to be ordered in especially by some retailers.

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE: 4/5

If you enjoyed this article and want to see more of the same, come and like us on our Facebook page to keep up to date with our reviews, as well as our general day-to-day ramblings!

Zombie Fluxx: The Ever-Changing Zombie Card Game

Following on from our reviews of Monty Python Fluxx and Zombies!!!, Games & Tea are going to combine the two as we take a look at Zombie Fluxx from Looney Labs.

 

 

Zombie Fluxx, as the name implies, is a Zombie themed version of Andrew Looney's flagship game.  Seeing as all Fluxx decks follow the same set of basic rules, there's very little point in us going into them in great detail.  If you're a Fluxx newcomer then you can check out our Monty Python Fluxx review here to get a breakdown on how the game is played.

 

The very first thing you'll probably notice upon starting a game of Zombie Fluxx is the incredibly high number of Creepers in the deck.  Most Fluxx variations contain 3 or 4 Creepers, but with Zombie Fluxx they have well and truly gone to town...

 

 

That's right, you're looking at a whopping 15 Creeper cards right there!  This may, at first glance, seem like Looney Labs have gone slightly overboard, but with Zombie Fluxx this high Creeper content works, and does so for a number of reasons.

First of all, this is a zombie game.  The very nature of zombies is that their strength is in their numbers.  In order for Zombie Fluxx to keep the feel of a zombie apocalypse the gaming table needs to be overrun with zombies, and that's just what this Creeper overload achieves.

Secondly, they feel more like a different level of Keeper than your typical Creeper.  Many of the goals require zombies in order to win the game, so you'll often find yourself wanting to collect zombies.

Thirdly, they don't stick around.  With a higher number of Creeper cards comes a higher number of Creeper-removal cards.  Keepers like The Shotgun allow you to kill one of your zombies each turn, and there are New Rules such as Zombies Ain't So Bad which allow you to win on a non-zombie goal even if you have Creepers galore, or you can use Look, Over There! to move a zombie to an opponent who has Brains, Sandwiches, or a number of other food-based Keepers on the table..  On top of this, several of them move of their own accord.  A Zombie Trio (or a Trio of Zombies) travels to an adjacent player when it would be destroyed, a Pair of Zombies can be palmed off onto any other player if another on of your Creepers dies, and Larry The Zombie quite merrily wanders around the board in a counter-play direction every time the Goal changes.  Larry is also perhaps the only true Creeper in the deck, as there are no conditions under which you can win whilst he's in your possession.  Oddly this seems to make him something of a fan favourite, rather than a hated nemesis.

 

The other thing which makes Zombie Fluxx a little different is the addition of a new card sub-type.  This was first introduced in Zombie Fluxx and has since crept its way into a few other Fluxx variants where appropriate, but is by no means a standard part of every deck.

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we present you with the Ungoal!  This is played in the same was as a regular Goal, but results in every player losing the game.  After all, what kind of zombie apocalypse would it be if there wasn't the chance of a Zombie Victory?  This card is especially fun when playing with a team of hardcore zombie fans, as you'll often find at least one player who will throw this down out of nowhere, having been secretly hoping for the zombies to win all along!

 

Aside from those two interesting notes, the rest of the deck is very much standard Fluxx fare, albeit with a zombie theme.  The New Rule and Action cards consist largely of those found in standard Fluxx, with a few zombie-themed cards thrown into the mix.  The Keepers, and subsequently the Goals, are all zombie-themed, with several zombie clichés available to aim for.

 

 

Throughout the course of the game you may find yourself needing to Barricade The Windows.  You could get your Chainsaw at the ready and declare Zombie Season open.  But be careful, if your Friend is turned into a zombie then the Dead Friends New Rule means you'll have to kill them first!

 

So how does it compare to the other Fluxxes on offer?  The high Creeper content gives it a very different feel of play to its counterparts, but this is by no means a bad thing.  If anything it makes the game feel more fun, as forward-planning goes straight out the window and thinking on your feet becomes the only viable plan.

Unlike the previously reviewed Monty Python Fluxx, there is no specific franchise here, just a general zombie theme.  Zombies have been a firm favourite in popular culture for a very long time, but especially with them being in the ascendency in recent years, you'll be unlikely to have a hard time finding willing players.

 

At the end of the day though, even with the zombie element driving the game, it's still Fluxx at its core.  As we mentioned in the Monty Python Fluxx review, this is something of a Marmite game amongst gamers, as the strong focus on chance and almost complete absence of tactics will not be everyone's cup of tea.  If you aren't a fan of Fluxx on the whole, then Zombie Fluxx is unlikely to do anything to change your mind.

 

The Good Points

• Zombies!  Not only is this a good point on account of the fact that zombies are awesome, but also because of the fact that most people agree that zombies are awesome!  This very popular theme means that willing Zombie Fluxx players are rarely hard to come by.
• The standard Fluxx benefits apply here; it's easy to learn, easy to customise, and a nice compact game to carry around.
• Whilst it can be a quick game with a few players, Zombie Fluxx is quite enjoyable to play with multiple players for an extended period.  The chaotic nature of the zombie outbreak is fun to get caught up in, and it doesn't feel as though it's dragging when the games start to approach the hour mark.

The Bad Points

• As a luck-based, largely non-tactical game, it won't appeal to some gamers.

Recommended Number of Players: 3+

Fluxx in general doesn't work quite so well with just 2 players.  It's still a good game, but with 3 players or more then the whole game can change whilst you wait for your turn to come back around.  For a good all-round Zombie Fluxx experience, this is the minimum number you want to be aiming for.

 

Replay Value: High

Zombie Fluxx is an excellent wind-down game, and with it being an enjoyable yet generic theme, it's a lot of fun to keep returning to.

 

The Future: n/a

Each version of Fluxx is its own game, and as such the contents of the box are all you'll ever get of Zombie Fluxx.  However if you've enjoyed the mechanic then there are several other themed Fluxx sets to choose from, including Monty Python Fluxx, Oz Fluzz, Martian Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx and Stoner Fluxx.

 

Price: £12

Zombie Fluxx will set you back roughly £12, which is a thoroughly decent price for a stand-alone card game.  The various Fluxx sets seem to be standard fare in most specialist game shops, and with zombies more popular than ever, Zombie Fluxx does seem to be one of the most easily available.

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE: 4/5

If you enjoyed this article and want to see more of the same, come and like us on our Facebook page to keep up to date with our reviews, as well as our general day-to-day ramblings!

Zombies!!! Part 2: Gameplay & Verdict

In our previous entry we took a look at the box content for Zombies!!!, a game from Twilight Creations Inc for 2-6 players.  Here we'll take a look at how the game plays and give it an all-important final score.

 

 

A game of Zombies always starts in the Town Square, so this and the Helipad must be removed from the Map Tile Deck at the beginning of the game.  Once the deck has been shuffled, the Helipad is randomly inserted back into the bottom half of the deck, and the Town Square is placed into the centre of the table.

 

 

With the Town Square placed, the players must each choose the colour of their Shotgun Guy and place him in the centre square.  Each player is then given 3 Bullet Tokens and Life Tokens, and dealt a starting hand of 3 cards from the shuffled Event Deck.  With the Shotgun Guys placed and the hands dealt, it's time to get started with Zombies!!!

 

The first thing on the agenda in each player's turn is to expand the city map and increase the zombie infestation.  A tile is drawn from the top of the Map Tile deck and added to the map already on the table.  The map tiles must be placed so as to keep the road network running uninterrupted, so a tile can't be placed in position which would leave a road running into a dead end.  If an unplayable tile is drawn then it is discarded, and this phase of the player's turn is skipped.  To discourage players from creating a 'closed' map, any player who places a Map Tile in such a way as to prevent any more from ever being played misses their next turn.

 

When a new Map Tile is played it needs to be occupied by zombies.  If it's an Unnamed Building then the player places a number of zombie models onto the tile equal to the number of road exits on the tile - the T-junction above, for example, would generate 3 zombies.  These zombies must be places on the road, and no space can contain more than one zombie.

If a Named Building is placed then things go a little differently.  The top-left corner of the tile determines how many zombies, Life Tokens and Bullet Tokens are placed onto the square, and these must be placed inside the building itself.  Any square can contain a combination of zombie, Life Token or Bullet Token, but no square can contain all three.  The Hospital above contains the text "Z-8 L-4 B-0", which means that the tile must have 8 zombies and 4 Life Tokens placed on it, but no Bullet Tokens.

 

Once this has been done the player draws card off the Even Deck if necessary until they have a hand of 3 cards.

 

 

With the map expanded and the Event Cards drawn, it's time to move.  The player rolls a die, and can move a number of squares up to the value rolled.  Every time they come across a zombie they must combat it, and only if victorious can they continue to move.

Combat is very simple.  If a player lands in a square containing a zombie then they roll a die.  On a roll of 4 or more the zombie is killed, and the player adds it to their zombie pile by the side of the board.  If a roll of 3 or less is made then players have two options; discard a Life Token to re-roll the die, or discard a Bullet Token to increase the value of the roll by 1 (so if a 3 was rolled, 1 Bullet Token would need to be discarded to make it up to the required 4).  Whilst the main goal of Zombies!!! is to get to the Helipad and escape, players can also win by being the first to have 25 zombies in their pile.

If the zombies get the better of a player then they are not out of the game, their survival merely suffers a setback.  Their Shotgun Guy is returned to the centre of the board and given 3 new Life Tokens and Bullet Tokens, but half of the zombies in their zombie pile are discarded, and any weapons they've gained from the Event Deck are also discarded.

 

When the player has finished their movement phase they roll another die to determine how many zombies they will move this turn.  Each zombie can only move one space in a turn, so early on the game there will be very few movement options, but later on in the game this can be helpful for surrounding your opponents with a legion of the undead.

 

 

For the first few turns the game will continue on in this fashion.  Place a Map Tile, roll to move the Shotgun Guy, roll for combat, roll for combat, roll for combat, roll to move zombies, end the turn.  It's an incredibly basic system, which means that it's easy to pick up, but unfortunately it also means that it becomes repetitive very quickly.  Players will continue to move around the board racking up their zombie body count, until finally the Map Tile everyone's been waiting for comes out...

 

 

Altogether now: "RUN! GET TO THE CHOPPER!"  The Helipad, as you can see, is a Named Building with 'Z-9 L-0 B-0', so each of the 9 squares has a zombie placed inside it.  The first player to reach the centre of the Helipad and kill the zombie in the space wins the game; they've escaped the zombie outbreak and have left their opponents to inevitable death at the hands of the undead.

At first glance it may appear that the revelation of the Helipad tile is like starting a ticking clock and adding a massive element of tension to the game, but sadly the opposite is true.  As soon as this tile comes out every player immediately focuses their every effort upon stopping eachother from reaching that centre space, and the game quickly loses all momentum, grinding to a tedious, dice-rolling halt.  In most games the Helipad will appear within the first 30 minutes, and then the following hour will be spent with the players tripping over one another in an attempt to reach it.

 

In our other reviews you may have picked up on a passion for the subject, and an overall enthusiasm for relaying our experiences with the various games.  If you're noticing a lack of that enthusiasm in this review, it's because there is so very little to get passionate about with this game.

The mechanic of 'roll a die, roll a die, roll a die...' is very repetitive, and seasoned gamers will find no tactical element to help break things up.  The negative Event Cards can be played instantaneously, whereas the positive ones generally require the player to make their way to a certain building to be able to use them, rendering them useless for a large percentage of the game.  And even if you do manage to use one it gives your character a bonus up until they next die, at which all of your hard work is undone.  This leaves the Event Deck skewed heavily towards giving negative effects to your opponents, rather than to help yourself out, and Zombies!!! quickly descends into a game of back-stabbing and frustration.

 

Is it all bad though?  Not quite.  It's fairly easy on the pocket, and the simplicity of Zombies!!! makes it a decent introduction to specialist games.  Once new gamers have pushed past Zombies!!! and into the realm of more in-depth games, however, it's unlikely they'll ever look back.

 

The Good Points

• It's got zombies in it! Everyone loves zombies!
• The simple mechanic and easy-to-follow rules make it a good introduction to specialist games.  If you're trying to get a friend into the hobby or are curious yourself, a game like this would be the place to start.
• The Shotgun Guys look a bit like Chuck Norris.

The Bad Points

• Very repetitive gameplay.
• The basic game mechanic leaves little to offer experience gamers.
• Zombies!!! is very competitive, and there is little room for good nature during a game.
• Some Event Cards are extremely overpowered (such as Fire Axe, which adds +2 to all combat dice rolls), but all weapons and bonuses require so many hoops to be jumped through to get them that they're not worth the effort.

Recommended Number of Players: 3+

3 players or more would be recommended for Zombies!!!  This is purely because the game is so back-stabbing that at least with extra players it feels less like a personal grudge match.

 

Average Game Time: 90 minutes

The time taken to reveal the Helipad is usually less than 30 minutes, but rather than signalling the imminent end of the game it really signifies that the game is just beginning.  Games will often go on for an hour afterwards in the long trudge to the winning square.

 

Replay Value: Low

Whilst Zombies!!! is a good intro to specialist games, once players move on to discover other games with more involved systems they won't be in a hurry to return.  The modular Map Tiles don't really add anything to the game's replay factor, and every playthrough feels very much the same as the last.

 

The Future: Ongoing, But Samey

One thing that must be said about Zombies!!! is that it has stood the test of time.  The first edition of the game was released back in 2001, and the 12th expansion has just been released this year, so it's unlikely that Twilight Creations are going to call time on their baby just yet.  Each expansion is themed, and past expansions have involved a zoo, a school and a circus, and come with new zombies, Map Tiles and Event Cards.

By searching online it's possible to find unofficial additional rules to give Zombies!!! an RPG element.  Whilst this would give the game some much needed depth, it would be much easier to simply go out and pick up a more involving game in the first place.

 

Price: £20

Zombies!!! will set you back roughly £20, which is a good price for a specialist game.  The price should be weighed up against the replay value though, and would be quite an expense for a game which you'll only play once or twice.  It is usually easy to track down, however, and seems to be one of the standard games most specialist stores have to offer.

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE: 2/5

 

 

If you enjoyed this article and want to see more of the same, come and like us on our Facebook page to keep up to date with our reviews, as well as our general day-to-day ramblings!

 

Zombies!!! Part 1: Box Contents

The game under the microscope for Games & Tea tonight is Zombies!!! from Twilight Creations Inc; a competitive zombie survival game for 2-6 players.  Now zombies are a topic rather close to our hearts here at Games & Tea, so we went into this review with high hopes.  Will it meet our expectations?  Let's find out...

 

 

Zombies!!! is presented in a fairly compact Evil Dead-inspired box, meaning it will take up an inoffensive amount of space on your game shelf.  The aim of the game is a simple one: Zombies have taken over the city, leaving the players in an 'every man for himself' struggle to escape in one (living) piece.

Upon opening the box, players will realise that its compact size is mainly due to the lack of a gaming board, in any conventional sense at least.

 

 

Instead of a regular gaming board, the board for Zombies!!! is made up from a deck of modular Map Tiles.  There are two types of tiles in this 30 card deck; Named Buildings, and Unnamed Buildings.  A Named Building tile, such as the Hospital on the right in the picture, is marked by text in its upper-left corner.  Unnamed Buildings, such as the one on the right, have no text.  Each turn the players draw a tile off the top of the deck and add it to the map on the table, expanding the city as they flee to safety.

 

 

As well as the Map Tiles, Zombies!!! also contains a 50 card Event Deck.  Each player has a hand of 3 cards from the Event Deck, and they can play one between the beginning of their present turn and the beginning of their next turn, giving them the option of playing a card during an opponent's turn which will hamper their progress.  The Event Cards serve various purposes, from increasing your own movement speed or combat prowess, to slowing down your opponents or swarming them with additional zombies.  Most are one-off cards which are discarded after use, but some stay with the players throughout the game and can give them a sizeable advantage.

 

 

The box also includes two sets of tokens.  There are Bullet Tokens (the black ones, shaped like bullets) which help you to slay the undead, and Life Tokens (...you can figure out which ones they are) which show how much health your character has.

 

 

Zombies!!! wouldn't be a particularly good zombie game if it didn't contain any zombies (in fact it would just be called '!!!'), and so the box contains 100 miniatures in two different styles.

 

 

And or course the players need their pieces as well, so there are 6 Plastic Shotgun Guys (yes, that's actually what they're called) in various colours, as well as a pair of dice to determine their movement and shooting.

 

So as far as board games go it's not a particularly complicated lineup.  Let's move on to Part 2 and see how it plays!  I don't know about you, but we're anxious to get our zombie hunting on!

Monty Python Fluxx: The Ever-Changing Monty Python Card Game

This evening Games & Tea are going to take a look at one of the first games we discovered upon taking up the card/board gaming hobby: Monty Python Fluxx from Looney Labs.

 

 

Monty Python Fluxx is one of the many variants on Looney Labs' original Fluxx game, and is obviously themed around the Monty Python films and television series.  As this is Games & Tea's first review of any Fluxx set we'll be going through the game in some detail to establish the system at its core.

 

Fluxx describes itself as an ever-changing card game, and this description hits the nail firmly on the head.  The rules can change from one turn to the next, the win conditions change, and even the cards you've played have no guarantee of still being there next turn.  To an outsider watching a group of experienced Fluxx players it can seem like quite and intimidating game to try to take on.  But the nice thing about Fluxx is that it was originally designed as a family game, and it's incredibly easy to pick up.  It starts with a very simple gameplay mechanic, and every single card - without exception - tells you exactly what you need to do to play it in nice clear text.  Let's take a look at the cards and we'll be able to see how it all works.

 

 

Each player in Monty Python Fluxx starts with a hand of 3 cards, and the only card which starts on the table is the Basic Rules card.  To start with each player draws one card off the top of the deck and then plays one out of their hand.  The card types are:

 

 



New Rule

It wouldn't be an ever-changing card game without New Rules being thrown into the mix every turn.  A New Rule card goes into the centre of the table where it affects all players, and remains there until it is superseded by another rule of the same type (eg. replacing Draw 4 with Draw 2), or is removed from the game altogether by another card.  There are many different types of New Rule, most of them making changes to the number of cards which are drawn/played each turn, implementing hand limits, giving bonuses to players with empty hands and so forth.  Of course, being Monty Python Fluxx there are also Python-themed rules, such as One, Two, Five! (shown above), or rules which give bonuses for singing Monty Python songs or speaking in an outrageous accent.

 

Goal

The Goals are the win-conditions of the game.  Just like the New Rules, when a Goal is played it goes into the centre of the table and takes effect for all players.  Only one Goal at a time can be in play (unless the rules change!), and the first player to reach the win condition is crowned the victor, even if it happens in another player's turn.  In order to win the game, you'll need Keepers, so let's look at those next.

 

 

Keepers

Keepers are the various items, characters, and dead parrots from the world of Monty Python.  To play a Keeper, you simply place it on the table in front of yourself, and only you receive its benefits.  All of the Keepers in Monty Python Fluxx are Monty Python themed (and, subsequently, so are the Goals).  There is no limit to the number of Keepers you can have on the table (unless, once again, the rules change!), so players will find it in their best interests to get as many out as possible for when the Goal changes.  If the Keepers in front of you match the required Keepers on the Goal card, you've won the game!

 

 

In the example above, the Goal is Who Leaps Out?, requiring The Catapult and the Trojan Rabbit to win the game.  Here one lucky player already has both of those Keepers, and is surely now dancing the Fluxx dance of victory.

 

 

 Action

Action cards allow you to take actions which can give a decisive advantage over other players.  To play an Action you place the card on the table in front of you, do whatever it tells you to do, and then place it into the discard pile.  Actions can give players extra turns, allow them to retrieve cards from the discard pile, allow them to steal other players' Keepers, and various other nefarious perks.  Many of the Actions are generic to Fluxx, but there are a few Monty Python-themed ones such as And Now For Something Completely Different, or My Hovercraft is Full of Eels.

These Python-esque cards do grant Monty Python Fluxx the achievment of feeling like a Monty Python game.  Themed versions of existing games often just feel like the original game but with a new coat of paint.  Star Wars Monopoly may look nice on the shelf, but when you're playing it you don't actually feel like you're trading planets in the heart of the Galactic Empire - you feel like you're playing Monopoly with funny writing on the bank notes.  With Monty Python Fluxx the cards are so bizarre, often finding clever ways to make a well-known quote into a game mechanic, that you can almost feel Eric Idle and co cheering you on.

 

There is one further type of card, which was not in original Fluxx but was first introduced in Monty Python Fluxx, and has appeared in every variant since then.

 

 

Creepers

Whenever a player draws a Creeper they must immediately put it into play as they would a Keeper, and then draw another card to replace it.  This does not count as one of their plays for the turn.  Creepers prevent players from winning the game, unless the Goal specifically requires that Creeper.  For this reason they have been given the more sinister characters from the Monty Python franchise, including The Spanish Inquisition, The Three-Headed Giant and The Killer Rabbit.

 

The very nature of Fluxx is one of chance.  There is a small tactical element to the game, but for the better part the winner is decided entirely by chance.  This is a big thumbs-down for a lot of hardcore gamers, and Fluxx has very much become a Marmite game of the specialist gaming community.  Those who do enjoy it tend to do so as a wind-down game at the end of a gaming evening, or as a quick game to play down at the pub.

 

Now you've seen what Monty Python Fluxx is all about, here's our breakdown and final score.

 

The Good Points

• Each card tells the player exactly what they have to do with it, and so it's a very fast game to pick up.
• It's a nice compact game, and can easily be taken to a park or pub to play with friends.  Nothing is needed except for the cards in the deck.
• There is a degree of customisation to the game.  For example, if nobody's comfortable singing, just remove the I Want To Sing! card and the game can continue without any problem.
• With the right number of players it's a very quick game to play, and is good to wrap up a heavy gaming session.
• It FEELS like a Monty Python game.

The Bad Points

• As mentioned, there's very little by way of challenge or tactics to Monty Python Fluxx, and this luck-based system will not appeal to all.
• Monty Python does have a very specific fanbase.  Unlike Zombie Fluxx or Pirate Fluxx, it can be quite tricky to find people willing to sit down for a round of this version.
• Monty Python fans may be disappointed to know it's heavily skewed in favour of The Holy Grail.  Life of Brian fans will find no references in this set, and there is only one card from The Meaning of Life.  There are a fair number of Flying Circus cards, but The Holy Grail does dominate the list.

Recommended Number of Players: 3

If ever there was a game to be enjoyed with a group of like-minded friends, Monty Python Fluxx is it.  It loses a little of the fun with just 2 players, but with 4 or more (the box advertises 2-6) it can start to drag on as players forget their own Goals and desperately vie to just keep eachother from winning.  If everyone's in a mood for an epic length game of absolute silliness, however, then a large game of Monty Python Fluxx can be a great way to spend an hour.

 

Average Game Time: 20 minutes

Monty Python Fluxx is difficult to put an average game time on due to its random and unpredictable nature.  We've played games which have been over in a matter of minutes, and some which have gone in in excess of an hour and a half!  20 minutes is a good, solid, average time though.

 

Replay Value: Medium

Whilst Monty Python Fluxx is a good wind-down game, it is something that players have to be in a specific mood for.  It's certainly one to go back to, just perhaps not on a regular basis.

 

The Future: n/a

Each version of Fluxx is its own game, and as such the contents of the box are all you'll ever get of Monty Python Fluxx.  However if you've enjoyed the mechanic then there are several other themed Fluxx sets to choose from, including Zombie Fluxx, Oz Fluzz, Martian Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx and Stoner Fluxx.

 

Price: £12

Monty Python Fluxx will set you back roughly £12, which is a thoroughly decent price for a stand-alone card game.  The various Fluxx sets seem to be standard fare in most specialist game shops, so even if they don't have the set you're after then they should be able to get their hands on it quickly.

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE: 3/5

 

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Puppet Wars Unstitched, Part 2: Gameplay & Verdict

In our previous entry we looked at the box contents of Wyrd Miniatures' board game for 2 or more players, Puppet Wars Unstitched.  Now we're going to look at how the game plays, and then give the run down on Games & Tea's opinion of the experience.

The first thing to decide upon starting a game of Puppet Wars Unstitched is the layout of the board.  At the back of the rulebook you'll find a series of maps for 2-4 players which show you where to lay out the Impassable Terrain tokens and the Workbenches.  More experienced players can create maps of their own, and can even create handicapped maps to give an advantage for newer players, but for those embarking on their first game the wise choice is to stick with a map from the book.

 

Once the map has been decided upon, each player must choose the Master to lead their puppet army.  There are three masters in the Puppet Wars Unstitched box; Seamus, Lady Justice and Pokey Viktoria.  So whilst the manual does contain maps for 4 players, until Wyrd begin to release additional puppets that fourth player will be required to own their own copy of the game so as to bring their own master.

With the Masters chosen, each player then chooses the puppets for their army.  The rulebook lists the puppet numbers for various sized games, with the smallest (or 'shoebox') size consisting of 8 plus the Master.  With the puppets having different abilities, selection can seem tricky for newcomers, but the rulebook also helpfully lists two well-balanced pre-set armies, so that new players can get off to a swift start.

Each player then selects one of the map's Workbenches as their starting Workbench, and replaces it with a token of their chosen colour.  The Masters start on the board in any space adjacent to their controllers' Workbench, and the rest of the models await in the players' 'toybox', off to the side of the board.

 

 

The players shuffle their Puppet Decks and each draw a hand of 4 cards, plus 1 for each Workbench they control.  Whilst the Puppet Wars Unstitched box does contain enough miniatures for a 3 player game, the absence of the third Puppet Deck does mean that a deck of cards must be provided to allow the game to take place.

With the Masters placed and the cards drawn, it's time to begin the war!

 

Each turn consists of 5 Animation Rounds, and the bottom-right corner of the board allows you to keep track of which round you're on.  This is another shortcoming of Puppet Wars Unstitched, as it doesn't contain a counter or token to move along this track.  We've discovered the handiest thing to use is a Workbench token of an unused colour.

At the start of each Animation Round the players draw one card off the top of their Puppet Deck and add it to their hand.  They then place a card face-down to determine which puppet they're going to activate, either from their toybox or from the puppets already in play.

 

 

Each puppet's 'Animation Requirement' is marked in the top-right hand corner of their card.  To activated Pokey Viktoria her controller would need to put down a card with a value of 6 or higher.  The Judge, on the other hand, has a suit in his requirement, so not only does his controller need a 5 or more, but it also needs to be a Ram.  Once each player has placed their card face-down, they are all revealed, and here's where the game starts to get interesting, because the player with the lowest value card gets to go first.  The more powerful puppets have higher Animation Requirements, so players are left to make a tactical decision:  Activate a powerful model, but lose the initiative to your opponent, or bring out one of the low-cost pawns to start gaining ground, but lost the advantage of brute force?

Each time a puppet is activated it can move up to its total movement distance (the value on the far left of the row of numbers), and take a single action.  Actions can consist of attacking, attaching upgrades from fallen comrades, acquiring unoccupied Workbenches, or a variety of character-specific actions which we won't go into here.  Whenever a puppet takes an action it received an Exhausted Counter, and any puppet which is activated whilst in possession of an Exhausted Counted suffers one rip.  Again this leaves players with a tough decision, as the puppets they'll want to activate will often already be exhausted.  The number of rips each puppet can suffer is represented by the buttons on the far right side of the card.  This is another shortfall from Wyrd, as the Puppet Wars Unstitched box contains nothing to keep track of rips suffered on each model.  As a tabletop gamer with a tinful of dice this wasn't much of an issue for me, but a board gamer might struggle to find an appropriate substitute.

 

Taking an action is where the Puppet Deck comes into true effect.  We'll take a look at combat as an example of an action, as it's showcases the game mechanic quite nicely.  Once again we'll use the two puppets above as an example, so we'll have Pokey Viktoria making an attack against the Judge.

The puppet's defence is the second number in the row, with the thimble in the background.  The Judge has a defence of 8, which means that when Viktoria's controller flips over the top card of their deck, they need an 8 or higher to score a hit.  Now the Judge's controller may value their puppet highly (perhaps it's late in the game with few puppets left, or this one is in a good tactical location), so they can choose to dodge before the attack is made.  To do this they select one card from their hand to replace the defence value.  In this instance we'll say they've dodged with the 11 (Jack) of Tomes.

The third number in the row is the puppet's combat (attack) value.  Pokey Viktoria has a combat of 4, which means that her controller flips over the top 4 cards of their deck to make the attack.  If any one of those cards is the 11 of Tomes or higher, the attack is successful and the Judge suffers a rip.  If none of the cards are high enough, then the controller can use a card from their hand instead.

 

The true genius of this system means that players will be hoping for a mixed hand at the beginning of each turn; low cards to activate their models before their opponents, but high cards to boost their attacks and dodges.

 

 

After 5 Animation Rounds, the turn is over.  Players discard any remaining cards from their hands which they don't wish to keep for the next turn, shuffle the discarded cards back into their Puppet Decks, reset the Animation Round counter to 1, and remove any Exhausted Counters from any puppets.  The game continues in this fashion until a victor is decided.  The two ways to lose Puppet Wars Unstitched are to let your Master die, or to find yourself in control of no Workbenches.

 

So there's a nice, in-depth look at Wyrd Miniatures' Puppet Wars Unstitched, so let's break it down.

 

The Good Points

• The game is very nicely presented.  The box, board and Puppet Decks are all of excellent quality and contain some fantastic artwork.  The miniatures themselves, whilst requiring assembly, have an incredible level of detail, and are a joy to play with.
• Whilst a complex looking game, Puppet Wars Unstitched is very quick to pick up, and even brand new players often start moving through the turns at a decent pace before the end of their first game.
• The rulebook contains optional extra rules for experience players, whilst giving beginners guides to new players by way of suggested army lists.
• The wide selection of maps in the rulebook, together with the option of creating your own, and the variety of puppets to choose for your armies keep the game fresh.
• The nature of the game itself is very tongue-in cheek, and leads to an overall enjoyable gaming atmosphere whilst playing.

The Bad Points

• Whilst Puppet Wars Unstitched is technically a board game, it's designed by a tabletop gaming company and feels like it's made for tabletop gamers.  The game simply isn't ready to play straight out of the box, requiring modelling tools to assemble the miniatures, and paints to make them look their best.  The character cards require counters of some kind to be provided to keep track of rips, and whilst advertised for "2 or more players", the box contains only enough Puppet Decks for 2 players, and only enough models for 3.  Put quite simply, it isn't a complete package, which is what most board gamers want.
• The game mechanics might seem overly complicated to board gamers with no tabletop experience.  Puppet Wars Unstitched could be called Malifaux Light, for all of its similarity to Wyrd's flagship game.
• The puppets are based on Malifaux characters and the games is set in the Malifaux  universe, so the game's charm may be lost on those without the background knowledge.

Recommended Number of Players: 2-3

Both 2 and 3 player games of Puppet Wars Unstitched work very well, with a balance between bull-headedness and absolute caution being the best way to play.  4 players is workable, but can make the board overly busy and cause the game to slow down to a crawl.

 

Average Game Time: 30-60 minutes

Once the game gets moving, Puppet Wars Unstitched moves at a relatively brisk pace, and entire turns can pass within a couple of minutes.  Larger scale games with more opponents will inevitably take longer, but casual 2-3 player games in 'shoebox' size will take under an hour.

 

Replay Value: High

As mentioned, Puppet Wars Unstitched gives the players variety in both the maps they battle on, and the puppets in their armies.  On top of this you have the human element, with each different player favouring their own tactics.

 

The Future: Bright

Seeing as Puppet Wars Unstitched is a light-hearted parallel of Malifaux, Wyrd are planning to release corresponding puppet miniatures of their other Malifaux characters.  This will mean more expense, more modelling, more painting, and perhaps even new rules to learn, which will delight tabletop gamers, but may further put off hardcore board gamers.

 

Price:£45

At £45, Puppet Wars Unstitched is certainly not the cheapest board game out there, but nor is it the priciest.  Again the point must be made that it's a sizeable expense for a board game which requires hours of work before the first game.  In many ways it should be viewed more as the purchase of a new gaming system, rather than a regular board game.

As Malifaux is one of the better-known tabletop games doing the rounds at the moment, most specialist gaming stores should stock Puppet Wars Unstitched, and even if they don't then it won't be a problem to order it from an already established supplier.

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE (BOARD GAMER): 3/5

 

OVERALL SCORE (TABLETOP GAMER): 5/5

 

This split score might cause controversy, but it really must be emphasised that this game is marketed towards two different gamer groups, and it will be a thoroughly different experience for each of them.

 

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