Games I Really Want To Play
The three IGUK review monkeys – Jason, Chris and David – are committed gamers who play games as often as their schedule allows. Unfortunately, with other commitments always looming, it’s pretty safe to say that none of us get to play as many games as we’d like.
Here, Jason Brown will regale you with tragic tales of unplayed games featuring alien politics, vampires, cyberpunks, superheroes, famous movie bad guys and…trains. We at IGUK now present you, dear reader, with the games that Jason really, really wants to play – but hasn’t had a chance to yet.
Last year I went a bit mental and tried desperately to get my hands on loads of out of print games that I was desperate to own, not to mention play. Having acquired the Call of Cthulhu CCG Premium Starter Set as a birthday gift last year, I was suddenly hit by the realisation that CCGs – a sub-genre of gaming that I’d always pretty much ignored – were actually immensely satisfying. Well, in any case, the two that I’d tried were – in completely different ways. Pokémon satisfied my hunger for more Pokémon-based product with it’s easy, quick take on pocket monster battling. The Call of Cthulhu, with its dark, vividly painted imagery and tense, involving gameplay, was another thematic winner for me – and it helps that the Lovecraftian subject matter is applied to a very good game. So I started to look for other CCGs that would interest me, and what was disappointing was that pretty much every one I looked into getting was out of print. The ones with themes that appealed to me were (in no particular order – Babylon 5, The Terminator, Aliens vs Predator and NetRunner. Even though it took a while, I managed to cobble together Starter sets and even stacks of extra cards in some cases, partially from using eBay and partially from trading away games I didn’t want with users on Board Game Geek. But have I actually played any of these CCGs? Nope – they’re all sitting on the shelf waiting to be learned and played. To be fair, I did have a proper look at the rules of Babylon 5 and NetRunner – but they’re ridiculously badly written and tough to digest. Babylon 5 has a rule book that seems to have been written back in the dark days of rulebook writing (with poorly set out, poorly written rules that are incredibly tough to digest for all but the most committed gamer) and NetRunner’s is unhelpfully written with lots of cod-future slang that is tough to marry to game mechanics even for a cyberpunk aficionado and self-confessed William Gibson disciple like myself. AvP and Terminator seem much easier to learn, but like other games detailed here I just haven’t had the time to try these yet.
Along with my sci-fi fixation, I am also a huge comic book geek. Well, not huge in the physical sense – I just really like reading comics. So what happens when I browse the internet on a lazy weekend afternoon and discover a sister game to TSR’s Dragon Dice, featuring Marvel Super Heroes characters? Well, I then become totally focused on tracking down sets of them of course. The Marvel Super Dice Game was planned to be a long running series featuring all of Marvel’s best-loved characters, but seems to have died a quick, undignified death upon introduction to the masses. Planned to be released as big started sets and smaller booster packs (known as ‘kickers’, for reasons best known to the now defunct TSR!), only one product ever made it to final release: The X-Men – Battle for New York City Starter Pack. I managed to find 4 reasonably priced, sealed boxes of these dice and purchased them immediately! The game does look fairly interesting: alongside the big super hero dice are other, smaller dice featuring lesser-known characters – and even smaller dice representing civilians, military and police officers. The dice move around a map, with players attempting to secure as many city blocks as they can. I’ve yet to have a chance to sit down and try this one, although it’s something that I can see I’ll be giving a go very soon. If you’re interested in sets of these, I’m finding it incredibly easy to find sealed boxes of them – so let me know and I’ll direct you to them.
Fury of Dracula is another game I’ve yet to play, but this is more to do with the fact that I don’t actually have it in my possession – yet. This beautifully illustrated Gothic horror game has Fantasy Flight’s usual flair for gorgeously designed games with substance to back up the style, and I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this.
Skipping back to Babylon 5, in addition to the out of print CCG I also have the box set of Babylon 5: A Call to Arms – the Babylon 5 space combat game. It has a lovely rulebook with easy to understand concepts and simple mechanics – despite the apparent simplicity it looks to be a deep and satisfyingly engaging game. Just another one of those games that is still patiently waiting for me to have time to play…
Lastly, Railroad Tycoon is a game I’ve had for a few months but due in part to the absolutely gargantuan board I have yet to try it. Our table is about half the size of the ridiculously huge board, so we’re having problems even getting it out to learn! It looks lovely though, and this is another game I am dying to play – it should satisfy my desire for satisfying empire-building games - and without any half-hearted or unnecessary combat to drag it down (sorry, obligatory Age of Mythology rant there!), it looks like this one will be a winner.
So, quite a list isn’t it? To be honest, there are probably a few more that I have forgotten (I’m sure I have a Carcassonne expansion or two that I own but haven’t played yet), but these are the ones that I always get a little bit sad about when I see them sitting forlornly on the shelf, opened and ready to go, but sadly unplayed. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before I start battling through each one of these games – and when I do, there will be reviews appearing on the site for each one! I hope you look forward to reading about them as much as I look forward to playing the games and then writing about them.
By Jason M. Brown
And now the gates are opened to you, dear reader – what games do you have sitting in your home, unopened, unloved or just simply unplayed? Why have they not been played? Are the rules too difficult, is the game too big, will no-one play it with you? Tell us your stories in the comments section below!
Here, Jason Brown will regale you with tragic tales of unplayed games featuring alien politics, vampires, cyberpunks, superheroes, famous movie bad guys and…trains. We at IGUK now present you, dear reader, with the games that Jason really, really wants to play – but hasn’t had a chance to yet.
Last year I went a bit mental and tried desperately to get my hands on loads of out of print games that I was desperate to own, not to mention play. Having acquired the Call of Cthulhu CCG Premium Starter Set as a birthday gift last year, I was suddenly hit by the realisation that CCGs – a sub-genre of gaming that I’d always pretty much ignored – were actually immensely satisfying. Well, in any case, the two that I’d tried were – in completely different ways. Pokémon satisfied my hunger for more Pokémon-based product with it’s easy, quick take on pocket monster battling. The Call of Cthulhu, with its dark, vividly painted imagery and tense, involving gameplay, was another thematic winner for me – and it helps that the Lovecraftian subject matter is applied to a very good game. So I started to look for other CCGs that would interest me, and what was disappointing was that pretty much every one I looked into getting was out of print. The ones with themes that appealed to me were (in no particular order – Babylon 5, The Terminator, Aliens vs Predator and NetRunner. Even though it took a while, I managed to cobble together Starter sets and even stacks of extra cards in some cases, partially from using eBay and partially from trading away games I didn’t want with users on Board Game Geek. But have I actually played any of these CCGs? Nope – they’re all sitting on the shelf waiting to be learned and played. To be fair, I did have a proper look at the rules of Babylon 5 and NetRunner – but they’re ridiculously badly written and tough to digest. Babylon 5 has a rule book that seems to have been written back in the dark days of rulebook writing (with poorly set out, poorly written rules that are incredibly tough to digest for all but the most committed gamer) and NetRunner’s is unhelpfully written with lots of cod-future slang that is tough to marry to game mechanics even for a cyberpunk aficionado and self-confessed William Gibson disciple like myself. AvP and Terminator seem much easier to learn, but like other games detailed here I just haven’t had the time to try these yet.
Along with my sci-fi fixation, I am also a huge comic book geek. Well, not huge in the physical sense – I just really like reading comics. So what happens when I browse the internet on a lazy weekend afternoon and discover a sister game to TSR’s Dragon Dice, featuring Marvel Super Heroes characters? Well, I then become totally focused on tracking down sets of them of course. The Marvel Super Dice Game was planned to be a long running series featuring all of Marvel’s best-loved characters, but seems to have died a quick, undignified death upon introduction to the masses. Planned to be released as big started sets and smaller booster packs (known as ‘kickers’, for reasons best known to the now defunct TSR!), only one product ever made it to final release: The X-Men – Battle for New York City Starter Pack. I managed to find 4 reasonably priced, sealed boxes of these dice and purchased them immediately! The game does look fairly interesting: alongside the big super hero dice are other, smaller dice featuring lesser-known characters – and even smaller dice representing civilians, military and police officers. The dice move around a map, with players attempting to secure as many city blocks as they can. I’ve yet to have a chance to sit down and try this one, although it’s something that I can see I’ll be giving a go very soon. If you’re interested in sets of these, I’m finding it incredibly easy to find sealed boxes of them – so let me know and I’ll direct you to them.
Fury of Dracula is another game I’ve yet to play, but this is more to do with the fact that I don’t actually have it in my possession – yet. This beautifully illustrated Gothic horror game has Fantasy Flight’s usual flair for gorgeously designed games with substance to back up the style, and I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this.
Skipping back to Babylon 5, in addition to the out of print CCG I also have the box set of Babylon 5: A Call to Arms – the Babylon 5 space combat game. It has a lovely rulebook with easy to understand concepts and simple mechanics – despite the apparent simplicity it looks to be a deep and satisfyingly engaging game. Just another one of those games that is still patiently waiting for me to have time to play…
Lastly, Railroad Tycoon is a game I’ve had for a few months but due in part to the absolutely gargantuan board I have yet to try it. Our table is about half the size of the ridiculously huge board, so we’re having problems even getting it out to learn! It looks lovely though, and this is another game I am dying to play – it should satisfy my desire for satisfying empire-building games - and without any half-hearted or unnecessary combat to drag it down (sorry, obligatory Age of Mythology rant there!), it looks like this one will be a winner.
So, quite a list isn’t it? To be honest, there are probably a few more that I have forgotten (I’m sure I have a Carcassonne expansion or two that I own but haven’t played yet), but these are the ones that I always get a little bit sad about when I see them sitting forlornly on the shelf, opened and ready to go, but sadly unplayed. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before I start battling through each one of these games – and when I do, there will be reviews appearing on the site for each one! I hope you look forward to reading about them as much as I look forward to playing the games and then writing about them.
By Jason M. Brown
And now the gates are opened to you, dear reader – what games do you have sitting in your home, unopened, unloved or just simply unplayed? Why have they not been played? Are the rules too difficult, is the game too big, will no-one play it with you? Tell us your stories in the comments section below!
<< Home