|
|
|
|
Alfred Wallace: True Confessions
The Beloved Cardinals are up three games to one. I am pleased, certainly, but I remember the ’85 series just well enough to remain nervous and anxious for the future. In these high, but strained, spirits I thought I’d bare my soul a little bit.
So, here are some BGG comments on a game I own:
“One of the worst, most painful games I’ve ever played.â€?
“Snake and ladders is more fun than this.�
“Nice idea but c’mon...one play reveals that this is a boring non-game.â€?
And, yet, this is a game I’ve always enjoyed—I rate it a seven.
Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, I like Zombies!!!
It’s important to write the game’s title like Zombies!!! because without italics and three exclamation points the game—“Zombies�—would lose a great deal of its appeal.
Purely taken as a game—stripped of theme, devoid of art—it’s tripe. Lots of randomness lurks within; a great deal of drawing from piles and rolling a die to determine what you can do. “Good play�—meaning killing zombies—is often not rewarded with victory.
The thing is, though, it does have theme, it does have art—the italics and exclamation points. I’ve had only good times playing Zombies!!!. In the right crowd, the game inspires good times. In many ways it is not an essentially competitive experience; the idea of a rules lawyer in Zombies!!! boggles the mind. It’s an excuse to build a city, put out some little plastic dudes, make sound effects, and mock the die-rolling abilities strategy of others.
It’s not entirely devoid of strategy; the biggest point is in placing the map tiles to maximize your chances and block others. The rest of it can be pretty programmatic.
Zombies!!! is pretty trashy, even by Ameritrash standards. There are many possible retorts—assuming one is not entirely nonplussed by discovering a Zombies!!! fan in one’s midst—that can be made against the game.
“But there are better games!� Verily. And I enjoy playing those as well.
“There are even better monster games! Can’t you play Fearsome Floors or something?� I guess I could, but for whatever reason Zombies!!! has hit the table more often than FF. It could be that Fearsome Floors requires too much thought; it’s too much of a game. I don’t hate it or anything; I’d certainly play it if offered, but it lacks the kind of pure silliness of Zombies!!!.
(In an effort to reestablish my Gamer Cred, I should probably mention that I dislike Cranium and haven’t played Monopoly (except Knizia’s Robot Monopoly, which I didn’t think much of) in…twenty years? Something like that.)
Zombies!!! is the gaming equivalent of “slumming it.� If you play Roads and Boats, Caylus, or some other meaty brainy game, you almost feel like you’re doing something really productive. Play go, and you can sense the presence of millions behind you, as you take your part in centuries—nay, millennia--of gaming history. Play Zombies!!!, and you’re basically eating Twinkies for dinner. The trick is to lose your self-consciousness; accept that you are “stepping out� of your GamerGeek persona for just a little bit. Enjoy the Twinkie; become the Twinkie. Relax: You are among other Twinkie-eaters; you shall not be judged amongst them.
By the same token, don’t eat Twinkies for dinner every day. Reserve that sort of behavior for special occasions, such as weddings.
Looking over the Essen reports, the two games that really jumped out at me are Space Trader and Factory Fun. They’re just so odd, so unlike the other games I play. For whatever reason, for my euros I’ve become more interested lately in new things; playing an evolved, newer, shinier area-majority game doesn’t grab me. (It used to; I have Mykerinos on the shelf somewhere. Along with a bajillion other area-majority games that I don’t like as much as El Grande.) I want something weird now, even if it doesn’t quite come off. I want to see that enveloped pushed a wee bit.
Now, what’s interesting is that, for wargames, I often think about it differently. I’m more attuned to subtle differences. Someone asked me once just how many WW2 in Europe games I really needed; my answer (“All of them�) didn’t impress. It’s kind of like books. Sometimes you take an established approach to a new topic (“Let’s try card-driven strategy and…use it for the Cold War!�), or you take an old topic and throw a new light on it (“Let’s try to make a game on the Civil War using nothing but cards!�).
Sometimes in wargaming the test of a new idea is how well, and how quickly, it becomes a kind of New Normal. Ever since We the People appeared, the basic engine of the game has been strapped to numerous other epochs. One of the most recent comets, Bonaparte in Marengo, is being recast to deal with Austerlitz.
In Euros, it’s a little harder to get ahead like this. One of the questions being asked here and there is whether someone who owns Wallenstein would get anything out of buying Shogun, the “new version� of the game set in Japan. As near as anyone can discern it’s virtually the same rulebook and system, but with a different map. The eurogamer half of my brain is unimpressed; I have Wallenstein already, so if I want to play a game like that I can just pull that down. The wargamer half, however, wants to see how the different map affects the flow of the game and strategy, whether it does a better or worse job in feudal Japan than in seventeenth century Europe.
The same thing is happening with BattleLore. I have every other Commands and Colors game so far, plus some of the other games inspired by it. I’m curious how this system can expand and adapt for a variety of scenarios and situations. There is, to be sure, a certain sameness; having played one, one can jump into the others with just a bit of adaptation. For many, that’s the appeal--being able to play many games with the same set of tools, but at the same time learning to appreciate and exploit the differences.
(I understand that the same thing happens in 18XX games, but those are so far beyond my understanding it’s not even funny. I actually feel kind of bad for never having played one.)
For a lot of euros, though, a sense of sameness can be the kiss of death.
In other gaming news, several of the Spielbyweb games I started have been trundling along. In “Friday Night Lights,” jphageman won with 42 points; the next three places were 38-37-36 points, so there was a nice tight peloton there that could never catch up with the leader. fteplin brought home the victory in Friday Night Lights II, with 41 points ahead of LVAndy’s 37. I had 36 in that game; I might have had a shot at the victory if my competitors hadn’t contributed so much money to the Priest of Amun Yacht Fund. With my camel provinces not producing caravan income, I was sunk on the money track.
Keep up the gaming, everyone, and may you draw the Pharmacy at precisely the right time.
© 2006 Alfred Wallace
Posted by Alfred Wallace on Oct 27, 2006 at 03:00 AM in Columnists, Alfred Wallace / 1175
Comments:
You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free, but if you appreciate the news, previews, reviews and other material posted on Boardgame News, please consider becoming a member to keep the info flowing to your screen!|
"Looking over the Essen reports, the two games that really jumped out at me are Space Trader and Factory Fun. “ Those are the same two that I’m most interested in as well. I’ve been reading your columns and, despite your being a Cardinals fan, I’ve enjoyed them. Today I decided to look more closely at your profile on the geek. Other than the wargames we have a lot of similarities in game preferences(not to mention both liking The Blues Brothers and Good Eats). You now have a new geekbuddy. Oh and I like Zombies!!! too but I only play it once a year, which I think is just about enough. I’m thinking that Saturday night might be the night with Comedy Central showing “Shawn of the Dead”. Given your liking of the C&C system, have you tried the Memoir ‘44 / Zombies variant? Posted by Mike Pennisi on Oct 27, 2006 at 06:53 AM | #
|
