Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation--Retro Review

This review first appeared in my Tabletop Game of the Week column way back in November of 2002.  I'm going to be reprinting some of those old columns over the next few weeks.  

In honor of the upcoming release of The Two Towers, this week’s Tabletop Game of the Week is Reiner Knizia’s Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation.  Dr. Knizia is somewhat infamous for designing excellent abstract games then pasting a theme upon them.  This trait is obvious when one looks at just how many of his games have been re-themed when published in new editions without much change to the feel of the games.  But, in the past few years, Knizia has found a theme he can apparently sink his teeth into.  In 2000, Knizia designed a cooperative Lord of the Rings board game that involved moving a group of hobbits through the pivotal moments of the books while avoiding being corrupted by the ring or being captured by Sauron.  It was a marvelous game concept made even better by the perfect blend of mechanics with theme.  Now, Knizia is back with another excellent game based on Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation is a two-player board game that bears more than superficial resemblance to the classic, entry-level strategy game Stratego.  As in Stratego, players of LOTR:The Confrontation begin the game by secretly placing the members of their “army” on the game board.  In this case, however, the game board itself is a map of Middle Earth with many of the most famous locations from the books providing the sectioning.  One player’s “army” consists of the members of the fellowship; the other “army” is made up of the forces of Sauron.

After secretly placing their figures on the board, players take turns moving their characters across the board.  The goal of the “good” guys is to get Frodo to Mordor so he can destroy the ring.  The goal of the “bad” guys is, of course, to kill Frodo before he can do just that. The game actually provides a second winning condition for the “bad” side; they can win by getting three of their troops through to the Shire.  For the record, in our test games, we have never seen this done and don’t expect to.  So, for the dark side, it is all about finding Frodo and dealing with him.

Also as in Stratego, battles occur when one player moves a character in to a map location already occupied by an enemy character or characters.  The player moving the piece into a confrontation chooses which of the hidden enemy characters he will face and both the attacker and the defender are revealed.  These characters have numbers on their stands that indicate their total power.  Unlike Stratego, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation now allows for a large number of possibilities.

Each character has a special ability clearly written on its playing piece.  These abilities are triggered at the beginning of the battle.  If either character’s ability eliminates the other, the defeated character is removed from play.  If neither character is eliminated (or allowed to retreat because of his text), the battle resumes with card play.

Each player starts the game with a hand of nine cards made up of power cards with numbers and special cards which have an effect on the battle.  At the beginning of each encounter, each player secretly chooses and places a card.  These cards are revealed after the special abilities have been resolved.  Text cards are handled first (starting with the dark player).  If the text cards do not eliminate the combatants, or if only number cards are played, the strengths of the characters (with number card values added) are compared.  The character with the lower number is eliminated.  Ties result in both characters being eliminated.

The number cards, text cards, and special powers of the characters make this game feel totally different than Stratego.  Their presence also means that the game is much deeper and gives each player the opportunity to make many more decisions that may affect the outcome of the game.

Further strengthening this fine game is the excellent artwork by Tolkien artist extraordinaire John Howe.  Howe’s artwork is absolutely gorgeous.  It reinforces the theme wonderfully and provides a lovely setting for a quick, light strategy game.

A note:  Our play-testing has led us to believe that the light side has a noticeable advantage. To deal with this, it is suggested that players follow the recommendation in the rules.  Every session with the game should involve two games—with each player getting one turn with both the dark and light.  The games are scored by counting the number of characters the winning player has on the board at the end of each game.  After two games, add up the score. Highest score wins.

Lee's GP Charlotte Tourney Report

MTG GP Charlotte Tournament Report

by Lee Niece

For the last few weeks, myself and a crew of close friends have been gearing up for GP Charlotte. With my recent success at high level limited events, I was itching to get down to play this event. While we all decided that grinding was what we need to be doing, I had the fallback of having earned a bye in the first round based on my performance last season. Ogre was the only one who managed to win a three-round bye off of pre-event grinders, but the experience of losing twice on Friday just made me want to play that much harder on Saturday. But enough of that, let's just jump right into things.

Round 1

I had a bye, so while the bulk of players were starting the tournament, Tandy and I went to the other side of the convention center to discuss our sealed pools and determine if any changes needed to be made. This discussion definitely helped as the day progressed as we realized that I needed Act of Treason in the main much more so than the Ripscale Predator. We played three games with the hopes of getting a feel for our decks and allow us some added insight for the matches that mattered. While I lost 2-1 in our games, we did come to the conclusion that if my deck curved out right, no deck in the room would be able to compete with it. Taking the knowledge we gained from our testing we both prepared for our respective starts.

Here was my deck for the sealed portion of the event:  

9 Mountain                                                                      

8 Plains

2 Boros Elite

2 Bomber Corps

1 Skinbrand Goblin

1 Daring Skyjek

1 Syndic of Tithes

1 Sunhome Guildmage

1 Blind Obedience

4 Martial Glory (yes 4)

1 Warmind Infantry

1 Court Street Denizen

1 Frontline Medic

1 Gift of Orzhova

1 Massive Raid

1 Scorchwalker

1 Cinder Elemental

1 Rubblebelt Raiders

1 Homing Lightning

1 Ripscale Predator

Notable Sideboard Options

2 Act of Treason

Round result: BYE; Overall record: (1-0)

Round 2

I sat down for my first match of the event against Ryan Nelson. Ryan was playing a Boros deck with Frontline Medic (which he never saw) and Assemble the Legion. The only real highlights from the match involved me resolving a Blind Obedience the turn after Ryan played his Assemble the Legion in game one, which led to me blowing him out. Game two, Ryan curved out and made short work of me. Game three saw our roles reserved as I curved out into a turn three Frontline Medic, swinging with battalion on turn four and following with Rubblebelt Raiders which quickly led to Ryan's demise.

WIN (2-0)

Round 3

I waited patiently for my next opponent to come to the table only to find out that it was someone I played in the grinder the previous day. Brandon Patton was a nice fellow that must have been on the same wavelength as me for the weekend as we were both on Orzhov in the sealed grinder and both on Boros for the GP. This was possibly my easiest matchup of the day as Brandon's Boros deck was full of big creatures that were completely useless in the match as I curved out both games.

WIN (3-0)

Round 4

My round four opponent presented me with what I felt would be my worst matchup with an Orzhov deck. Matthew Spano had a highly defensive Orzhov deck, but it turned out to be very removal light. Game one was competitive until around turn seven or eight when I managed to resolve a Frontline Medic, a few battalion triggers later and Matthew was scooping up his cards. Game two was a very back and forth game that saw me as low as six before resolving a Gift of Orzhov on a Syndic of Tithes and turning the game back around between the flying lifelinker extort triggers and a well timed Martial Glory.

WIN (4-0)

Round 5

At this point I have become incredibly excited with my strong start and figure it is time to step up my game as I expect the competition to become much tougher. Danny Li proved me right as his Naya deck was stupid good. Game one was very back and forth but ultimately led to a victory for me on the back of a Warmind Infantry with Gift of Orzhova making it a real threat. Game two saw us racing each other, and with his creatures being larger than my own, ended with him as the victor. Game three turned out to be an incredibly fast affair with my plays being turn 2 Bomber Corps, turn 3 Frontline Medic, turn 4 Rubblebelt Raiders, and turn 5 Syndic of Tithes and Boros Elite. Danny played turn 2 Syndic of Tithes, turn 3 Skyknight Legionnaire, and turn 4 some random 2/2. Danny took 3 off of my Medic on turn 4, then 10 from the team on turn 5. His crackback was nearly lethal as he came across with his three creatures. I promptly blocked with my syndic and elite to keep him from blowing me out with some random combat trick but little did I know that even with my blocks, Danny had the ability to still get there with a Ghor-Clan Rampager and Boros Charm but never considered throwing them on one of his blocked creatures, disaster adverted!

WIN (5-0)

Round 6

Curtis Sheu was the next one to stand in my wave of destruction. There isn't much to saw about this slaughter though as Curtis was demolished by the screw in game one and double mulliganed in game two. Two words: blow out.

WIN (6-0)

Round 7

I am now super excited as I only need to win one of my next three to guarantee at least one match the following morning and making my goal of Day 2. Torio Boscacci was the next in line to attempt to cool off my heater. Torio and I had a nice pregame conversation as he lives close to Johnson City and was a fan of our store. I mulled game one and flooded out which left me getting demolished. Game two saw me curve out into turn 3 Frontline Medic and turn 4 Rubblebelt Raiders (I won a lot of games on this line of play) which led to a quick win. Between games two and three Torio and I were selected for a mid-round deck check (I about died laughing when Jordan of all people was the judge who came to collect our decks). Initially, I was worried that this deck check would slow my momentum, but despite this, I took a great deal of time upon receiving my deck back to ensure I was sufficiently randomized. Game three was very back and forth, I don't remember exactly how it ended but I believe I extorted him out with Blind Obedience.

WIN (7-0)

Round 8

Excitement level = THROUGH THE ROOF! I can't believe I have made it to 7-0 and have not only guaranteed myself day 2, but am well on my way to a potential high finish. Chas Tanner was next up on the chop block at this point. I felt there was no one in the room that could keep up with my deck and showed the same confidence when I sat down. Chas was playing Orzhov (my third match of the day with the archtype, Torio being my second) but unlike the two previous iterations, Chas had a great deal of removal. Game one saw me curve out with Medic and Raiders (again!) and prevented Chas from even having time to play (though he did answer my Medic). Game two saw Chas go into aggro mode and beat me down with a couple of extort bears and keeping the couple of guys I played off the board. Game 3 ended as quickly as it started as Chas took 3 on turn 3, 5 on turn 4, and 12 on turn 5 (double Martial Glory). I became somewhat emotional at the end of this round as I knew I would be playing until at least round 17 at this point. For the 15-ish years I have played this game, it has always been a time sink (a fun one admittedly) and an excuse to spend time with some great friends, but finally, I felt like I achieved something. I have always had a desire to play on the Pro Tour, but not necessarily enough to warrant spending every waking moment trying to improve my game. While winning the eighth round of a GP does not a pro make, it definitely made me felt like the time I have spent trying to better my game has been well worth it. Since October I have nearly made day 2 of a Grand Prix, made top 8 of a Pro Tour Qualifier, and now made day 2 of the LARGEST Magic tournament ever. But enough of the aside, there is still more day 1 action to recap.

WIN (8-0)

Round 9

With the pressure off, I prepared for my final opponent of day 1. Thomas Butler was in the same boat as myself having 1 bye and running off seven straight wins to follow it up. Only one of us could make it to day 2 undefeated though and I was bent on making sure it was me.

Thomas was running a Boros deck splashing black for some removal and extort guys. Game one saw me curve out insanely fast (even without the medic!) and ended as soon as it started. Game two saw Thomas on the play and a game where I was ground out by an army of extort creatures. Game three put me on the play and looking for the curve draw one more time to enable a 9-0 start to the event. Thomas looked at his opening grip, decided he didn't like it and went back for 6. Thomas thought long and hard over his six before deciding he couldn't keep it either. Once he was on five, he decided he couldn't go any lower and kept. At this point I feel like I can't lose, I have a two card advantage and an insanely fast deck, the chances of me losing this game are less than 10%, I am flat out ecstatic. I manage to make my early drops, but draw land after land after land while Thomas manages to keep drawing fuel and clawing himself back into the game. After I draw land number 10 Thomas top decks a Boros Charm to kill me on exactsies and end my crazy run.

LOSS (8-1)

Day 2

After sitting up until 2AM trying to learn how to draft the set (yes I am dumb and didn't draft the set before the GP...at all), I had to get up a little after 6 to get prepared for the second half of this marathon of a tournament. Surprisingly the lack of sleep didn't affect my play throughout the day as I could only count a couple of play mistakes I made and they were much later in the day.

Round 10

I sat down at 8 am for my first match of the day against Alex Amato. Alex was playing Orzhov + Red that was full of extort guys. There really isn't much to say about the round as I blew him out game one and proceeded to flood out games two and three and eventually get extorted out.

LOSS (8-2)

Round 11

Knowing I was still alive for a berth for the top 8, I got my head on straight immediately after the previous match and was bent on making a run similar to how day 1 started. As it turns out, willpower alone is not enough to win a round of Magic (a game perhaps though). Eddie Walker was the next in line for the blazing fast Boros deck I was piloting. Game one started with me playing 4 lands before resolving a spell while my opponent curved out properly with his Gruul deck. My creatures were completely outclassed from the start and I was quickly taken out. Game two was the opposite of the first go round as we both mulliganed to 6. I curved quickly into Frontline Medic and Rubblebelt Raiders, turning guys sideways is super effective! Game three saw Eddie on the play and we both kept slow hands. My four lander quickly became a six lander, then a nine lander, and eventually an eleven lander. Turns out, casting spells is essential to winning games of Magic. :(

LOSS (8-3)

Between rounds 11 and 12 came the first draft of the event. While this wasn't my first called draft, the fact that all the product had already been opened and marked was very new to me. The whole process could easily have been incredibly overwhelming, but seeing draft is one of my most comfortable formats, I feel as though I was able to settle fairly quickly. I really do not remember the exact picks and decisions I made in either draft, so I will just give a quick summary of each one following by the resulting decklist.

Draft 1

I started with a Wrecking Ogre followed by by a Skarrg Guildmage essentially trying to force Gruul. Around pick 4 I received signals from my right showing that Boros was open so I started drafting heavier in white while still keeping my Gruul option available by taking a late guildgate. I was rewarded with staying in Gruul by opening Domri Rade in pack two. After taking Domri, I had no choice but to start taking every in color creature for the rest of the draft, especially any of them with a low casting cost. The rest of the draft was pretty uneventful as I never saw another bomb come by.

Decklist

1 Gruul Guildgate

2 Boros Guildgate

3 Plains

5 Mountain

6 Forest

1 Burning-Tree Emissary

1 Daring Skyjek

1 Firefist Striker

1 Gyre Sage

1 Skarrg Guildmage

2 Skinbrand Goblin

1 Wojek Halberdiers

1 Madcap Skills

1 Pit Fight

1 Prophetic Prism

2 Armored Transport

1 Crocanura

1 Ember Beast

1 Domri Rade

1 Massive Raid

1 Ordruun Veteran

1 Scab-Clan Charger

1 Guardian of the Gateless

1 Towering Thunderfist

1 Wrecking Ogre

1 Angelic Edict

Notable Sideboard Options

1 Boros Elite

1 Court Street Denizen

1 Dutiful Thrull

1 Naturalize

Round 12

Being out of contention for top 8 helped to calm my nerves as I didn't have nearly the pressure on my shoulders as I previously did. It didn't hurt that I felt very confident sitting down for my first draft round as my deck came together exactly how I wanted with 17 creatures to go with Domri. My first opponent was Robbie Cordell piloting a Boros deck (because I haven't seen enough of that this weekend :p). Game one saw Robbie come out with a curve starting on turn one and ending at turn five. I managed to resolve a turn 4 Domri and was able to protect him until he was at 6 loyalty. Robbie managed to get Domri off the board by sending his entire team. Since I was unable to strike for leathal with the crack back, I decided to make a couple of blocks to clear the board some but ulitmately got my creatures killed by a Marital Glory and some Bloodrush creature. After a few more turns of board stall, Robbie managed to swing for lethal with me at 14. Game two saw me curve out from turns two to five into a Wrecking Ogre. Much to his name, the Ogre wrecked Robbie's face while he flooded out. Game three was another situation of Robbie making some early plays but eventually flooding out while I kept adding more and more pressure to the board and using Domri to fight his creatures off the board. Finally back to my winning ways!

WIN (9-3)

Round 13

Beaming with confidence once again, I prepared to play my next opponent Jaron Clinton. Jaron was playing a bonkers Boros deck sporting his own Wrecking Ogre, Assemble the Legion, and Aurelia the Warleader. Game one saw a back and forth game come down to a play where I two for oned myself to get his big butt creature off the board and finally topdecking a Madcap Skills to make my Wrecking Ogre truly live up to his name. Jaron took the play for game two and I was unable to keep my seven. After going to six, game two was underway and while I don't remember the overall gist of the game, I remember drawing lots of lands while Jaron resolved an Assemble the Legion, after whiffing twice on an answer, I decided to scoop up and try again in game three. Once again I had to mulligan on the play, but it was much more painful being on the play. I was stuck on two lands for much of the game, but still managed to get battalion on line for my Firefist Striker and kept the pressure on my opponent. With Jaron at 12, he resolved an Aurelia with a Daring Skyjek in play and promptly punched me for 12. On my next turn, I swang with my two remaining creatures for 5 damage, but in doing so, made a terrible mistake by not leaving a creature back to block, as the only card I had left to play was an Ember Beast, since he couldn't block alone, I literally punted the game. :(

LOSS (9-4)

Round 14

While I disappointed about punted my previous game, I was able to get my head back on straight and prepare for my next opponent Daniel Acevedo. Daniel drafted an incredibly nasty Orzhov + U deck with between 9-11 pieces of creature removal. I believe Daniel was only running 5 or so in his main deck as I was able to crush him game one via Flawless Victory! After watching Daniel board in a half dozen cards, I prepared for a long grinding game to come. After getting hit with 7 different kill spells, I still manged to keep a few creatures on the board and eventually started getting bodies out to protect a late game Domri that eventually went ultimate and resulted in an immediate swing for 50, needless to say, Daniel didn't survive!

WIN (10-4)

Draft 2

Going 2-1 in the first draft did wonders for my confidence heading into the second. But soon after opening my pack, I realized I was going to be in for a long draft. My first pack was abysmal leaving me drafting a Borborygmos Enraged as my initial pick due to lack of a better choice (awful pack was awful). I still attempted to try Gruul as I was able to take a pick two Gruul Charm. This was easily the hardest draft I have ever participated in as the signals I received from the other players were constantly changing. I was in each guild at some point in this and was incredibly unsure if I would even have a deck at the end. After forcing Gruul and Simic for the bulk of the draft I managed to come up with the following deck (and was VERY unhappy with it).

Decklist

1 Gruul Guildgate

6 Forest

6 Island

4 Mountain

1 Cloudfin Raptor

1 Experiment One

1 Wasteland Viper

1 Greenside Watcher

1 Metropolis Sprite

1 Skarrg Guildmage

1 Gruul Charm

1 Simic Charm

1 Crocanura

1 Elusive Krasis

1 Simic Fluxmage

2 Verdant Haven

1 Clinging Anemones

1 Crowned Ceratok

1 Leyline Phantom

1 Towering Thunderfist

1 Zhur-Taa Swine

1 Mystic Genesis

1 Totally Lost

2 Ruination Wurm

1 Diluvian Primordial

Notable Sideboard Options

1 Hands of Binding

1 Foundry Street Denizen

1 Scorchwalker

1 Scorchwalker

1 Towering Thunderfist

1 Naturalize

1 Borborygmos Engraged

Round 15

Joining me in my RUG escapades was my round 15 opponent Chris Tourloukis. While we were in the same colors our decks were very different, Chris was attempting to go the controlling route and mill if necessary while I had a good chunk of evolve guys and a group of large guys at the end of the curve. Game one saw the two of us in a bit of a stalemate after a few turns of back and forth. After getting nearly half my deck milled from the blue denizen I managed to top deck Gruul Charm to make my opponent unable to block, after adding a bloodrush activation from a Zhur-Taa Swine, I was able to hit for exactsies and move on to game two. The second game wasn't even close as Chris came out with a turn two Zameck Guildmage, a turn three Simic Fluxmage, and a turn four Fathom Mage. After drawing about 6 cards off the Fathom Mage, Chris was able to bring the beats and force a game three. Chris had made some changes to his deck between the first two games and they made a huge difference in the outcome of the match. Game three was quickly turned into a stalemate again, so I attempted to go for the blowout again via Gruul Charm. This time Chris was prepared blowing up one of my animated Islands and another creature as well. While the alpha strike falling short wouldn't have necessarily cost me the match, allowing my second Island to be my animated creature was a terrible misplay as I was holding the Diluvian Primordial and could never get my second blue mana to cast it and blow out my opponent.

LOSS (10-5)

Round 16

Getting my fifth loss put me in a position to where I didn't feel I had any chance to finish in the money, so any other wins I had were purely for bragging rights. Since there was no pressure, I was able to sit down and enjoy a nice match with Vincent Spezzo. Vincent was running a Naya deck that came out quickly and had a lot of staying power. Game one saw a very back and forth game come down to a Simic Charm slowing down my opponent's board position only to topdeck a Gruul Charm and make my team unblockable and lead to a quick win. Game two saw Vincent come out with a dude on turns two through six while I sat around waiting for land number four, quick game was quick in Vincent's favor. Game three was much closer as I was faced down with turn three Firefist Striker with a Madcap Skills on it. I managed to have the most ridiculous curve ever, as I dropped a turn one Experiment One, followed by a turn two Gyre Sage (evolving the Experiment One), followed by a turn three Elusive Krasis (evolving the first two), followed by a Verdant Haven into a Crocanura (evolving all but the Gyre Sage), until eventually I resolved a Ruination Wurm and evolved six evolve guys all of which were already huge. I started turning huge guys sideways and grinding Vincent out of the game fairly quickly after the backbreaking evolve curve.

WIN (11-5)

Round 17

By this time, I really just wanted to be done with the event. Playing 22 rounds of high level tournament Magic from Friday to Sunday (especially with very little sleep) was incredibly taxing, yet I still prepared to get another win under my belt before calling it a day. Yiran Lin was my final opponent for the event. Three minutes into the match and I was already down a game as I kept a two lander that never drew a third land. Game two was just as uninteresting as I mulliganed to six while Yiran mulled to five, Yiran flooded on lands and only managed to cast two spells, neither of which had much impact on the game. After some lighthearted chatter, Yiran and I decided we would end the day with one good game of Magic. Yiran had to mulligan once before keeping his grip of six. Both of us made early plays that kept the board deadlocked, but while his 2/2s remained 2/2s, mine grew and grew and grew. Around turn 7 I managed to topdeck a Gruul Charm with Simic Charm backup to blow Yiran out and end my day with a win.

WIN (12-5)

After finally taking a moment to eat, I waited patiently for the final standings to be posted. I was still holding out hope of finishing in the top 64 to manage to cash out on my first GP Day 2. While I did not make the cut (finishing 79^th), I still couldn't begin to be disappointed with my performance in the largest Magic tournament ever held. I just want to thank everyone who supported me before and during the event and would also like to thank you for taking the time to read my reflections (as vague as they were). Once again, if you have some specific questions about the tournament, feel free to reply and I will do my best to remember for you! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will be heading to a PTQ in Roanoke this weekend and will hopefully be able to come back and write about how I managed to run train on the field and qualify for my first Pro Tour!

Borderlands Re-print Coming from Fantasy Flight...

...and I could not be more excited.

I know I'm about two-weeks late with this news, but I just stumbled on the press release announcing Gearworld, Fantasy Flight's re-theming of the Eon classic Borderlands.  Cosmic Encounter is much more popular, but I have always considered Borderlands to be the most intriguing of the Eon games.  There was a time when it was at the top of my best games list on Boardgamegeek.com [just looked, still rate it a 10].  The only reason it fell was lack of opportunities to get it played.  While I was on BGG looking for my rating, I noted that I only recorded one play of this since BGG implemented the feature [sad face].  Like all Eon games, the components were not up to modern Euro standards (obviously, since they are decades old) and my game groups recoiled at the wargame-like look.  The small sub-group of my larger game night crew that would play the game all loved it.  I don't, however, think the re-release will have the same love-it-or-hate-it trait since the components will be Fantasy-Flight-beautiful.  Hopefully, this will bring a bunch of new gamers to this great game.  Fingers crossed that the reprint will stay true to the spirit of the original and not mess too much with the rules.  Borderlands was ahead of its time when it was released and, though the combat-system has been lifted (though simplified) for Vinci and Small World, the game should still seem fresh for gamers new to its intricacies.  Expect a review as soon as I can get my grubby hands on the game.

The (Other) Games of Richard Garfield

A Closer Look at the (Other) Games of Richard Garfield

Richard Garfield is a poor candidate for the white knighting of this nearly unknown blogger. His most revered creation, Magic: The Gathering, has made him both rich and famous (with the pasty-skinned, unwashed basement-dwellers, at least*). However, despite having designed what is arguably the most successful hobby game of all time, Garfield gets very little love from hobby board game and card game enthusiasts—I'm looking at you BGG users. Ask them who the best game designers of all time are, and you will get varied answers, and many of them, before anyone gets around to mentioning Garfield. Part of that is the reactionary hatred to M:TG among board game hobbyists. The marketing strategy of collectable card games, a genre that Garfield pretty much pulled fully-formed from his own skull, rubs many gamers the wrong way. I read lots of “Magic is simply a he-who-spends-the-most-wins game” type of comments on board game sites. I'm not here to defend Magic, though I may write my guide to playing M:TG on the cheap at some point. What I'd like to do is make the case that, even if we remove M:TG from Garfield's oeuvre, the remainder of his designs places him among the greats in this relatively new field—the hobby-game designer. Here is a look at Garfield's best creations, minus that great big elephant trying to hide behind the bookshelf (also minus the Battletech card game because I know nothing about it).

*JK; Chill

RoboRally

When Garfield first came to Wizard's of the Coast to show off prototypes, Roborally was the game he had highest hopes for. Many years later, he was still telling interviewers that it was his best design. In the game, players control robots racing to navigate a factory floor complete with conveyer belts, pits, and other obstacles. Using programmed movement (they place movement cards that will be executed in order from left to right), the players attempt to get their robot to be the first to navigate to a pre-determined number of checkpoints. The game is chaotic as each player's best-laid plans can easily be foiled by just one play mistake or by another player intentionally getting in the way. For me, the game exhibits the best combination of strategy and luck that I have seen in a game. The randomness, provided by the drawing of program cards and the unpredictability of human opponents, is never so much that I don't feel that I either won or lost because of the quality of my play. The most common complaint about the game is that it plays a bit longer than it should. We always play on just two floor tiles, resulting in a game that runs between an sixty and ninety minutes: just right for a light strategy game with more interesting choices than most games of that play length.

Netrunner

Netrunner was Garfield's third go at a collectable card game and it is about as perfect as the genre can be. It differs from Magic in numerous ways, but most importantly in the fact that the game is asymmetric. One player plays a hacker, the other corporate security. As the hacker attempts to steal data, the corporation attempts to fry the hacker's brain using a variety of security measures. The game was a failure as a product but critically acclaimed. Over the years since its release, Netrunner, rather than fading into obscurity like most failed games, has instead gained in stature. Fantasy Flight Games, happily, saw how popular the dead CCG remained and decided to revive it (without Garfield's input) as one of their patented Living Card Games—a non-collectable, but still expandable, offshoot of the CCG genre). Not long before I began writing this article, Netrunner was the undisputed hit of Gen Con 2012, selling out despite what FFG called a much-larger-than-average number of copies on hand. The new production is great and it's popularity suggests just how far ahead of its time Netrunner was. I can't think of many other TCGs from the post-Magic explosion that could be brought back now without feeling dated (anybody silently thinking Wyvern needs to go wash their brain off with soap).

 Filthy Rich

This advertising-themed game is among the most innovative “board” games ever created. “Board” gets its qualifying quotation marks here because Filthy Rich is actually played inside a three-ring binder. Players buy businesses and place cards representing them in card-protector pages within the binder. The clear pages mean you can see all the layers at once with cards on the early pages blocking cards on the later pages. The game is meant to simulate standing at the end of a street and looking along its length at the signage, with businesses closer to you blocking the signs of those that are farther away. Players roll dice to flip the pages and determine which business gets a visit from customers each round. It is simply a stunning design that is great fun to play. Just writing this synopsis has reminded me that I've got to get this to the table for my new game group as soon as possible.

King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo is Garfield's take on the Yahtzee concept of re-rolling dice in an effort to get a particular combination. The big draw is the theme as the players each take the role of giant monsters battling in the streets of Tokyo. Players gain powers through buying cards (or mutating if the expansion is being played) and try to either control Tokyo, or otherwise gain victory points, or to simply knock out all of the other players. I started writing this article last year, but I didn't own this, Garfield's most successful new design in years, so I held up until I had a chance to get it and play it over the holidays. I'm glad I did. Since the beginning of the year, KoT is our most-played game. The first expansion gives each of the creatures more of an individual identity, which really improves the theme and adds even more variety to the game. Expansion or not, King of Tokyo has been a hit with everyone I've played it with. Bring on more expansions.

The Great Dalmuti

“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking, “Isn't the Great Dalmuti just a trademarked version of the traditional game President (Asshole, Scum, Secretary...)?” Well, yes, it is. However, it is also a great example of how a minor tweak of a game can have enormously beneficial results. Garfield, who, by the way, gives credit to the traditional-deck games that are the backbone of the design, had the simple idea of creating a new deck where the number of cards in the deck matched the numbers on the cards (Geez, that's confusing. All I mean is that there are two 2-cards in the deck...three 3's...four 4's...etc.) and adding to wild cards (jesters). This custom deck gives the Peon (low-man) a much better chance to survive the taxation round (where the players in low position give their best cards to those in the best position) since taxation usually ends with the Peon holding a larger number of cards of a high suit than any of the higher-ranked players could match. If a Peon gets into the lead, he often is going to win the round. The “Revolution” rule (which allows for an immediate flipping of the players' standings) is great fun when it happens also, especially after a string of rounds where the Greater Peon is taking a real beating from the royal players. All that really matters (for me) is that after playing and enjoying hundreds of games of President in high school and college, I now wouldn't consider playing the traditional game if Dalmuti were an option.

 Pecking Order

I can't possibly know if this is true or not, but Pecking Order feels like an attempt by Garfield to create a game for the legendary Kosmos Two-player game line. Though it was published by Winning Moves, it certainly would have been right at home next to Lost Cites, Balloon Cup, and Hera and Zeus. In the game, two players compete to control perches by playing numbered cards on their side of the board (think Schotten-Totten with more spaces and no Poker hands). For my money, Pecking Order is an underrated filler that would have been received more favorably if it wasn't coming from a major designer with high expectations.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (Jyhad)

 Jyhad, the second collectable card game created by Garfield for Wizards of the Coast was based on the White Wolf RPG Vampire: the Masquerade.  Unfortunately, I haven't played enough of the game to have anything to say about it. I do know that the game has seen a revival or two over the years (the first of which saw the drop of the controversial Jyhad branding) and maintains a loyal following.  After being dropped by Wizards, the game was picked up by White Wolf and is still going strong.  

What Were You Thinking?

 WWYT? is the only other Garfield design (along with V:TES) that I haven't played, though it hasn't been for lack of trying. A no-longer-in-print, simple party game, WWYT? continues to fetch huge prices on the reseller market (one copy on Amazon.com right now; the price—$107, though I see that the Ebay prices have fallen to a much more affordable amount). In the game, players draw category cards and then list five things that fit in the category. Points are scored for matching answers on other player's lists. Seems like an easy game to “re-create” with just pen and paper, but I still feel the need to add it to my collection. If any reader feels the need to part with a copy, let me know.

Kickstarter Preview--Questionable Fun by Robots and Red Tape

(Full Disclosure: Robots and Red Tape provided Nerdbloggers with a mock-up, preview copy of their game. We received no payment or compensation for this preview and find the act of writing paid previews pretty scuzzy).

The Game: Questionable Fun

 Click the image to go to the Kickstarter page

The Pitch: From the Kickstarter description: “A thought-provoking party game where creativity wins points, not luck. If you’re not laughing when you play, you’re doing it wrong.”

Game Play: Players take turns as judge, reading aloud from cards questions meant to provoke interesting and, hopefully, funny answers. Once the answers are written down, they are passed to a reader who reads them aloud. The judge picks his favorite and rewards the winner with a point. The judging shifts to the next player. That is it. As far as a rules set goes, this is as simple and obvious as it gets.

My Take: What you are paying for when you back or buy Questionable Fun is basically a giant deck of cards loaded with questions. It is a very basic parlor game that replicates what happens when a bunch of creative people at a party start throwing hypothetical questions at each other and attempts to turn that activity into a game. This shouldn't be much of a problem if you are a person who enjoys games like Cards Against Humanity, where you are also just paying for the creativity of the design team, not the components. The question for any parlour game that attempts to turn a party activity into a commercial game is does the game offer enough to justify not just skipping the game and coming up with content for yourself? It is the Eat Poop Your Cat versus Telestrations or Celebrity versus Time's Up argument. Here, I think Questionable Fun is more like Time's Up, in that it does offer the player content that they likely couldn't come up with themselves in the spur of the moment. At the very least, it is like inviting a bunch of creative and funny people in to your party without having to provide them with beer. Some of the questions we played provoked hilarious responses from our players. For the sake of clarity, here are some examples of the questions:

• “The Person to my right is a world-famous exotic dancer. What is the name of his or her signature move”

• “I Invented a new drug that cures baldness. What terrible side effect does it have?”

• “The person to my right left their laptop open. What is the most embarrassing web page in their history?”

As you may have guessed from the above questions, Questionable Fun, like Cards Against Humanity, is decidedly an adult party game. I'm sure is would be possible to pull out a subset of cards to play with younger folk, but the game is at its best when it is raunchy and free form.

A certain segment of my game group really likes party/parlour games. This was the group I played Questionable Fun with, and we had a great time with it. If the game was a category in a new version of Beyond Balderdash, it would be right at home with the best categories. On its own, I think it comes down to how much a game of this type appeals to you and your game group. It is something I would like on my shelf to pull out and mix in with Time's Up, Cards Against Humanity, and Say Anything. I think the quality of the questions--their improv comedy feel-- gives the game value and makes it a worthwhile project.

The Kickstarter Project has about two weeks left. If you are a fan of party games designed for almost no other purpose than causing raucous laughter, then I recommend you go check them out and help the funding along as you see fit.