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Snake-eyes, that is. This is a gaming blog, after all
PS – Those who get the subject reference are my kind of people.
So I know this blog seems to cater to deeper games. Sure, the Two Hour Wargames line is fairly light, but it brings with it high overhead in story creation to link it all together. In fairness, I’m pretty sure people come here to read about complicated games so they can understand how they work and feel confident when they try them out themselves.
But you know what? Sometimes I just want some popcorn, beer, and a bad, bad movie.
Luckily there is an entire series of games that simulate the experience of bad, bad movies:
Shuffling Horror. Get it?
I said BAD movie, didn’t I?
I’ve got Pittsburgh ’68, mainly because I did the bulk of my growing up in Butler, Pennsylvania, where “Night of the Living Dead” was (ahem) shot. I used to drive past the graveyard in the opening scene (“They’re coming for you Barbara!”) at least once a week.
Alien invasion movies are also fantastic, so Roswell 51 strikes my fancy, too. Especially because the board is so pretty. And we can’t forget this great film:
So when I heard that the third game in the series was hitting kickstarter, I was thrilled to hear it. And, well, the kickstarter is dropping in about one hour as I type this!
And what type of movie will we be playing? Why a tentacled filled horror, of course.
Join me as we play:
Some of you may have noticed a “problem.”
3-13 players? I thought you played most things solitaire, you friendless loser!
Well, first, playing solitaire has nothing to do with how many friends I have, so take your preconceptions and blow them out your patoot. And second, this is going to be a different kind of playthrough.
This is going to be watching me playtest my solitaire system for the game, which I am delightfully calling the “Brain in the Jar.” This rule set should be able to be used for any of the Shuffling Horror games and should even make the game playable with 2 by using the win conditions I’ve created.
Neato, huh?
Of course, we have to find out if they work.
And if they’re fun.
And playable.
And understandable by anyone other than myself.
And able to be conveyed clearly and concisely (I’d love for all the rules to be able to be stuck on a single card).
And thematic.
So it’s not without stress, which does take some of the fun out of playing. But on the good side is I’ve gotten about 7 playtests and I’m still enjoying myself, so if nothing else, that’s a positive for the base game, if not my solo rules.
The solo player’s goal? Create a 5-star movie.
You do this by finishing your film with 5 survivors left in the survivor deck.
EXACTLY 5.
If you end up with 6, your B movie falls out of the “So bad it’s good” category, and just fall into the “Bad”. Less than 5, and you just get different levels of bad. Going from Plan 9, down to Hobgoblins, to Manos: The Hands of Fate, to Octaman and finally Rollergator (the only Rifftrax I couldn’t finish).
Of course, your movie may not finish if all your survivors are killed by the oncoming hoard, too.
So far, of my last 4 playtests, I’ve had 2 total kills, 1 one-star movie, and 1 7-star failure.
I would start today, but apparently the wire I brought in that can transfer the pictures off of my phone is completely kaput, so you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.
For now, though, pop up some popcorn and grab that VHS of “Samson vs. The Vampire Women” and make a night of it.
Very Wordy 