Geekshow

Unless something crazy happens with my shipments, I should have three new games coming in this week. Thought I'd talk a bit about them, since it may be a little bit before I ever get around to covering them on Game Night with Geekshow.

Formula D

Formula D is basically a re-print of a game from 1991 called “Formula De”. It's a game that I never imagined myself buying. Basically, it is a Formula One game in which you race around a track, and try to win. The idea was originally as unappealing to me as train games. But lately, I've been trying to diversify my game collection as much as possible, and open my mind to new games.

I first seriously considered the game after watching a video review on the new version. The premise is easy enough, you are racing around the track by rolling a die on your turn. However, the complexity comes from the gear that you are driving in. Each turn, you may shift up 1 gear, or down 1 gear (Sometimes, you may shift down more than one gear). The higher up you go, the more spaces you will be able to move in a turn.

However, if you go too fast, you risk damaging your car on turns, or even knocking yourself out of the race entirely. So the entire game is a balance of knowing when to risk everything, and when to hold back. And to me, that is a very intriguing concept.

Eventually, I'd like to cover Formula D on Game Night, if it ends up being as fun as it seems. But first, we've got several geek-centric games on the horizon to cover. Zombies, Kingdoms, Cylons, and Space, Oh my!

Chicago Express

Following my obsession with Railroad Tycoon and Rails of Europe, I've been looking for the next big train game. I purchased 1856 a couple months back, but the complexity of the game was a little over our heads, without having someone to walk us through it. Chicago Express is our next attempt to find a train game that goes beyond the simple “Lay Track, Deliver Goods” mechanic.

The game involves trying to take the railroad companies of the east across the country to connect them to the major city of Chicago. But the intriguing thing is that this occurs with several different companies. You bid each turn, for control of a company. As you do that, you get shares in that company. So if the company does well, you benefit. If it does poorly, you do not. Multiple people may own shares in different companies. Or they avoid contributing to a company because it's in such a bad position.

The mechanics seem simple enough while adding the business mechanics to the typical train mechanics.

I doubt I'll cover this game anytime in the near future, if ever. But if it interests anyone, be sure to let me know, and I'll fill you guys in after a couple plays.

Galaxy Trucker

Galaxy Trucker is another big effort to diversify my game collection. It's really different from most board games. Basically, each player gets a “Ship” in space. You take a build phase to compose your ship of the devices you will need to survive in deep space. For instance, you will need shields and lasers, as well as storage compartments and power cells. During the build phase, you will have a certain amount of time to uncover tiles from a large pile. If you choose to use the pieces you uncover, then you place them on your ship in a way that doesn't break the design. If you choose to not use the tile, you sit it to the side, where it becomes free range for everyone.

Using a timer, you will eventually run out of time in the build phase. But you may also finish early for a bonus. A bonus for what? Well, the entire point of the game is to survive space to make deliveries. Thus, you are a “Galaxy Trucker”. So the bonus gives you a head start on the other players. As the game continues, events will occur to try and impede your progress. For instance, you may have a meteor storm. If you have a laser on the side where that happens, you could shoot the meteors and destroy them. If you don't, but you have shields there, you could take a hit from them and still be fine. If you don't even have shields, you could be in for a world of hurt.

This game is probably going to go on the priority list for reviews. It's apparently an easy game to learn, with a lot of strategy to figure out. Plus, the theme is right up there with what people on this site will enjoy.