Quick games – Page 11 – Random Geek Child

Cobra Paw

Cobra Paw? Sounds interesting. What’s it about? Snakes? Wait, snakes don’t have paws. Mutant snakes? No, but that could be an amusing game. Cobra Paw is about ninja cats snatching up stones. Why? Long story. It’s in the rules, if you want to know. Cobra Paw: Ninja-like know how steals the game!

You place all the stones in the center of the arena (table or designated patch of floor.) The combatant with the smallest paws rolls the Catnippon Dice first. When the dice are rolled all players must attempt to find the stone with the matching pair of symbols. The first to “snatch” it gets it. Snatching is done by placing your finger/s on the stone. If there’s a tie, whoever’s finger is closest to the divot in the center gets it. If the stone rolled has already been snatched from the pool, you may snatch it from the player who has it. The goal is to have 6 stones, or 8 if it’s a 2-player game.

The rule booklet is one of the funniest parts of this game, because of the way the rules are stated. Tournament essentials are “21 Clawfuku Stones, 2 Catnippon Dice, and the will to compete.” Because obviously, you have to want to play to play. Other rules have additions to explain them, like, “Bickering over who touched a stone first makes Master Meow very sad,” or the constant justification of certain rules by codes of honor, such as “It is considered shameful to cover the stone with one’s paw.” My favorite is the very last rule: “Competitors who continue to play dishonorably may be forbidden from the Cobra Paw tournament and may even be cast into the Litter Box of Shame!”

This game also has three variations from the original, Ghosts of the Fallen, No Touchy and Two Ninja Stand-Off, but I won’t explain them here, since I haven’t played them yet.

Ninja versus Ninja

Or Dojo vs Dojo, or Martial Arts Masters Using Their Students As Pawns For Their Own Personal Gain By Having Them Infiltrate The Opposing Dojo. But Ninja vs Ninja sounds cooler. Ninja versus Ninja

At the beginning, your ninjas line up in a sort of blocky V formation in the back of your dojo. Or, well, more of a U, I suppose. Anyways, all of the ninjas besides the shadow ninja and the ninja master line up in a cool formation in the back of their dojo, while the shadow and the master stand at the side. The shadow isn’t really a ninja, just the shadow of one, but the shadows only mirror the ninjas when they’re in the other dojo.

For whatever reason, the two dojos seem to be directly across from each other, with only three blocks seperating them from each other. Thr street, perhaps? Whose idea was it to put the two schools on the same street, let alone directly across from each other? That must be terrible for business!

A ninja is only allowed three turns for a mission, which starts as soon as they step on the middle blocks. Does this mean that they live in the dojo? And only one ninja can leave the dojo at a time, which also seems silly. Wouldn’t a mission be easier if they had multiple people on it?

The shadow follows the ninja into enemy territory, like a true shadow does. How far the ninja can move into enemy territory depends on a pair of swords, which are rolled as dice. (Seems a bit dangerous, doesn’t it?) Which side of the sword faces up determines how far he can move, like some creepy omen saying, “The sword is on it’s right side, so you may only move one space, or you shall be cut down.” Weird dice.

It is impossible for a ninja to walk through another ninja, but if he stops in a space that is already occupied by an opposing ninja, he is morally obligated to cut down whomever stands in his way. Sheesh, dude, just say “Excuse me” next time.

The ninja must return to his dojo by the end of the third turn of his mission, or he falls over dead. Don’t ask me why. This involves turning around and walking back, at which point his shadow detaches itself and stays put. When he returns, he is scored by… How far his shadow moved on the enemy wall? Which is actually the number of spaces he went into the enemy dojo. The shadow returns from the enemy dojo and the master moves that number of spaces into his.

The goal of the game is to kill all enemy ninjas, or to have your master move seven spaces into your dojo. Why seven? I have no clue.

Run from the Minotaurus!

Yes, Minotaurus, not Minotaur. Minotaurus is a simple, quick LEGO game about teams of heroes and a minotaur that guards the Temple at the center of the board. Minotaurus, a Lego game

As could be expected with a LEGO game, first you have to build it. This phase is pretty straightforward: follow the building instructions. Once you’ve built the board, the game can begin.

Choose the color of your little LEGO people’s armor (apparently that’s how you distinguish nations in this game?). The youngest player goes first, rolling the special die, which you constructed along with the board. The original die has 3-6, gray and black. If you roll a number, you move one of your heroes that amount of spaces (one pip on the board is one space, and no diagonals). If you roll a gray, you move one of the gray walls to wherever you’d like on the board, so long as there is at least one path from every starter corner block to the center. If you roll the black side of the die, you get to move the Minotaur eight spaces, again in whichever direction you choose.

If the Minotaur catches a hero during any of those eight moves, the hero goes back to their starting block and the Minotaur goes back to the center. The goal of the game depends on how many players you have. The game rules state that if there are only two players, you have to get two of your heroes to the Temple, and if there are three or four players, you only have to get one to the Temple.

That said, the rules aren’t concrete. There’s another side to the die that can replace the number three, if you chose. It’s green, and when you roll it, you can choose to move one of the hedges. You can also change the goal. By changing the rules, you could theoretically play this game solo, but I think it’s more fun with other people.

Now THIS is REAL Trivia!

One thing that has always bothered me about trivia games is how easy they are. Well, I’m glad to say that I have finally found a game where that is most certainly not an issue. For Christmas, my mother bought me Blinded By Science Trivia Game, a trivia game about just about every type of science. Because that name is really long, I’m just going to call it Blinded By Science.

Everything in this game, starting from the instructions, are science-y. The number of rounds in a game are the amount of colors in the rainbow for a short game, the number of the mission number of the Apollo spaceflight that brought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon for a regular game, and the atomic number of phosphorus for a long game. Granted, you can choose to play more or less rounds depending on timing, and yes, they did include the numbers for the rounds, not just the clues. The first player to go is whichever one most closely resembles Charles Darwin.

How many cards go on the table depends on how many rounds and players there are. Multiply the rounds by the players and lay that many cards face down on the table. Each card has a name on the back that gives some clue to what the questions are about (for instance, Elementary, My Dear, was about the elements, and Bring Me A Shrubbery is about plants.) Most cards have three questions, but some have extra credit as well. Each question is worth a point.

Some questions are True or False, some are multiple choice, and some are open-ended. True or False questions include, “True or False? Penicillin was the first antibiotic widely used in modern medicine,” and “True or False? The parrotfish eats coral and poops sand.” Multiple choice questions are rare and include, “Which of the following are killed, or their growth impaired, with the use of antibiotics: bacteria, fungi, or viruses?” and open-ended questions make up the majority of the cards, with questions like, “What acid is added to silicone oil to produce Silly Putty?” and “Tomatoes are a member of what often toxic family?”

The answers to these, in order, as I’m sure you would love to know, are False, True, bacteria, Boric acid, and the Nightshade family. Yes, there is actually a type of fish that poops sand. How does that work? I have no clue, the card didn’t say. Sometimes, the card does include more information about the answer. For instance, the question about penicillin I mentioned above said, “False (sulfonamides were first; penicillin was discovered in 1928, but was not used to treat infections until 1942)”. Personally, I appreciate these notes, particularly with True or False and multiple choice questions.

You play through all of the cards, and whoever has the most points wins. There is also a version of the game where you play in teams, working together to answer the questions and gain points, though I haven’t played that option.

Seven Dragons

Yup, dragons. Seven Dragons is a Looney Labs game that I first played at Windycon 42. This game is much like dominoes in that you are connecting similarities. For our types, there are (gee!) seven dragons.

The red, blue, green, gold and black dragons are each a goal. For whoever has that dragon as their goal, they are trying to get seven of that color of dragon in a row. But I mentioned seven dragons, not five. Yes, yes. There are two others. First is the rainbow dragon. It counts as everything.

Secondly, the silver dragon. This dragon is one-of-a-kind and the starter piece. It’s color depends on the color of the top card in the discard pile. Wait… this is effectively dominoes, right? So why is there a discard pile? Well sometimes, instead of dragons to connect in the chain, your cards are actions. They could be “Trade Hands” or “Rotate Goals,” for instance. Each of these has a special symbol in the center that tells you which dragon it represents.

You cannot change the color of the silver dragon by merely playing these cards, however. If you play the action, the effects are played out and the card goes to the bottom of the discard. If you wish to change the color of the silver dragon, you choose to sacrifice the action, in which case it gets placed on top.

Fluxx for Scientists!

And, to continue their extensive Fluxx franchise, Looney Labs brings us: Chemistry Fluxx! Perfect for chemistry students, teachers, and fanatics. Learn chemical symbols while stealing them from each other!

Most of the actions in Chemistry Fluxx are the same as traditional Fluxx, but some of the rules are different. My personal favorite is what I believe is called “Spontaneous Reaction.” It’s a free action rule stating that at the beginning of your turn, if you can name a chemical compound of any two or more of the keepers in front of you, you may draw a card. This cannot be a compound that you have already named. For instance, if you have Barium, Nitrogen and Oxygen, you could say, “Barium Nitrate” Ba(NO3)2 and draw a card. There’s also the Lab Coat Bonus. Whoever has the lab coat draws an extra card every turn.

The keepers are mostly elements, but sometimes equipment. I already mentioned the lab coat, and there are also test tubes, goggles, etc. Because the majority of the keepers are elements, most of the goals are about the elements. Goals are compounds like Carbon Dioxide, Water and Salt.

Speaking of goals, I have a question that perhaps one of you could answer for me: one of the goals is Laughing Gas, for which you need nitrogen and oxygen. But aren’t nitrogen and oxygen 99% of what we breath?

Crossy Road

The other day, I was on my phone playing a game called Crossy Road when my mother looked over my shoulder and said, “Wait… you’ve downloaded Frogger?” I was naturally confused, as to me, Frogger is the game where you all sit in a circle with the “Detective” in the center, and the “Frogger” sticks their tongue out at the other individuals in the circle, causing the others to “die” while trying not to get caught by the detective.

So, as I have found to be wise when I am utterly confused, I asked her what she meant and then showed her how the game I was playing worked. She has since downloaded the game, which I take to be a good sign.

Crossy Road app In Crossy Road, you pilot your avatar (the starter is a chicken) across roads and rivers, avoiding many different obstacles, such as various speeds of cars and trucks, getting run over by speedy trains and jumping into an icy river in an attempt to cross it.

You play daily challenges, which can be anything from frightening three birds (background scenery; I barely noticed them until I got one of these challenges) to hopping four hundred times (every time you move is counted as a “hop”). To move forwards, you can just tap the screen, and if you want to move sideways or backwards you swipe in that direction.

Challenges and daily prizes give you “gifts”, which you open to receive a randomized quantity of coins. You can also get coins by jumping on them during the game. Once you get one hundred coins, you can “win a prize”, which is where you win a randomized avatar.

The avatars are grouped by category. I’ve been mainly using the Arctic setting since near the very beginning, when I won an Arctic fox, then later on an Arctic hare, and I believe my default right now is a puffin.

Every map has it’s quirks. the Savanna has ridiculously breakneck fast tourist buses, Australia has alligators in place of some logs that can snap up and eat you if you jump too close to their head, and Pac-Man has ghosts to avoid instead of cars, but don’t be fooled by the little pellets that Pac-Man eats in standard Pac-Man: they’re just for show.

Each avatar has it’s quirks, too. The pumpkin leaves a trail of candy that falls out of its top every time it jumps, the vampire spontaneously turns into a bat and then turns back, and if you have your volume on, you can hear that the piper really does play bagpipes!

Some of the avatars are awesome, some are strange, some are adorable, and some are downright impossible! There’s 3.1, the computer; the African termite, which is kind of freaky due to the blocky animations; the baby animals category, which has fawns and iguana hatchlings and baby bunnies… so downright cute; and somehow the plate of kimchi is able to move independently?

Woah, look at me… I haven’t even told you the goal of the game! It’s a game against yourself, so your goal is to beat your highscore, and possibly those on the leaderboard, if you’re more ambitious than I am.

You can also play multiplayer if the other players are using the same router as you are, in which case the goal is to see how far you can make it as a team.

Are You Phrazy… Holiday Edition!

I’ve already told you about the original Are You Phrazy, but what about the holiday version? Are You Phrazy? Carols Edition

If you didn’t read the previous post, and you don’t want to do so now, let me summarize: Are You Phrazy is a speed word game, where on your turn you play one of the cards in your hand, unless somebody else can match the previous card played, in which case if they say theirs before you say yours than play goes to the person directly after them. The goal is to be the first person without any cards left.

The holiday edition of Are You Phrazy is pretty much the same as the original, except for the messages on the cards. All of the messages are direct quotes from Christmas songs, like “Pa rum pum pum pum” and “You would even say it glows.”

After playing this version of Are You Phrazy, we revisited the original, and I determined that I preferred this one. I found the original to be less amusing than the holiday version, and also slightly ruder (You’ll never find a “Talk to the hand” or “Can the chatter” card in the holiday deck, because you’d never find either of those in a Christmas carol).

Also, a lot of the original Are You Phrazy lines are quotes from 80’s and 90’s TV shows, so I didn’t understand the humor involved.

Mad Libs, the card game!

I’m sure most of you have played the original Mad Libs, where they have a whole story and you fill in the spaces with whatever words you please, but have you ever played the card game? Mad Libs the Game

I first tried this version of Mad Libs a year ago at DorkStock (see that post here) when I was hanging out with the Looney’s. Instead of answering with whatever word you want, you have to choose one of the words in your hand. Each card has a word and all of its conjugations, which you match accordingly to the conjugations required on the card.

The results are hilarious. “He who strikes last strikes best, but he who lives by the mud shall die by the mud.” Wait… what?

Superfight

Superfight: aka the strangest argument you’ve ever been a party to! Where the group discussion isn’t what toppings should be on the pizza, but whether one hundred Genghis Khans with a battleship would be able to defeat a steel, fire-breathing dinosaur skeleton*.

In Superfight you are drawing three objects (mostly people), like MacGyver or Ghandi, and three descriptions, like “has a puppy gun” or “can remain invisible as long as they hold their breath”. You take the character of your choice as well as two descriptions, one of your preference and one random.

Everybody reveals their strange, deadly combinations, and then the argument commences! It’s best to play this game with somebody sitting on the side as the Judge, because otherwise you may never reach a consensus. The debate is about which one would be best able to defeat the others, and it can get pretty silly! For instance, my fire-breathing Hulk with a portal gun managed to defeat my mother’s acid-spitting, neurotoxin-emitting demon because I just summoned the Bifrost** or something similar and teleported her away!

On occasion, the card turns up where there are multiple interpretations thereof. For instance, my cousin insisted that his “can control all animals” card included humans, since we are animals, and when I played the character “Mr. Rogers”, I insisted that it was Mr. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (played by Chris Evans in the MCU).

In the end, it’s not about who wins, but who can claim and defend the title of the craziest, silliest, most overpowered being in the history of Superfight***!

*Yes, this was a real scenario.

**Thor can handle an acid-spitting, neurotoxin-emitting demon, right?

***There is no documented record of the actual craziest, silliest, and most overpowered combination that has been drawn.

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