"A" Games


Acquire
Players:2-6
Time:90 minutes
Designer:Sid Sackson
Rating:10
Sid's Sackson's classic game that many others have copied machanics from. If you have played a few of the recent German games lately, you probably have run into the "The person with the majority gets X, the second majority get X/2" in some other game. It came from Acquire.

I had not gotten to play Acquire in any of its previous forms and only got to play it when Hasbro rereleased it. I'm so glad I did. It instantly jumped to the top of my person ratings chart. The game as a very good balance of luck and strategy. The Hasbro version has very good production values (although the tiles do tend to tip over). A classic game that everyone should play.

If you are interested, there is an multiplayer computer game that my friends and I have played when we can't get together. It has proven to be very stable and easy to use. Check out Paul Games for the program.
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aMAZEing Labyrinth, The
Players:2-4
Time:20 minutes
Designer:Max J Kobbert
Rating:7
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Andromeda
Players:3-5
Time:60 minutes
Designer:Alan Moon
Rating:7
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Animorphs Invasion
Players:2-4
Time:30 minutes
Rating:7 - With kids

Now this isn't a game I would pull out with the game group, but with the kids it's a good game. If you or your kids have read any of the Animorphs books, the game captures the feel of the story fairly well.

You are one of the Animorphs, kids that have the ability to "acquire" the DNA of animals and "morph" into the animals. The Animorphs are battling the invading Yerks, led by Visser III. The board consists of twelve locations from the books linked to each other by various types of paths along with many "morph spots", places where you can stop and morph into another animal.

You must travel around the board to one of the three active sites where the Yerks are located. Once there, you battle the Yerks and if successful, collect the location card. The battle is simply rolling two dice and getting a certain number or higher. The number is based on the type of animal you currently are. Depending on the location, certain animals are better than others. For example, one location might have the Ant listed as needing a 4 where the Bear needs an 8 while another the Bear may be a 5 and the Ant a 9. Also, the morph you are currently determines the path you may take. Once the Yerks are defeated at one location, a new one becomes active.

Once you have collected three location cards, you can travel to the EGS Tower (again from one of the books) and do one final battle and destroy the Kandrona Ray Generator. For this final battle you must be an elephant (nicely tied to the actual story) and roll a 7 or 8 depending on if Visser III is present.

Each player has 5 cards, up to two of which may be played each turn. Most of the cards are morph cards allowing you to morph into one of the animals. There is also a wild card that allows you to morph into any animal. The rest of the cards are special actions that allow you to mess with the other players or give you a slight advantage.

There is lots of dice rolling (movement and battle), some card play (controlling your morphs and other actions) and actually some planning involved. This isn't a deep thought game but instead a fun little game to play with young fans of the Animorphs books. We have seen it on sale many places. Pick up a copy if you have fans of the books in your house but not one for the serious gamer.

Session reports: May 20, 2001


Auf Achse
Players:2-6
Time:90 minutes
Designer:Wolfgang Kramer
Rating:7
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Auf Heller und Pfennig
Players:2-4
Time:45 minutes
Designer:Reiner Knizia
Rating:8
Session reports: June 13, 2001
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Axis & Allies
Players:2-5
Time:3 hours
Rating:td>6
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Copyright © 2001, Ed Rozmiarek