Southpaw

Boy, I was excited about this game when I first got it. But, everything from the cheap cardboard tokens, to the ho-hum art, to the game mechanics disappointed me.

This game incorporates many of the hassles of a mini’s game without the benefit of actually being one — specifically line-of-sight and range. In fact, these hassles are exacerbated by the fact that there is no actual mini to use line of sight to. In a minis game, each player can check line of sight and work out any disagreement. With this game, the player determines whether or not they were seen. Not only does this allow for cheating, as other reviewers pointed out, but it also requires all gamers to be 100% comfortable with the rules and definition of line of sight. Depending on your gaming group, these might not be given.

There is a log system, where players record their moves, to allow for a final review of the game. But that seems too much like policing to be fun.

First off, as with most Days of Wonder games, the art is really great on the board and the tokens. I would prefer some 3D rather than just cardboard tokens (gave me flashbacks to Squad Leader, I suppose). But other than that, the components are great.

My favorite part of playing the game is laying out and selecting the races and their attributes which can create some humorous combinations — mounted wizards, etc. The game for me goes downhill from there. The notion of expansion until stretched then, then decline and picking again does allow for another shot at the fun combos but it also makes it feel repetitive.

A lot of reviews liken it to RISK. Surprisingly some say more and others less complex than the classic conquest game. I found it rather less complex. By not allowing any defensive response (like RISK does through dice rolling), it makes conquest not very much fun.

I would actually not use this as a gateway since it doesn’t actually improve very much on a basic game like RISK that they are already familiar with.

This game is one of my “go-to” games when getting my friends and family to see beyond “Pictionary” and “Sorry.”

The overall game mechanism of production, trading, and building is so different than what most first time gamers encounter but yet it is still simple enough to pick up. It blends the familiarity of rolling dice with breaking away from moving pieces around a square. The trading phase is also a nice introduction because it introduces the notion of “win-win.” Most classic games focus only on competition without balancing it with a little collaboration. Don’t get me wrong; one still wants to “win” trades in Settlers but this mechanism also makes it easier for experienced gamers to help new gamers out subtly.

Overall, this is the game that helps me hook people into expanding their gaming horizons.