Screaming Eagles
Here's a game which *could* have been from my childhood, but isn't, which is a shame, because it would've been right up our alley. We hadn't even seen it, so it either never made it to stores in our area or just didn't stick around very long (similar to how there's a short window to grab any Risk versions here).
I ran across a copy in a thrift store, and looking through the box, it seemed like it plays not unlike a simplistic version of Battletech. After playing a game, i still felt that way, but also felt that it definitely needed some tweaking. In a (nonexistent) word, it needed more simultaneousness.
At the beginning of the game, players roll one of each die for every fighter, with the highest total earning the (user-supplied) start fighter token for the first round. Re-roll ties as needed, naturally. At the beginning of every round the start fighter rotates clockwise.
The first phase of the round - there are now three - is the same as written in the rules: players simultaneously pick a movement card for each fighter and places them face down on the corresponding sections.
In the second phase, every fighter moves as normal, beginning with the start fighter and going clockwise. This phase is strictly movement; there is no shooting. If you would land on a fighter, you jump over it just as you normally would, regardless of whether its moved or not.
The third phase is where the fun stuff comes in: ye olde missiles, cannon, and flares. Again beginning with the start fighter, everyone shoots as appropriate, though all shots are considered simultaneous, so just because someone got their cockpit shot out with a cannon - i love when i do that - they still get to fire the long range missile they've been saving at the target which zigged when it should have zagged. This is also when you can add a cannon round if you're out of them.
Oh, and we changed the flares. Now the range is rolled before the target needs to decide about using a flare. You don't have to use one if the missile wouldn't connect, which we consider to mean that it failed to lock on. Using a flare requires that the range be re-rolled using one less die. This not only increases the value of the flares, but gives the long range missiles a bit more of an edge over the medium ones.
After realizing just how heavily skewed hitting the Wing section is (which we take to really mean Wing+Body), we added a rule where when you're rolling for location, you re-roll the first 8 you get for each attack. Taking a hit in either the Engine or Tail also puts a peg in the Wing section. Lets face it: the planes according to the rules are just too durable.
And now is when having played too much Battletech kicks in... Taking a hit in the Engine requires you discard all three of your 1-space movement cards, losing "fine" control. Taking a hit in the Tail section requires that you follow the advanced movement rule which restricts you from immediately banking the opposite way.
When all damage is marked, rotate the start fighter a spot and move on to the next round. (grin) *Now* the game has reached its potential...
Ringgz
The new Checkers?
Now granted, there are a few problems with that, the two main ones being the facts that Ringgz neither looks nor plays like Checkers, but bear with me. The idea for this review came when during a two-player game she said, "This reminds me of Checkers." Two thoughts went through my head. First, that i don't see how this is like Checkers other than they both being abstract games. Second, that, since neither of us are a fan of Checkers, she must be liking the game less than i was. We ended up playing a couple more games, so in the end, i guess it reminded her of Checkers in a *good* way, and after we were done, i realized why she said that.
Like Checkers, there are two types of pieces (rings and bases). Like Checkers, your turn consists of one simple action (place a piece). Like Checkers, you need to think ahead or you'll find yourself suddenly not in the good position you thought you were (having not given yourself an avenue into a section of the board or blocked someone when you could have). I think it's the combination of the three that reminds us of Checkers. Your turn is effectively dead simple, but you know that you can't afford to waste it.
All this and it doesn't take any longer (while feeling faster), looks better (even in an abstract game theme matters), and can support four players. This isn't the easiest game to find - i think i picked mine up at Ollie's - but we feel that anyone who likes abstracts should pick it up if they run across it.
Rattlesnake
It's amazing how little it takes to make a game: a dozen magnets, a board, a die, and a small handful of rules. Sure, it's a simple game, and like all simple games, there's a fine line between "just long enough" and "it's officially overstayed its welcome", but in short doses, this is a good filler.
It's basically Magnetics 101, but as long as you're able to play a game solely to have fun, it works. To us, the rules as written make for *too* short of a game, though. We extended it by treating what the rules call a game a round. Rounds end when someone places their last egg, at which point everyone counts their remaining eggs, adding it to their running total. The next round begins with whoever would be next. When someone reaches (60/#players), whoever has the lowest total is the winner. For those playing at home, that's 30 for two players, 20 for three, and 15 for four.
I grabbed two at Fantasy Flight's holiday sale so that i had a light game that can handle eight players (which are pretty much the only games that work with that many). I haven't played it with more than four, but i'd still go with (60/#players), though i'll try to remember to update this if i find out that that doesn't work.
As an aside, i like that they took the time to make it color-blind friendly, with every snake having the same expression which matches a face on the die. Oh, and while the game should really have come with a quad-fold board and therefore a smaller box, you gotta give them credit for a creative insert.