Battleship Express

The game is a decent Yahtzee variant out of the box, but with our Fleet Admiral tweak, it's even better...

Since we love destruction, we decided to use both sides of the ships.  We also love simultaneous damage, so i added four stones to the box so that when there's a successful attack on a ship, it gets marked.  Then, after the round has been completed, any marked ships get flipped over or removed as the case may be.

Our Fleet Admiral tweak gives ships more longevity.  A successful attack against a ship at full strength leaves it Damaged.  A successful one against a Damaged ship leaves it Crippled if the number of hits is exactly what is needed.  Any additional and the ship is considered Destroyed.  Both Crippled and Destroyed take it out of play, but we love going for the jugular.

Using both sides is interesting even though - or rather, because - the "back" (Captain) side is almost always Declare, Roll twice, No specials, but doesn't always list the same defense.

The Battleship's defense goes from five to four, but instead of rolling four times at one-in-six chance each, it's twice at two-in-six each.  Granted, it's half-dead and a notch easier to kill, but remains a serious force to be reckoned with, earning the respect it deserves.

The Destroyer's bursts get halved, which puts it just under the undamaged Patrol Boat for offensive capability.  I'll be honest: that's enough to bring a tear to the eye.  With its defense going from four to five though, it isn't going to be taken out easily.

A damaged Aircraft Carrier is like a wounded animal that fights back harder, if not smarter.  It loses the ability to roll before declaring and can no longer hide in the shadows, but it gains both a die and a defense.  That's just all kinds of fun.

The Submarine becomes almost a quarter more deadly to the front ships at the expense of losing track of the rear ones.  Discounting the fact that it's ready to go belly up, depending on what's out there and where it's located, that's not much of a hardship.

For us, the damaged Patrol Boat has been the luckiest ship around.  You'd think it gained a die roll, not lost one.  I feel like i should pencil in shamrocks on the Captain side.  Stat-wise though, only its mother could be proud of it.

Between the fleet size being effectively doubled and all ships being able to retaliate, obviously this way loses some of the original's quick-playing ability, but for us, the game out of the box is over too soon for its own good.  Even with the changes this version is a short game, but now it has enough meat to give us a solid dice-rolling fix.  I also like that the relative value of the ships isn't static and the fact that the Battleship is clearly the best overall, justifying the You sank my Battleship! catchphrase.

Gumball Rally

Despite what the box/rules say, Gumball Rally works just fine with two players after you tweak it some.  For starters, each player chooses two go-karts instead of just one.  Next - and i recommend playing this way no matter how many players you have - place the Race cards on the cardboard 'karts instead of under/beside them.  This keeps the game - which is mostly about the pass and slightly about the block - flowing nice and quickly.  Lastly, keep the points won on the individual 'kart cards.  This last bit adds a bit of strategy in that you want to keep a particular car in first place so that you don't spread your points between them and come in second and third instead of first.

At the beginning of the game, deal two cards to each player and when it's your turn - meaning that one of your 'karts is next up - you draw a card and play a card (from among your three).  Actually, i recommend doing the same for more than two players: two at the beginning, draw one, play one.  I'm definitely a fan of games with more depth, but this one is a surprise hit since i can pull it out and get in a quick game or two before i move on to something else (be it another game or working in the shed).

After a few games, even the set-up - which was definitely odd at first - is no big deal.  Lay out the Finish and two Checkpoint cards face down.  Shuffle the Hazard deck and lay three cards on each.  "Shuffle" the Finish stack a bit.  Shuffle the first Checkpoint stack a bit and place it on the Finish stack.  Shuffle the other Checkpoint stack a bit and place it on the now-combined stack.  Place three more cards on top and toss the remaining Hazard cards off to the side.  Have someone else shuffle the Race deck while you're doing all that and you're ready to go.

The game isn't going to win any awards, but as a quick filler, it's not bad. I'm a bit saddened that i inadvertently gave my copy away.