Mass Market Games Featuring Sea Monsters
No, silly...I'm talkin' 'bout SURVIVE! over at Gameshark.com this week. But I did have the game above when I was a kid and thought it was pretty cool. Look, it was the 70s, OK?
It's a good time to bring up SURVIVE! because we've been talking a lot about types of interaction and the game features my favorite kind of interaction- where you do bad things to other players and they respond in like coin.
27 comments:
Escape from Atlantis did stay in print in the UK until the late 90's. The 90's edition is divine. Huge nicely sculpted plastic bits.
You really *ARE* doing readers a disservice by talking about games they can't buy.
In this case, you really should have included a mention of Pompeii. It lacks the simplicity of Survive, and isn't quite as vicious, but makes a perfectly acceptable substitute.
Nonsense. They can buy SURVIVE, just not at Richway or Zayre.
I never really felt that POMPEII captured the SURVIVE spirit...too many weird Euro contrivances. I did like the concept and the lava is pretty fun...just somehow it's missing that goofy charm.
Survive was one of my favorite games as a kid. The sea serpent rocks!
Oh wow, I guess that's what inspired End of Atlantis - http://www.windowsgames.co.uk/atlantis.html - I had no idea
BTW: There are some neat little games on that site. Check out Slay.
For some reason I now have the "H.R. Puffin Stuff" song ear worming through my brain.
Heh, Slay is a pretty neat game...I used to play that back when I was in a really boring job. But yeah, that's exactly where they got the concept.
I played this game for the first time not too long ago and you summed up my thoughts on it perfectly.
Playing it I kept thinking, wow if this was about impressing hedgehogs or whatever it could be the hot new Euro. I was shocked at how long ago it came out.
Thanks a lot for fucking my chances to get it on ebay on the cheap now though. Hopefully the increased excitement will get someone to come along and do up a nice reprint of it, I can easily see this one being a big crossover bonerfest for lots of gamers.
I need to get more Hasbro stock to force them to REMAKE this awesome game, and not the fucking rehash of LIFE or MONOPOLY.
Gee, thanks Michael. Just what I need; another reminder that my wife wants a copy for Christmas.
--Mike L.
Next week's article- "Diamond Rings, New Cars, and Clean Garages- The Game"
I'm lucky in that respect. My wife doesn't like/wear makeup, doesn't like jewelry, isn't interested in hot cars, and is a pack rat.
One year I gave her an old Atari 2600 with about 25 games, and she loved it.
--Mike L.
Copies of Escape from Atlantis are ten a penny here on Ebay.co.uk but although I'd long desired Survive I've never bothered picking one up. Why? Because I've read they removed the variable value on the pieces, and otherwise generally crapalised it.
Am I wrong? There seems to be a majority opinion going round here that it's better than the original because it's got big, shiny plastic bits.
Well, I suppose if it works for Jordan ...
OMG!! They really made a Sigmund and the Sea Monsters game?? If I had only known.....
Instead my parents got me The Planet of the Apes game for Christmas. Watching the humans fall into the cage was kinda neat, and the Nova playing piece was hot, but beyond that I dont remember much.
Don't remember seeing Survive before. Looks like a cool game.
WN
Survive is definitely the better game. The neutering in Escape is not overly painful. I do actually like that the game is slightly less deadly.
The 1990's Waddington version is slightly different from the 70's-80's version, with a few small rule improvements. The best feature is the pieces, but the best are the little screaming people with arms upraised to protect from falling ash.
Nova playing piece was hot
I really don't know what to say. Has anybody seen Chapel?
Survive is one of my top games! I have a friend of mine who is the cheapest guy you will ever meet! His furniture in his house in from the depression! He won't buy anything, but after playing Survive he bought a copy off ebay and paid quite a bit for it.
I always had a soft spot for these old MB/Parker Bros games. I think if you give them a go these days you might be surprised. A lot of them had the "simplicity" factor down that today's Euros seem to want to take credit for!!!
I like to tinker with these old games and come up with variants. One of my recent favorites is a variant for "Thunder Road" where I combined elements from Fantasy Flight's "Wreckage".
Completely off topic post, but I know Fortress Ameritrash is the place to come to get the answers I need:
I was in the game store in the city near me for the first time in awhile yesterday. I saw the game "Dust" on the shelf and walked over since I'd heard some interesting things about it. Then I said WHAT THE HECK!!! I understand that fantasy art tends to take some liberties with the proportions of the human anatomy- but apparently one of the side effects of exposure to dust is shal we say- a monstrous increase in the bust size of women. I mean MONSTROUS. Like they make Lara Croft look flat as a board. What's the deal with that? Definitely an odd choice in box art from Fantasy Flight.
There was a typo on the all of the game's printings. The original title was "BUST".
THUNDER ROAD is awesome. Switch and link is one of the great mechanics.
I played DUST last night...yeah, it appears to be a game about boobs (somebody named Nicholas "Nipple" Fontaine is thanked in the booklet) but it's actually a pretty cool Gamemaster-style game with some neat kinks. Tons of dice, tanks, and even *gasp* role selection/special powers.
FFG didn't design DUST- it's an out-of-house license. The designer did KALEIDOS and some other Euro-style party games. Go figure.
I want a Saul of the Molemen game.
Nothing wrong with monstrous boobies.
This goes on for 30-45 minutes until someone draws the volcano event which blows up the remainder of the island.
Best line in the review, put a huge smile on my face. I think every game that wants to put in some sort of limiting mechanism to play time should do this. "Everything blows up" instead of "Game ends after turn 10. Count victory points".
Thunder Road is one of my favorites! Out of everything I've played involving cars and guns, nothing matches TR for streamlined brutality and speed. I don't rate games often but I'd have to say that game is a 10 in my book. It might be fun to have *just a few* more options for weapons and terrain but really it is just about perfect. I've often contempated designing some more road maps for it but will probably never get around to it
A similiar game which has a lots of potential that gets no love is Racer Knights of Falconus. Sure, its got problems but there is a lot of cool things about the game: interchangeble parts, special powers, great graphics and models. Its definately worth getting a few packs and tweaking the rules a bit.
Steve"CarWarrior"Avery
"there’s even an in-game bargaining chip with the boats—they hold three survivors, but they don’t have to all be from the same player. I’ve captained a boat and sailed it straight toward imminent disaster just to sink two of another player’s survivors"
This isn't quite true. If you don't hold an "equal majority" on a boat, then you can't move it (though you can tag along with the controller). This can be useful if you can trap a high value singleton on a boat with two low value ones of yours.
Good point Adam...you get the no-prize for catching my lie.
I've got the Waddington's version over here in Britland and it was fun playing with my 8yr old lad and his mates, but the extra rules mentioned here seem worthwhile to try to add - are these the main ones:
- people have values (are these hidden and what are the numbers and ranges of these values ?)
- weapons are avilable for the survivors to fight the sea creatures (how obtained, just in water or can use from a boat ?)
- Variable game end when volcano blows (is this done by card, dice, hidden symbol on the last group of island hexes ?)
The bits are pretty good in the later version with 3D island pieces and colourful monsters, octopuses, sharks, and dolphins.
Only problem is that the yungsta has gone over to the Dark-side and is mesmerised with DSes, X-Boxes, and Wiis ... I have a challenge on my hands.
Tom.
you get the no-prize for catching my lie.
Stan Lee, is that you?
Actually, to earn a no-prize, the reader is supposed to spot a mistake and then come up with a rationalization for why the mistake wasn't really a mistake.
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