Adam B.
United States
Massachusetts
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I had a chance to grab this at GenCon and play it about five times so far.
The Components: it ships in a small box like Gloom or Fluxx that holds two decks worth of cards (so you can actually play 2 games simultaneously if so desired, or one mega-game). The primary components are the cards, each of which is covered in a grid of 8-bit pixelated symbols (dude in suit, light bulb, etc). Each card has a different configuration of some of these symbols, forming larger blocks or tetromino-style areas. Then each player gets a set of "control markers"
The Play: you play cards onto the field. The only real rule for placement is the card you are playing has to overlap a card already on the field with at least one square (although you can overlap more). The overlapping squares have to match. Then you can "claim" an area of a particular color that is the largest for that color (i.e. if adding a card to the field created a yellow zone of 9 blocks while the previous largest yellow zone had only 7 blocks, you can claim yellow as yours). The objective is to control the most stuff at the end of the game. So you're constantly looking at not only how to create the large areas, but how to specifically take away control from your opponents of colors they've claimed, and also looking to lay cards in such a way that might make it difficult to expand on a color you already control.
The Impression: it's fast, it's light, it cheap, and I enjoyed it. It's not something i'd play 100 times in a row. But it works well as you can chuck it in your bag and play it when you've got some downtime with friends, or use it as filler between bigger games. I also like that it's only cards + control markers (which are fold-up cards you can fold flat), so you don't need any extra dice, pens & paper, playmats, anything, so it really does work as a portable-anywhere game. I personally love the 8-bit pixel style, while other people seem turned off by it. But to me, it fits the theme (you're supposedly playing dueling hackers looking to take control of a server).
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Chevee Dodd
United States
Fairmont
West Virginia
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I think this review is perfectly fitting for the game.
Short and simple.
But in a good way! 
I used to enjoy a bit of 2 player Ingenious. I think this game will take that slot and maybe a few more because of the relaxed feel of it. It was a great find for me.
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Adam B.
United States
Massachusetts
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Somewhat strangely (given the art style), my older parents have really taken to the game (visited them on the way back from GenCon) They describe it as "weirdo Blokus", and I think they dig it because there is some very light strategy, but not too much. You can't plan that far ahead as the board and your hand are always changing, so you're really trying to maximize the effectiveness of your current play, and maybe try to create some potential advantage for one or two plays beyond the current one.
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Posted Mon Aug 8, 2011 3:38 pm
