Robot Claw

Last week I received, in the mail, a graduation gift from SFL. She had teased me about the contents prior to me receiving it, saying it was something “for the kitchen”, but I knew it was actually the World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, since we’re going to renew and start playing again early next year.

So you can just imagine my amazement when I opened the box and found this:

Yes, the legendary one that got away, in my hands! Astounding! An epic gift! (Read this if you forget the back story). It’s in amazingly good condition for a 26 year old game, missing only the original figurines. But even then the replacements (metal) are superior to the plastic originals 🙂

So now I have free time again, I sat down today to play a game against myself. Here’s the board when assembled:

Rather than use the included figures, I opted for three of my own. The brave adventurers therefore would be ‘Cute Stewardess’, ‘Tiny Keroro’ and ‘Chan Solo’ (name credit: AW!). Here they are at the entrance, unaware of their fate…

The goal of the game is to travel through the dungeon, kill the Warlock and pilfer his chest. Much like the gamebook, the chest requires a specific key combination to unlock, and players must both collect keys and determine which ones open the chest during the game. To do this they must defeat monsters, solve puzzles and even fight with each other.

Characters are more or less identical to in FF gamebooks, with Skill, Stamina and Luck. Combat and testing luck is the same, health is healed by provisions, gold coins are used as a currency and the layout of the dungeon and most encounters within are taken directly from the gamebook. None of this is surprising, since the game itself is designed by Steve Jackson.

In terms of complexity I’d put the game about on par (possibly slightly higher) than Talisman. This surprised me, since I always thought this was a ‘kids’ game. Of course kids would enjoy it – as a 13 year old I would have gone bonkers – but it’s also fun for adults.

Cute Stewardess went first since she had the lowest skill, and on her very first turn ended up in room with a Vampire. This is perhaps the most dreaded monster in the entire game, and very nearly did her in on the very first turn:

The vampire threw an uncanny amount of doubles and since her luck was only 9 she almost died outright several times. Even though she won, her skill of 9 also led to a lot of damage, and after one fight she had only 6 HP remaining. She would be taking the next two turns eating provisions 🙁

Keroro and Chan Solo were much luckier, finding weak monsters and useful treasures in their first few rooms. Keroro in particular lucked out tremendously by finding a magic sword (skill +2) which raised his skill to 13 giving him a massive advantage from the start. (He also had the highest stamina and luck)

After recovering from the vampire, poor little Stewardess stumbled upon a Giant which dropped her back to 6 HP again (her maximum was only 14) and meant she’d have to rest once more, skipping turns. However Keroro found some poison and – much like the little amphibious bastard he can be – poisoned her food. Stewardess unknowingly ate the poison in her next turn and was reduced a further 2 HP. She was on the brink of death, with no more food.

Chan Solo was accumulating gold at an uncanny rate (as befits a smuggler, I suppose). Stewardess was on death’s door, and Keroro was now wielding a magic sword, an enchanted flute, many keys and a bunch of food. To add insult to injury the first player versus player combat occured (by his choice) when Keroro ended up on the same square as Stewardess and attacked and killed her! That evil frog! He got all her stuff though, and she was out of the game.

All this dice rolling had attracted some interest by this point:

(The background is blurred to hide Christmas gifts…)

And so the evil frog continued his unstoppable swathe-carving through the dungeon. There is no denying the fact that this game – by design – would be very difficult to win without fighting other players, so fight them he did! Armed with all of Stewardess’s keys, and powerful magic including a map and a device that 1-shots the Warlock, Tiny Keroro just needed to hunt down Chan Solo, grab his loot, and march to the treasure room.

And so he did.

And there we have it: Legendary Tiny Keroro (key chain ornament) was the first adventurer to brave the perils of Firetop Mountain, defeat the evil Warlock Zagor, and open the chest to obtain fabulous treasure (combination: 4-7-8)

Of course the true winner here is me, since I now own one of my dream items. Thanks Florence! 🙂