XCOM doesn't ship with a rule book?

FFG announced that XCOM is now available. People have bought the game and have found that there is no rulebook. Instead, you get a quick set up guide and then you learn the game from the companion app.

Thoughts?

I don't like it. I prefer board games to video games because of the formers' rules transparency. It sounds like they did forgo explaining all the rules in favor of the app handling the more intricate stuff. Seems like I'm definitely not in the target audience for that game.

It worked pretty well with Legends of Andor. I'm all for it with the exception of looking up rules. If the game is that clean that you won't need to look up rules, then it's probably awesome.

Is there a PDF rules in the book? If so, that could work. The app is required anyway. So you'd still have a written set of rules for reference, and they could update it with the inevitable post-release errata.

If there's no written rules in the app, then that's kinda dumb.

No thanks.

It should ship with a CD. Not everyone has iStuff, or even computers that can run an app. There's someone out there with a 486-16 running overclocked as fuck at 25MHz (yes, MHz) with a 256 color adapter playing the old XCOM: Enemy Unknown who bought this and is FUCKED OFF.

I think this was a shit move on their part. They'll charge you 90$ for a game with 80$ in plastic but won't give you $2.00 in paper and %0.005 in staples?

Who cares about this game. Wait until Christmas, it'll be on the sale. The excitement over it was greatly overstated, from everything I'm hearing about it.

As for the rulebook, what a big mistake. There should still be a printed rulebook in there that explains the process and rules. It isn't somehow novel or daring to not include a rulebook...it's cheap and stupid. Rulebooks don't put people off playing board games...board games themselves do.

They've done this for years with video games, reducing the booklets that used to come with games down to NOTHING and relegating all instruction to in-game tutorials. I hate it. I miss books that explained what the hell is going on. Even Super Smash Bros. has a full character guide and instructions.

What if someone wanted to read the rules before buying? There are still rules in the game, aren't there?

Bad move, FFG.

XCOM needs to get off my lawn. [shakes fist at FFG] I don't have a tablet or a smartphone, and I'm not going to get one just to play this game.

Michael Barnes wrote: Who cares about this game. Wait until Christmas, it'll be on the sale. The excrement over it was greatly overstated, from everything I'm hearing about it.

Fixed that, good sir.

Also agree fully. I am the world's biggest XCOM fan (TM) and honestly, not even I, who owns everything XCOM and has the original on floppy disks will never touch it.

The Best Buggy Whip makers lamented the rise of the automobile.

How long before they abandon the tech and operating systems needed to play this game? I wonder how long they'll support it and what the software engineer contract said when they had it created? I suppose that they'll support it as long as it's profitable. But, this is a new genre. I'm wary though because I'm old enough to remember too many computer systems and operating systems that faded into oblivion along with orphaned and obsolete software. But, if one took the perceptive that this new X-COM game is simply a consumable form of entertainment, then the purchase might be taken in a more positive light. Who says it has to be shelf-worthy or even have a shelf-life beyond a year? What if this is the new trend of the new: disposable "Bic-lighter" games?

That's an interesting angle: XCOM as a new species of shelf toad. Playable for a limited time, then completely obsolete and unplayable.

I admit I hadn't paid this game much mind, but I had always assumed the app was an enhancement, not a requirement.

Although I don't judge Zombie 15' for requiring a soundtrack.

As long as smartphones and tablets don't go obsolete and vanish from the face of the earth in the next six months, I think XCOM will be OK on that front. Beyond that, the handful of people still playing this game will likely have worked out a "doomsday plan" to put all of the app content into a text file on BGG.

It is a great game, though. The app integrates very well with the game and it has some unique things for a co-op.

The app has all of the rules and a tutorial in it. A hard copy would have been nice, though.

stoic wrote:

The Best Buggy Whip makers lamented the rise of the automobile.

How long before they abandon the tech and operating systems needed to play this game? I wonder how long they'll support it and what the software engineer contract said when they had it created? I suppose that they'll support it as long as it's profitable. But, this is a new genre. I'm wary though because I'm old enough to remember too many computer systems and operating systems that faded into oblivion along with orphaned and obsolete software. But, if one took the perceptive that this new X-COM game is simply a consumable form of entertainment, then the purchase might be taken in a more positive light. Who says it has to be shelf-worthy or even have a shelf-life beyond a year? What if this is the new trend of the new: disposable "Bic-lighter" games?

Speaking as someone who has a android tablet and phone that's just a year old, and I can't view many websites or jse many apps because I can't run android 4.4 without jailbreaking them, breaking my warranty or bricking the devices, I'll pass on just about any physical commodity that requires tech that is easily made obsolete.

I don't care how good the game is, or how the app makes playing it a breeze.

It still doesn't address the planned obsolescence of technology that cannot evwn make it a year before I have to spend more money in order to play it.

The lack of a physical rulebook is just a very blatant reminder of this. I hope it sells well, and I do hope that somehow analog and digital gaming can come to terms in a more user friendly way. But as of now, neither industry is prepared for this amalgamtion, and FFG may very well learn an expensive mistake that makes the android boardgame look like a blockbuster hit despite the license slapped on the box.

But I'm sure the tech cult who need to have the newest and best hardware will come along behind me and prove me wrong. But I enjoy being responsible enough to not cater to such lack of consumer ethics that the masses seem to believe is necessary because of contemoprary marketing.

A big, fat NOPE.