Reviews

When I was a kid, I remember watching a movie called The Ice Pirates. It was about these spacefaring ne'er-do-wells who stole stuff, I think. The only thing that really stuck with me from my childhood was a mechanical torture device, kind of like a bear trap that snapped open and shut, and the bad guys put Robert Urich onto a conveyer belt that would feed him into the metal jaws, which would then bite him in the junk.

Frank Branham claimed that CLAUSTROPHOBIA "might be better than SPACE HULK" when he introduced it to me. I listened to my gut instinct, which tells me that no man that enjoys the taste and texture of Creamed Pull Candy(sort of a sweetened shortening) should be trusted in such regards. "Poppycock" said I, and dismissed his ludicrous claim out of hand. He was of course wrong and eventually recognizant of his error, but the fact remains that CLAUSTROPHOBIA is a really good dungeon crawl game that sets itself apart from the pack by being extremely easy to get into...

Hearts and Minds (new from Worthington Games) might just be the holy grail strategic Viet Nam game I've always wanted. Because it's card-based, there's loads of chrome and history throughout... but because it's done on such a large scale, the entirety of the conflict can be played out in one (long) session. It handles the two levels of the war very well, with the Viet Cong and political control war being waged side by side with the pure military operations. Victory is generally determined through the accumulation of American Hawk or Dove points, which slide a strategic will...

RUNEWARS is, as many of us know by now, a pretty great game. I like it a lot, and after owning it for about a month I still want to play it week in and week out, which is a good sign. I think it's got legs, and I think over time its stature will grow with expansions. But you know that feeling when you watch a movie and come to the realization that it was edited for length just so theater owners could squeeze out more showings per day? That's how...

Here's a quick riddle - what's better than a racing game?The answer is: a racing game with guns.That's not very funny, I know. Sorry about that. If it bothers you that I wasn't funny just then, let me know and I'll tell a joke about a retarded kid or a slutty woman. Those seem to go over pretty well.But seriously, folks, I'm here all week. Tip your waitress.