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Columns > Unplugged > #40: Videogame Aliens and Railroads Invade!
Both Doom and Railroad Tycoon make their appearance as surprisingly good board games.  Computer and console video games continue to grow into an even larger segment of the entertainment empire. No longer satisfied with producing video game adaptations of movies, several recent and upcoming movies are based off of popular console games. This isn't a new trend, (remember the Mario Bros movie or Pac Man television shows anyone?), but the audience for these movies are becoming more mainstream. It was only a matter of time before video game titles were remade as board games. Some of the first licenses to make the journey were games whose lineage could be linked to board games of the past. Sid Meier's Civilization, Age of Mythology, and Warcraft all made the jump and were reviewed in this column back in the summer of 2004. Recently, two additional games have appeared that incorporate themes and styles from popular computer games. Both the first-person-shooter Doom, and the strategy game Railroad Tycoon have been given the board-game treatment. Happily, both are good adaptations of their respective genres. They give some of the flavor of their original games, but manage to be enjoyable board games in their own right.
 Doom: The Boardgame by Fantasy Flight Games Genre: Strategy Score: 4 out of 5 stars Fans of the first person shooter (FPS) computer game are likely to scoff at the idea of a board game based around such an action-oriented title. However, Kevin Wilson – the designer of Doom: The Boardgame, has not only managed to create a game that retains the theme of Doom but also manages to capture that frantic, up-against-the-odds sense of game play found in the video game. In Doom: The Boardgame one player takes on the role of all the invading aliens while 1 to 3 other players take on the roll of one marine each. Yes, in a two player game one marine goes up against all the invading aliens. The game is set up with a modular game board with a layout only known to the alien player as provided in a scenario booklet within the game. (Additional player-made and designer-made scenarios can be found online). As the marine players explore the board, new areas are revealed – along with additional monsters, weapon upgrades, and the all-important ammunition caches. The three marines are color-coded so while some monsters are present in every version of a scenario (indicated in white), others are listed in red, green, or blue and are only placed on the game board if the marine of that color is present. In this way, the scenarios scale rather nicely for one to three marine players. Once a scenario is in full force, the game layout is quite satisfying to observe with small armies of red, green, and blue aliens descending on the not-so-hapless marine forces. The figurines scale in size as they scale in power with the smallest ones roughly marine-sized and the largest figures towering over the heads of the marine figures. To win, the marines must survive long enough to reach the scenario's objective, which is typically surviving long enough to unlock the exit door and escape. Meanwhile, the alien player must "frag" (defeat) the players a specified number of times (from 5 to 7, depending on the scenario.) In addition, each marine starts the game with two special powers which allow them to bend the game in some way. The alien player gains control of any revealed aliens, does not have to worry about ammunition loss, and is able to respond to and surprise the marines using cards in the alien deck. The alien player draws two cards per turn with a maximum hand size of eight. These can be played to gain abilities such as surprise attacks, force players to lose ammunition, or briefly counter the marines' special abilities. One of the alien's most powerful abilities is to use a card to spawn new creatures onto the board. They must be placed out of line-of-sigh from the marines, but this ability (combined with each marines' two rule-bending abilities) ensures that no two plays of a specific scenario will be alike. Smart players will carefully scout out new rooms and try to maintain line-of-sight to as much area as possible in order to prevent the alien player from introducing unpleasant surprises. Some feel the game is skewed in favor of the alien player, so the designers have provided a selection of game "modes" (akin to "I'm too young to die" easy mode and "Nightmare" difficult modes in the video game) that make small game rule alterations to increase or decrease the difficulty level for the marine players. The heart of the game is based around combat, and it is a very nice fast-playing design. Each marine and alien weapon is assigned a number of colored dice. Combat is resolved in a single roll. Players roll dice for their weapon and add up the small numbers on the face to find the range of the weapon for that round. If the target is beyond the range total rolled, it is a miss. If it is a hit, add the number of pips on the dice showing to find the damage. Divide that by the target's armor rating, rounding down, and that is the number of damage points taken by the target. Finally, if a bullet symbol is showing on any die, a ammunition token is consumed. In this way, a character's entire attack is decided by a single roll. Weapons are distinguished by the number and type of dice rolled. Red and yellow dice are high powered with damage and decent range but have an instant-miss face. Green dice have lots of range but little damage, while blue dice are high damage and almost no range. Special effects and abilities can interfere with the dice to create some nice strategic decisions. Players can arrange to have the ability to reroll one die, give up a certain color of die in order to gain an additional attack, and so on. It only takes one quick example combat for players to grasp the basic mechanics and newcomers can start playing. Fans of the board game will be pleased to note that an expansion will be released around Febuary 2006 with some small rules updates and a slew of new resources. Several new aliens appear and a new super-gun is provided for the marines. In addition to assorted new cards for players and aliens rules for deathmatch and capture-the-flag scenarios are also provided. The game isn't perfect, but it is mighty good. The fast paced action keeps the game going, even if it can take up to two hours to play through a standard scenario. With its slightly violent premise, it is best suggested for players who are interested and can handle the combat focus of the game. It isn't a game for casual game players interested in an evening of negotiation or social dialogue, but it is perfect for an evening of fun action-oriented combat.
 Railroad Tycoon: The Boardgame by Eagle Games Genre: Family Strategy Score: 4 out of 5 stars When developing a board game based on the popular Railroad Tycoon license, Glenn Drover of Eagle Games sought out Martin Wallace, the designer of the very popular strategy board game Age of Steam. The resulting game is a nice introduction to the "train game" genre of board games with many similarities to Age of Steam, but designed to be slightly more streamlined and accessible to a wider audience. In what is becoming a trademark of Eagle Games high-end games, Railroad Tycoon is a very large game. The board's three sections will take up the majority of a kitchen table. When the plastic train pieces, cardboard railroad tiles, and resource cubes are added onto the map, the game becomes extremely eye-catching. Unfortunately, it can also be somewhat imposing to new board game players. Beneath the many pieces and parts lies a moderate level strategy game, perfect for those who enjoy a slightly meatier board game but not too complex for an older family to enjoy together. Each player takes on the roll of a railroad baron and attempt to build track between the various cities on the board. Each city begins with a few randomized colored production cubes which must be delivered to any city that matches the cubes color. During a turn, players may build track, upgrade their trains, or deliver a good. To deliver a good, a player moves a production cube up to the maximum distance rating of their current train engine. All players score a point for any track that the production cube moves along. Points in the game also increase a player's income which is handy for building more track or purchasing train upgrades. Unfortunately, players begin the game without any cash, so initial purchases must be made by borrowing money in the form of shares. Taking out too much in loans will come back to haunt you, as shares can never be repaid, require interest payment once in each 3-round turn, and subtract one point per share from your victory points at the end of the game. There are additional player opportunities that allow actions like upgrading towns to provide more resources, taking special ability cards, or building in a special western link railroad. These add a bit more spice to the mix without overly complicating the basic theme of building railroads and shipping resources. The rules are brief and give a good overview of the game, but are perhaps just a tad too brief. A few questions arose after our first few plays but our intuition typically provided an appropriate answer to continue game play. While it claims to be a game for 2 to 6 players, I found games with only three players can reach an ending too quickly, as if the game had just hit mid-stride. This is partially due to the style of our gameplay, but I suspect is more indicative of the 3 player game. In any case, the game improves with 4 or more players although can take more time if the full complement of 6 players are involved. Railroad Tycoon captures much of the best of the PC game with a very visual appealing game board and simple rule set to make the game accessible to new gamers. Meanwhile it maintains enough strategy to keep players coming back for more. While all the bits and pieces and huge game board make it slightly more expensive than some board games, it is one of the best of the many railroad themed board games on the market today.
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