Marvel Overpower

There was a card shop going out of business here about 2 years ago, so I went looking for Middle Earth cards. There weren't any, but there was a whole buttload of Overpower. My spider-sense should have tingled right then, but it had been dulled. I had heard some people here at work talk about the game, saying it was cool, and I had seen game reviews where it rated a 5 out of a possible 6 for being easy to play, good quality cards, and fun. I should have realized that I work with geeks, and that the magazine had Overpower ads on 10 of the 72 pages. Like a fool, without even trying the game, I bought 2 boxes of booster packs and half a dozen starter decks.

When I got home and opened the starter deck, I was appalled at the cards. Poor artwork, flimsy stock (about the makeup of a cheap deck of poker cards), and gaudy colors. Then I read the rules. It's war. That's all. War. You have character cards, boost them up with cards from your hand, and see if you can beat your opponent's character. I couldn't believe that's all there was to the game. Never again will I trust a magazine article, and I will heavily weigh opinions of others.

I finally unloaded the cards this last summer, trading away all of them for 8 starter sets of Dragon Dice. I almost felt bad for the guy I traded them to.


STAR WARS

I had high expectations for this game, but it turned out to be a real bore. It came out just as the films were being re-released and the hype was at its max; I'm sure I am not the only one who fell into this trap. Luckily, I did not invest more than $30 in this sucker.

The game begins with 2 locations out and in play, and each player has a deck of up to (I think) 70 cards. Each card is one point of "Force". The locations generate Force, so each turn you take, face down, one card for every point of Force generated and put it in an active pile. Without looking, you must choose what you want to do; all items, characters, and vehicles have a deploy cost. To put a character in play, you pay the deploy cost with the cards in your active pile. If you don't play anything, you can pick cards up to put in your hand, or you recirculate them to the bottom of your deck. The idea is to drain all of your opponent's Force by playing cards against him.

This game has two speeds: slow and wake me up when we get there. Because all the movies got released at once, they must have decided to do pretty much the same with the expansion sets. Less than a year later, they had New Hope, Dagobah, and Hoth. (Taking notes from Wizards of the Coast?) The overflow of cards killed this game, at least in this section of the country, and so many were printed that the value of the "collectable" cards is based on sheer power, not rarity. Each card has a movie quote or factoid as well as a picture, though, so eventually you might find Leia in the golden bikini. If I were you, I'd let this one stay by the roadside. If you already play the game and would like some cards, drop me a line in the Email basket.


Magic: The Gathering

One of the original collectable card games, the old Alpha and Beta sets are worth as much as many comic classics and sports cards. Last I saw, a complete set of Arabian Nights could almost buy a car. Wizards of the Coast is notorious for punching out the cards and creating gluts, but somehow the older sets, and some of the newer cards, manage to maintain their values. I don't believe Satanism is in any way associated with gaming, but someone signed a pact to keep these damned things selling.

The premise of Magic is a battle of wizards over an imaginary continent. The power for their spells is pulled from the land in the form of mana, and is manipulated for effect. Each type of land produces a specific color of mana based on the nature of the power associated with that land. Creatures, effects, and occurrances are all spells which can be cast. The overall goal of this game is to kill all the other wizards; each (including yourself) starts with 20 points of life. You can attack with creatures or with other spells, but the object is to be the last one standing.

The game itself isn't that bad and plays rather quickly. The problem is that your skill isn't enough. When people get involved with this game, their money starts to disappear. Someone gets a really good card and starts to win the balance of the games, so you go out and buy until you have better. Then they go, then you, and then the next expansion set comes out and it starts all over again.

I may be wrong on this, but I believe that Magic first came out in '92. In just these few years, the following sets have been produced (in no particular order):
Alpha/beta, Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Arabian Nights, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Chronicles, Homelands, Visions, Alliances, Unlimited, Revised, Fifth Edition, and Portal.

They've put out at least four new sets since I lost track, but you get the idea. WotC admits that because of the way they package their cards, you need to buy a minimum of four boxes of most of their products to be able to expect a complete set. Some of the newer boxes run $65 - $130 per box; the older ones, like Legends and Arabian Nights, go for almost $4000 per box.

Hey! Wizards of the Coast! Collect this!


Middle Earth Collectable Card Game

After failing to spend all my money on Magic, I decided to give this game a whirl. Card magazines were split on this one, but I noticed that the ones who didn't like this game were the magazines whose chief audiences were 12- 17 year olds; "can't be all bad" was the conclusion I came to. Glad I tried it.

MECCG is made by Iron Crown Enterprises, the same makers as the role playing game, and the Tolkien scholars once again came through. The cards are sturdy and pleasant to the eye. The game mechanics are easy, and the whole game is story- and character-oriented. The artwork slipped a bit in Dark Minions and again in Against the Shadow and The White Hand, but was still superior in quality to any of the card game competition. Each card that has extra room has a relevant quote from a Tolkien piece, or a piece of rhetoric devised by the game designers and researchers which blends in perfectly with the Tolkien world.

It has also been a pleasure corresponding with the company. I receive hand- written answers to questions, personal replies to Email, and notes of thanks when a mistake is pointed out. As an added bonus, and only if you ask politely, you can mail in booster pack wrappers to receive promo cards from the company. It's not a bad deal; the cards are very useful and make nasty surprises for opponents who don't know about them. Also, they are listed in price guides for $3-$5 each, and ICE sends you about 10 cards. Well worth a stamp and a compliment. The address is:
Iron Crown Enterprises, Inc.
P.O. Box 1605
Charlottesville, VA 22902

I have more on these cards on their own page where I discuss the individual sets, as well as display samples of the cards, themselves. If you're interested in the game, click here.
For some deckbuilding ideas to thwart your opponents, click here.