My favorite game that you've (probably) never played...

The idea for today's post is to highlight a game that I have enjoyed that really obscure or at least not very popular. Since I don't know exactly who will be reading this, there's a chance you've heard of and/or played this game but the goal is to bring to light and talk about something off the radar for many of our readers.

The legend begins...

Every once in a while my friend Julian (yes, the same one from the Cool Factor 5 blog!) decides to get rid of some games. I am sometimes the lucky recipient of the games from these purges,  and I've found myself on several occasions with a really awesome new game to enjoy. One such purge several years ago landed us a set with a couple of copies of Stratego: Legends (and possibly several boosters?) on our game shelf. Stratego has never really been a game I get too excited about, but the cool fantasy art and customizable aspect of this set intrigued me.

The appeal:

The basic core of the game is just like Stratego, where you "hide" your base among rows of pieces, and strategically use your pieces to try to ferret out the opponents base before yours is discovered. What this version adds is a whole lot of twists, flavor, and fun. Instead of your standard numbered pieces, each piece has special powers along with thier numbers which adds a whole new dimension to the game. Special abilities include everything from unique movement types to terrain bonuses to death curses which affect the board globally. You build an army of good or evil aligned creatures and each side has 3 available factions to chose from, so there's a good deal of variety. I'm not exactly sure how many sets we have, but it seems like there are enough pieces to get a few different strategies in there. I can't help but drool over some of the special abilities on the reference cards that we don't have though. I guess that's the beauty and horror of collectible games... so many possibilities and such a potential money sink. Lucky for me (and my wallet!) this game was out of print before I discovered it. :)



So many possibilities....

The final verdict:

The biggest deterrant from playing this game is the constant need to check and re-check the reference cards to figure out what all the pieces do. I prefer games with the text right there on the cards of pieces, or with easy to reference keywords (and even symbols). I would not likely list this among my favorite games, but it was pretty cool for a slightly obsure title that I stumbled upon. If you have an opportuntiy to check out this game (if a friend has it or you see it as a super deal at a garage sale or thift store) I recommend giving it a try. Lots of possibility, a fun twist on a familiar game, and a decent amount of strategy and manuevering considering the reasonable playing time.

Chime in!

Have you played this? What game do you love that you think we've probably never tried? Give us some ideas! Also, this is another in the ongoing series of challenge posts, so be sure to check out Julian's ideas about an obscure game over at Cool Factor 5. After all, it was thanks to that guy that we discovered this game in the first place. Thanks J!