2019-05-01_Games_World_of_Puzzles

may 2019 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 47

BY THOMAS L. MCDONALD •&3%6(+%1)6):-);7•

STRATEGY

LASER CHESS

THINKFUN: $40

AGE RANGE: 8+

PLAY TIME: 15–30 MINUTES

PLAYERS: 2

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aser Chess has its origins in an

award-winning game released

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although the design and name have

changed, the core rules have stayed

the same.

There’s a king to capture and pieces

with various abilities, but that’s where

the connections to chess end. Each

player has a stationary laser piece that

shines a single beam of light parallel

to the board. The goal is to illuminate

the opposing king by bouncing a light

across mirrored pieces.

The board is a plastic grid with squares

laid out 8×10, with the long sides facing

each player. Twenty-four pieces slot

into the squares of the grid, 12 to a

side, in red and blue. The laser turrets

are locked into opposing corners and

can only rotate, but the other pieces are

free to move in any direction, including

diagonally.

Each game begins with the board in

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trated in the manual. During a turn a

player may move any piece one space

in any direction, rotate a piece in place,

or turn the laser. At the end of the turn,

the button on top of the laser is pressed.

Any pieces hit on a vulnerable side by

the laser—even your own—are removed

from play.

There are several different kinds of

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rored on one side at a 45-degree angle,

while the two Switches are mirrored on

both sides. If the non-mirrored side of

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from play. Since the Switches have two

mirrors, they can’t be eliminated. Each

player also gets two Defenders, which

have a shield on one side but are vulner-

able on the other three. These are useful

for blocking a beam. Finally, there’s the

king, without mirrors or shield, just sit-

ting there waiting to get shot. The new

design offers sturdy pieces with plastic

backs that light up quite well even after

a beam bounces off 9 or 10 mirrors in

bright light.

It’s not only possible but easy to ac-

cidentally take out your own piece with

a mirror or to leave a king vulnerable be-

cause you failed to anticipate the route

of a beam. Laser Chess isn’t chess, but

it certainly demands a fair amount of

planning, board analysis, and strategy.

Plus you get to play with lasers.Q

GOOD CHOICE FOR FANS OF: CHESS RATINGA

DEDUCTION

CRYPTID

OSPREY PUBLISHING, $35

AGE RANGE: 10+

PLAY TIME: 30–50 MINUTES

PLAYERS: 3–5

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ryptid is a strong

enough game to rise

above its most disap-

pointing feature: a complete

failure to integrate its theme

into its gameplay. This is, alleg-

edly, a game about searching

for “cryptids”: legendary

creatures like Bigfoot or the

Loch Ness Monster. Outside

of the box art, however,

you’ll be hard-pressed to

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but once you start playing it

hardly matters.

In Cryptid, you’re search-

ing the board for the one

space where a monster may

be lurking. Since all the to-

kens are generic shapes (col-

umn, circle, triangle, cube,

and pawn), you could just

as easily be searching for a

Pop-Tart. Still, the setup and

searching mechanisms are

remarkably clever, and the

resulting gameplay offers

plenty of player interaction

akin to deduction games like

Clue and Tobago.

The game is set up using

a deck of cards and a set

of clue books. A card indi-

cates how to lay out six map

boards illustrated with differ-

ent types of terrain divided

into hexes. Standing stones

and abandoned shacks (col-

umns and triangles) are

placed at particular hexes.

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are references to lines in

clue books. Each player has

a secret clue that indicates

where the creature may be,

such as “Within three spaces

of forest” or “Within two

spaces of a standing stone.”

Each player has a pile of

disk and cube tokens. During

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cubes on spaces that can’t

contain the monster accord-

ing to the clue they received,

without revealing the clue it-

self. Each turn proceeds with

players placing the pawn on

a space and asking another

player if the monster can be

there. If the player says yes,

it’s marked with a disk. If the

player says no, that space

is marked with a cube. The

player whose turn it is must

then place a cube on another

space where the creature

can’t be.

Players may also search

during their turn, which in-

volves placing a disk on a

space where the monster

can be, and then asking ev-

eryone in turn if that complies

with their clues. The other

players respond by placing

either disks or cubes. If any

player places a cube, the

search stops and the search-

ing player has to place a cube

on another space.

The setup cards are de-

signed in such a way that only

one space can be the correct

answer. The board can also

be set up using a website

that walks players through

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clues.

This is a tight, well-made,

intriguing game of deduction

with first-rate components.

The only thing that’s missing

is a cryptid. Q

GOOD CHOICE FOR FANS OF: CLUE RATINGA