Game: Khet: The Laser Game

Thread: Re: storage and care instructions?

ackmondual — 2008-05-07T09:58:46+00:00

spearjr wrote:
Hmm I was going to say "[-]Melt is a little over doing it.[/-]" But I double checked my facts and your car can get up to [url=http://phoenix.about.com/od/car/a/summercar.htm]200°F (93.3°C) in the summer[/url] (depending on a number of factors, but still.) And some plastics begin to melt at 176°F.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVC]PVC - 80°C[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene]Polypropylene - 165°C[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene]Polystyrene - 240°C[/url]
[url=http://www.indianplasticportal.com/abs1.html]ABS - 105°C[/url]

So yeah, keep it out of your car on REALLY hot days.First off, I have several PVC figures I leave in my car (which I left in there for at least a year now :surprise::blush: ). Hope nothing bad came from that

hmmm, I'm wondering what else I should keep out of my car as far as my other board games go. Another topic is in order.....

Thanks for the replies. Any other suggestions, keep 'em coming!

Thread: Re: storage and care instructions?

blueatheart — 2008-05-07T09:44:45+00:00

spearjr wrote:
Hmm I was going to say "[-]Melt is a little over doing it.[/-]" But I double checked my facts and your car can get up to [url=http://phoenix.about.com/od/car/a/summercar.htm]200°F (93.3°C) in the summer[/url] (depending on a number of factors, but still.) And some plastics begin to melt at 176°F.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVC]PVC - 80°C[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene]Polypropylene - 165°C[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene]Polystyrene - 240°C[/url]
[url=http://www.indianplasticportal.com/abs1.html]ABS - 105°C[/url]

So yeah, keep it out of your car on REALLY hot days.

Nice job doing some research on the issue. :thumbsup:

But do keep in mind, this is referring to Phoenix where the temperatures get up to 120 F fairly regularly. So subtract proportionaly (200/120) for each degree F less that your summers reach (i.e., a 90F day should yield temperatures of about (200/120)*(90)=1.6666*30=150 F inside a vehicle).

Thread: Re: storage and care instructions?

Karlsen — 2008-05-07T09:40:59+00:00

It can easily get up to over 100 F and on hot days over 110 F (the trade off being in our winter it is unlikely to get much below 40 F).

I had a video tape that looks like it belongs in a Salvador Dali painting thanks to be left in the car during the summer (it was all droopy and melty looking). Hot hot sun, direct sunlight and time can destroy plastic items.

Thread: Re: storage and care instructions?

spearjr — 2008-05-07T09:21:57+00:00

Hmm I was going to say "[-]Melt is a little over doing it.[/-]" But I double checked my facts and your car can get up to [url=http://phoenix.about.com/od/car/a/summercar.htm]200°F (93.3°C) in the summer[/url] (depending on a number of factors, but still.) And some plastics begin to melt at 176°F.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVC]PVC - 80°C[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene]Polypropylene - 165°C[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene]Polystyrene - 240°C[/url]
[url=http://www.indianplasticportal.com/abs1.html]ABS - 105°C[/url]

So yeah, keep it out of your car on REALLY hot days.

Thread: Re: storage and care instructions?

ackmondual — 2008-05-07T09:18:28+00:00

Karlsen wrote:
I don't know about your summer, but in our summer I wouldn't be leaving [GAMEID=16991] in the car for anything longer than the trip itself. On a hot day here the pieces themselves would probably melt or warp.In that case, how hot are YOUR summers then? That's what I should've asked. I'm thinking it will get to above 90 degrees F where I'm at

Thread: Re: storage and care instructions?

Karlsen — 2008-05-07T08:57:37+00:00

I don't know about your summer, but in our summer I wouldn't be leaving [GAMEID=16991] in the car for anything longer than the trip itself. On a hot day here the pieces themselves would probably melt or warp.

Thread: storage and care instructions?

ackmondual — 2008-05-07T04:38:39+00:00

Sometimes, I leave my board games in my car when I have back to back boardgaming get-togethers. It's a Toyota RAV4. The trunk is like that of a station wagon, but it's a mini-SUV, so it does get direct sunlight.

I keep the game in the box with the styrafoam insert, but the direct sunlight, that combined with the hot summer weather coming up got me to consider whether or not if there's anything wrong with leaving the game in my car. That may not bode well for (even relatively simple) electronics and AAA batteries.

Your thoughts?

Thread: Khet: The Laser Game Review

greglios — 2008-05-07T09:18:12+00:00

[size=18]Khet: The Laser Game[/size]

Overview:
Khet is an abstract game for 2 players in which players try to manipulate their pieces so that their laser hits their opponent’s Pharaoh piece to win the game. When anyone asks me about the game my first response is always ‘laser chess’, as although the two games have plenty of differences, the fact that they are both abstract games in which players move their different pieces around to try to ‘capture’ a ‘king’ piece means the analogy pretty much fits.

Components:
The game comes in a large sized box with the main board in the bottom and all pieces laid out on the board. A polystyrene insert is placed over the top to protect the pieces and make the box more robust. The pieces come in two colours, red and silver, and there are four different types of piece for each player: The Pharaoh piece; Pyramid pieces which have a mirror across the centre to reflect a laser coming in from two directions; Djed pieces which have a double sided mirror across the centre so that a laser coming at it from any direction will be reflected off at 90 degrees; and Obelisk pieces which have no mirrored sides and are just used as blockers. They are all made of solid plastic, as is the board itself. Batteries are included for the two lasers.

Rules:
The rulebook is very short as the rules are so simple. Everything is explained well and there are three possible starting positions that are given.

Gameplay:
The silver player starts the game and the gameplay is as simple as chess in that a player moves or rotates one of their pieces and then fires their laser. That’s it. Also like chess, however, the decision over what to move and where to move it is much more complicated.

The pieces can all move one square in any direction, or rotate through 90 degrees in either direction. With the Pharaoh and Obelisk pieces there is no point in rotating them as they have no reflective side.

There are additional rules in that red pieces cannot move onto a silver square and vice versa, as well as the fact that Djed pieces can switch places with any Obelisk or Pyramid piece as their move (keeping the orientation the same).

When a player fires their laser it will reflect off the various mirrored pieces until it either hits the side of the board or it hits a piece on a non-mirrored side. If a piece is hit on a non-mirrored side then it is removed from the game.

The game ends when one player fires their laser and it hits one of the two Pharaoh pieces, with the loser being the one whose Pharaoh piece is hit.

Review of gameplay:
The rules are very simple but, like chess, the game can be played as seriously or lightly as you like. From my point of view I prefer to play this sort of game more gung-ho without sitting and thinking through all possible moves and thinking several moves ahead. It can be fun as the balance of power can switch back and forth when someone makes a good move or someone gets themselves in a muddle. On more than one occasion I’ve seen someone kill themselves with their own laser or miss obvious moves available to their opponent. I think this makes it fun though as the games tend to be shorter and it’s possible to play several games in one sitting.

Overall:
The lasers are basically what make this game novel and interesting for me. It has obvious educational uses to help people understand reflection and there will no doubt be numerous jokes about ‘firing the laser’ in a Doctor Evil voice and it’s these things that raise it above other abstract fare in my eyes. If you also happen to have a smoke machine you can make it even cooler by having the lasers visible when you fire them. It’s obviously limited in that it is only for 2 players and it’s not exactly easily transportable for travel play, but if you want a quick game that gives your brain a little bit of a workout (and has lasers!) then this is a good choice

Scores:

Components: 10/10 (lasers!!!)
Rules: 10/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Fun: 7/10
Overall: 8/10