Game: High Stakes Drifter

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:36:49+00:00

shot your ass

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:36:22+00:00

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:35:59+00:00

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:34:39+00:00

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:34:04+00:00

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:33:32+00:00

Starter set and single booster

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bluef0x — 2008-11-01T04:32:48+00:00

lawyers....sheesh

Thread: Re: Where Available

bluef0x — 2008-05-15T19:58:00+00:00

trollandtoad.com still has some.

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avyssaleos — 2007-12-12T14:13:31+00:00

Tokens included in the starter to use as poker chips for bidding

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avyssaleos — 2007-12-12T13:45:57+00:00

There was one of this card in each booster, to promote Organized Play, also called "Approved Play" by WizKids

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avyssaleos — 2007-12-12T13:43:32+00:00

Kicker Chips of all rarities. Notice the wear on them - that was intentional to give you a "used" feel

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

JackhammerJohn — 2007-11-05T08:35:56+00:00

We found this game fun and helped our Deadwood phase we were going through. The only problem with this game is I don't think it should have been marketed as a CCG. A stand alone game with kicker chips that were randomly selected at the beginning of a session would have been much better. In fact, if they came out with a different edition deck of cards every quarter (not a whole slew of theme decks) I would buy it. My friend and I have our little collection and that's about it. They are not going to make us anymore.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

Bigguyry — 2007-02-09T03:05:05+00:00

Thanks for the review!
I recently bought this game too and since it was going for cheap at CCGArmory, I bought about 6 starters. I was really disappointed to find out that the starters are all identical. I wonder why the game was made this way. In a way, it would lessen my desire to buy starters and just do boosters. Still it looks like a fun game, and I'm looking forward to trying it out with my game group.

Thread: Re: A Deadlands knockoff?

kevan — 2006-08-29T12:07:23+00:00

I was reminded of Doomtown as well, reading the blurb on the back of the box, but it's a completely different (and quite dull) game.

The only similarity with Doomtown is that the people cards are called "dudes", you can assign equipment to them, and they shoot each other. High Stakes Drifter is entirely about playing hidden numerical-modifier equipment onto your dudes, then challenging your opponent to send a dude up against one of yours, and betting poker chips on which will have the higher revealed total for a given stat.

Thread: Re: A Deadlands knockoff?

Kalidor — 2006-07-17T01:27:06+00:00

I'd be interested in the answer to your guess as well. Deadlands is one of my all-time favorites; especially in regards to ccgs.
Not many have been as succesful, imho, in blending theme with mechanics and fun.
HSD only marginally piqued my interest...I can't say why I didn't spring for it (yet, I suppose )

Thread: A Deadlands knockoff?

ilopan — 2006-07-15T21:01:44+00:00

The moment I laid eyes on the information page for this game on Wizkids' website, I was struck by the similarities to the Deadlands: Doomtown ccg (you can find information about it right here on bgg).

If you find a good description of the rules of both games, it's obvious that in many ways HSD is Deadlands minus the fantasy/scifi/horror themes and with some selectively edited rules. A lot of the terminology used by both games is identical.

The main differences I can see are absence of the town-building and control aspects of deadlands (which to HSD's credit, greatly streamlines the gameplay) and the manner in which shootouts are resolved (I always enjoyed Deadlands' method of Poker-Hand based resolutions, but can see how the betting/bluffing aspects of HSD can be good fun).

Also, depending on how much of a collector you are (I'm big into that sort of thing, but definitely see how it can be a turnoff to some), HSD's seeming emphasis on player skill over deckbuilding prowess might be refreshing to some who don't want to get sucked into spending a ton of money on a ccg.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say a member (or perhaps more than one) member of the now-defunct Deadlands' design team decided to create a game that was a spiritual successor to deadlands.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

jcb231 — 2006-07-02T06:12:38+00:00

I have a question about the kickers....

Does the kicker limit value refer to....

A. The number of physical kicker chips that can be on the card.

B. The value of the stat boosts that can be on that card.

C. The cost (color) value maximum that can be on that card.

D. None of the above.

Please clarify this for me if you can, and explain....I don't quite get it.

Thread: Runaway leader issue

otaku — 2006-05-24T03:35:09+00:00

This looks really cool. I have always been interested in the Old West and playing Poker but preferred to spend my money on board games rather than discovering that I am no good at Poker Not that this is Poker...

To date I have only read the rules that are available for download and my interest is still high. Having read the first review at BGG and the follow up comments there seems to be 2 main concerns:

1. A runaway leader issue - the rich getter richer (and win); and
2. It's not suitable for 2 players.

Issue 1: I wonder if you simply prevent people from buying back Dudes after the shootout? This at least would stop someone with a dude who can’t be defeated from keeping him in the game and hence ensuring victory. Having not played the game I don't know what the consequence/side effect of this rule change would be. Other options include only allowing the looser(s) of a shootout to buy back their dudes or allow winners to buy back their dudes but they have to pay the other players (or just the guy with the least chips) rather than the pot. This last one may extend the game duration which possibly isn’t for the best.

I would appreciate what people who have played the game feel about this idea.

Issue2: A few people have said it's not suitable for 2 player’s. This is a big shame for me as these days it’s mostly just my wife and I who can play games - not that we ever have much chance Could this be solved by having a blind third player? Considering it's a CCG, you could use all those unused cards to form 3 draw piles of dudes, gear, and fortunes. At all shootouts, a "blind dude" is drawn. He matches the number of gear cards to the player who has played the most? The least? and when fortunes are played, draw and play one of those. It's just an idea that needs some work obviously and really needs some play testing.

BTW - Can someone tell me if all the cards in a starters are identical or random? I read the chips are random, but I assume the cards in the starter are fixed.

Cheers
Damien

Thread: Re: Where Available

3eyedsnake — 2006-01-25T16:21:03+00:00

also try http://www.leisuregames.co.uk, they're selling starters for £6.50 and boosters for £1.99.

Thread: Re: Where Available

dayglo_sword — 2006-01-23T15:44:30+00:00

The reason that you may of had difficulty is that its only just been released in the UK. (think it was on the 12th Jan)

After a bit of shopping around, I finally got mine online at Infinity Games. No local stores were stocking it but I live in the middle of nowhere.

Thread: Re: Where Available

Clapjaws — 2006-01-22T04:29:51+00:00

I just found this on the shelf at my local Target store, near the CCGs.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

bloke — 2006-01-17T11:47:02+00:00

I played this as a demo with one player and found it OK. HOwever I don't think it is something I want to invest heavily in (I already play VS). I don't think the bluff element really works since you cannot choose your opponenet's character in a showdown so you only work with what you have anyway. Once you start losing you have really had it since without money you are hugely disadvantaged and at the same time your opponent(s) will have more. Besides I dont like the Kicker Chip idea, you WILL need them and collecting them alongside cards will just cost more.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

reddogfive — 2006-01-08T17:33:13+00:00

A decent game. Played with one starter. Played the beginner game and the advanced/regular game. As stated earlier, just skip the beginner game and go right to the regular game...

Definately needs more than 2 people ... Is there a two player variant that would work? Not sure...

Like Poker and any bluffing game though 3 or more is best...

Can I recommend it?

Not until more people buy it and play it at our gaming store...

Right now it is just sitting there unpurchased.

The other gaming store in the area didn't bring it in...

Cheers, MSW

Thread: Re: Where Available

drossi — 2005-12-30T21:45:38+00:00

go to armourygames.com. I don't know if the guy'll be willing to sell it to another country, but he's got a stash of HSD.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

Roadspike — 2005-12-08T19:45:51+00:00

I've played quite a bit of this game, and game length varies greatly depending on the personalities involved. Some of the players liked to bet a lot on marginal hands, which leads to a quick game (5-20 minutes), while others like to play cautiously, which can lead to a more drawn-out game (30 minutes up to an hour and a half for a very cautious, very balanced 8-player game).

One negative that has been mentioned quite a bit is getting high-value kicker chips when you don't have high kicker value dudes (characters). This isn't always a negative, however, as you can use them to effectively remove the kicker chips on opposing dudes (if a face down dude has a higher value in kicker chips on him than his kicker limit when he is turned face up, all kicker chips are discarded).

All in all, a very fun, very social game that plays exceptionally well with 4-6 players, pretty well with 3 or 7-8 players, and okay with 2 players.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

bstripp — 2005-12-02T06:36:02+00:00

Now we ran into several games that were over in 20 minutes as a couple of players locked horns and went at it, depleting their money and ending the game. Then we made a house rule to change the end game from one person being unable to ante to two people being unable to ante.

Now we are not experienced and did not fold on hands since no one had any real idea what to expect.

I would expect a six person game to last around 45 minutes to an hour at most. That is just a guess as I am expecting that people will be much better at bidding than we were to start. So there will be many more smaller pots along with people not stepping up to challenge unless they know they are competitive. We had a few pots where people really undervalued what kickers, fortune, and gear cards could do to someone.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

DanogNellows — 2005-12-02T03:24:01+00:00

What might be be considered an average game play time for say 6 experienced players?

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

bstripp — 2005-12-01T16:40:26+00:00

Edited article to add the indifferent section and to update the bad with the problems in early game ends.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

bstripp — 2005-11-30T20:13:17+00:00

Other people are correct in saying that you could both play out of one starter deck. The game looses a little in this fashion, but would still play ok. At its heart, it's a bidding game first, and a card game second. To me, that's what makes it interesting.

Now, as you play further, you certainly can build decks that capitalize on cards that you pick up. Something like an outlaw that gives all outlaws +1 smarts.

When that card comes into your hand you can play him normally (face down) and not get the benefit of the ability, or play him face up for $1 less and reap the benefits of the card. Obviously, if you can have a few of these guys with a deck loaded with outlaws, you'll do better than someone with a random collection of cards.

Kickers are completely randomn. I recieved a white and green kicker in my starter set (common and semi-rare). Of course I have no cards that can use the green kicker chip which is slightly annoying.

Coming back to it, you can play out of one deck, but you loose any aspect of tweaking and building a deck. To me that's half the fun of a CCG. If deck building is not your thing, then you should be just fine.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

Servotron — 2005-11-30T12:54:30+00:00

If you do play with one deck for 2 players, don't use the basic starter rules, use the standard ones. The starter rules are a chopped-up version of the regular rules, and the game loses a lot when played that way. I would suggest a starter for each player at least, that way everyone gets kicker chips to play with (which are very cool).

Unfortunately, you'll think the chips are so cool you'll want to go out and get boosters to have more of them. Ah, the joys of "collectability"!

Also, one of the starters I bought had a red and green ($25) chip in it, so it's not just white ($1) chips in the starters.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

lizardbaby — 2005-11-30T04:22:13+00:00

You could play the game out of a single deck if you wanted too. IMO the game is more about bluffing and bidding than what your cards are anyway. I think it would be a good idea to buy a deck and play with a couple people before you dive in. Our group is playing out of their own decks, but I don't think it adds anything. Maybe getting to see more different cards. He is correct though. It's a CCG. The Kicker chips are what sucked me in the most. From the starter decks I have seen opened I get the impression that they only have common (White) chips. To get near the $50 limit on kickers you have to open several boosters.

Thread: Re: A fun CCG

DanogNellows — 2005-11-30T03:06:19+00:00

When you say everyone had their own decks. Everyone had bought their own starter deck. the reason I ask is that the ad copy seems to suggest 2 people could play with one starter. Does this seem feasible?
I hate to to spend $60-$80 on a game that noone enjoyed.

Thanks,
DN

Thread: Where Available

kenrick822 — 2005-11-29T11:02:54+00:00

Does any one know where I can get this as its not in the UK - I ahve tried a few US shops but they say they are still wating for stock ?

Wizkids stated to me that it will not be sold on their on line store !!

Thanks

Ric

Thread: A fun CCG

bstripp — 2005-11-24T14:34:34+00:00

Note: This review is off one full play of High Stakes Drifter. We had six people play with starter decks and my impressions will be based on that.

Overview
This is a collectable card game where you get to manage a group of soldiers, drifters, and outlaws as you battle your way through the old west. Each time one of your dudes issues a challenge, players ante up and play a poker like game to determine the winner.

Game Play
There are three types of cards in the game: dudes, gear and fortune. Dudes are the guys that actually go to fight for you. Gear modifies the abilities of gear and fortune is a wild card that can be played while you are battling. Additionally, you have $100 that you use to play cards and bid in battles. Each turn you fill your hand to five cards.

At its heart, the game is a bidding game more than a card game, which is a nice change from the mechanics of every other CCG on the market. When players battle each other, you are bidding money like in poker based on what you think your chances of winning are.

On each players turn, they can do three things. Which ammount to playing dudes, gear, or a kicker chip. Each dude or gear card has a cost which comes out of your money pile. You place the card face down (most times) and put the money on top of it. If you can't pay for the card you can't play it. Dudes can have as much gear on them as you want, but since gear is one use we tended to spread it out.

The kicker chips are poker chips with stats on them. You assign them to a character and flip it. Whatever comes up is then applied to that character until the kicker is somehow removed. You get I think 2 kickers per game. They are also collectable.

Each dude has a couple of stats, Skill, Smarts, and Luck. You are trying to build up characters with high numbers in those stats. Because after you are done playing cards, you can issue a challenge with one of your dudes. The key is that you get to choose the ability that the challenge is in.

When you issue a challenge you push your dude out to the center and everyone has to ante $5. You call out the stat you want to challenge in and the rest of the players have to decide if they are in or out. If no one is in, you get the pot and the turn ends. However, if one or more players take up the challenge, you get to fight it out. Remember that most cards are starting face down. So you do not know how good anything is before it happens.

When the challenge starts there is a round of bidding. Like poker, if at any time all players bow out, the remaining player takes the pot. After bidding you can submit gear. You do that by taking the money off the card and adding it to the pot. The gear gets revealed at that point. This is followed by more bidding.

Finally, players can pay to add fortune cards to the mix. While gear has to be played and paid for ahead of time and assigned to a character, fortune can only be played in a challenge and has to be paid for on the spot. The exception is if you are 'all in' you can play fortune cards for free.

When all cards are played, add up the stat that is challenged and the high player wins the pot. All gear that was used is discarded. All dudes that lost are discarded. The winning dude can be paid for again and returns to your side face up this time.

When the challenge ends so does your turn.

Play continues until one player can not make ante for a challenge. At that point, all players count their money and the high total wins.

The good
I really like the original mechanics of the game. It melds the recently popular bidding of poker with the better parts of a CCG. While I can not say at the moment, I think that bidding skill will be as or more important than deck construction. Since the game uses a 3/2/1 scheme for building a deck (1 of any rare, 2 of any uncommon, 3 of any common) many of the sick combos will be limited.

Since you never quite know what someone's total will be since most of the cards are face down, the bidding can be pretty intense. We had several bloody rounds where lots of money changed hands.

The theme is great and the poker style bidding really works well. This is possibly the best support mechanic I have seen to a theme based game. The cards themselves are well done, although nothing spectacular.

I can already see theme decks that will give you an edge in playing the game. There are some devilish fortune cards that can really play spoiler to a hand adding to the tension in the bidding.

The nice part is that this is a CCG that is tailored to playing with more than 1v1. Which makes it a nice social CCG. Theoretically, you could play it with any number of people, although I have to imagine 8 would be about the top that I would want to do.

The bad
It's a CCG. You will spend lots of money on it if you are the compulsive type that needs to have every edge. Also, realize that if you don't spend a lot of money on it, you will play at a disadvantage. To some people this is a good thing, although I am sure the world would be a better place without yet another CCG.

The kicker chips have a value to them, which if you are like me, might be higher than all of your characters. So unless I buy more stuff, I will never use one of the kickers I got. Again, this is not a big deal if you are going to buy a lot of packs.

If you have cautious people, the game could drag on. Unlike poker, the ante doesn't keep growing; forcing people to eventually play. You could have many rounds where people just ante and play cards.

While the game is a lot of fun with a small group it does suffer from one problem. When two players get locked into a duel, they can end the game far too quick. Since the game ends when one player can't make an Ante, you could knock yourself out real quick with a large bet which ends the game. In a group of six players, you might never get into a challenge. We remedied this by playing until two people couldn't make ante for a six player game.

The game doesn't come with poker chips. We have 11.5 gram chips, which greatly added to the experience. If you are going to play this game a lot, I would highly recomend getting some although they are not needed. That's not a bad, thing, just another expense if you don't already have them. Only one person in your group would have to put that expense in.

While I am sure you can play it 1v1, I have to imagine it would be a horrible 2 player game. Without all the people to bid, the game would loose a lot of the fun. I haven't tried it yet, but that is just my opinion.

The indifferent
One last thing to note, is that all starter decks are identical. This does lead itself to some good and bad things. First is that you don't have a vehicle to get cheap cards unless you want a lot of the starter duplicates. Second is that it changes the nature of a sealed deck tourney. Your sealed deck tourneys are going to be more about skill in playing and less in skill in deck drafting/building. Depending on your preference this could be good or bad.

Summary
It's fun and refreshing. I loved the mechanics which deviate from the get energy to put stuff out mould of MTG. The game flowed well and the mechanics supported the fun aspects of the game. If you don't mind getting into another CCG this is a good one and really shines.