Game: Megastar

Thread: Re: [Review] Megastar

Desiderata — 2008-04-11T21:06:34+00:00

I have to agree with Greg. There isn't much control at all. Maybe an aggregate amount of control among all players, but certainly not individual players. One player's strategy and play will certainly be ruined by the other players' turns.

I didn't really feel the theme come out in the game, either.

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mothertruckin — 2007-06-17T03:00:33+00:00

Two types of card backs.

Thread: Re: Megastar or:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Hate the Game

futhee — 2007-03-19T20:33:43+00:00

I just want to add that, after thinking about this for a bit, I feel badly about slagging the game to such an extent. Katzenjammer Blues is, really, much worse.

Thread: Re: Megastar or:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Hate the

Godeke — 2007-03-19T16:46:24+00:00

Jaels wrote:
While you note in several creative ways that you don't like the game and that is bad, you never mention why this is the case. Is it because it is too chaotic? There are no decisions to be taken? You don't have any control over what's happening? Strategies are too obvious?

I never played the game, so I'd like to know what is so bad about it.

Glad I wasn't the only one thinking this. I think PC Gamer had the high water mark for "bad game" (albeit, computer game) reviews. They not only decried the poor quality in colorful terms, but they gave concrete examples of *why* they felt this way.

Here I'm simply left with the feeling that there was an emotional reaction to the game, but no idea why that reaction occurred.

EDIT: Clearly we were typing at the same moment.

Thread: Re: Megastar or:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Hate the Game

futhee — 2007-03-19T16:45:11+00:00

Good point. Ok, here's why I didn't enjoy the game (I was too busy trying to be funny):

- repetitive and extremely short turns
- the theme was just an excuse to have a card game...it was hard to see the connection between mechanics and theme
- it just wasn't exciting or interesting
- I had a strategy, but it was very chaotic

In short, I found it dull. Again, it makes me sad to say that. I will say that the artwork, as usual, was great, but...I was a little disappointed to see each band drawn the same way on each card. It would have been worth the ten bucks if every card was a little different, somehow.

Thread: Re: Megastar or:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Hate the Game

Jaels — 2007-03-19T16:14:41+00:00

While you note in several creative ways that you don't like the game and that is bad, you never mention why this is the case. Is it because it is too chaotic? There are no decisions to be taken? You don't have any control over what's happening? Strategies are too obvious?

I never played the game, so I'd like to know what is so bad about it.

Thread: Megastar or:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Hate the Game

futhee — 2007-03-19T12:58:51+00:00

I love Friedemann Friese's games - I really, really, really do. Funny Friends is hilarious, I greatly enjoy Turbo Taxi, Fische Fluppen Frikadellen is fun, and Fearsome Floors makes for a rollicking good time. And that's not even counting the legendary Power Grid, one of the highest-rated games on BGG. Who doesn't love supplying power to cities?

And so, it was with only slight trepidation that I picked up Megastar at the urging of someone who shall remain nameless. I thought, "How bad could this be? At worst, it's a playable game." Right?

Wrong. Oh, so, so wrong.

Here's a brief rundown of the game's rules: you're promoting musical acts by doing two things: Basically, you buy a record from the market to add to your hand, draw a card, and determine which band you will request next turn. It's not quite that simple, but that's more or less what happens. When a band gets three requests, you trigger a Countdown, re-arranging the order of the bands based on the number of requests each received. At the end of the game, you score points based on how many cards you hold of each band, with the top-ranked band earning you the most points, all the way down to the bottom band, which earns you one or no points at all, depending on the number of players in the game.

Sound simple? It is, and there's nothing wrong with that. 6 nimmt! doesn't offer much more in the way of options, but something about that game makes me smile. Maybe it's the opportunity to force an opponent to take a row of cards. Whatever it has, Megastar is missing. And so, I don't want to be too, too negative, but...

Megastar might be the worst game in boardgaming history, with the exception of unknown boardgames played during Medieval times, such as, "Put Burning Coals Under Your Eyelids", "Plague Pickomino", or the lesser-known unknown, "Settlers of Leper Colonies".

My apologies to Mr. Friese because I really do love his other games, but as I was playing Megastar, I tried desperately to enjoy it. I even turned to the Carebears for entertainment. No, seriously - if you have to play the game, you might as well shout, "It's a Megastar Countdown! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" when a band gets three requests. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? I also tried to think of games that I have enjoyed less...I could only think of 2 candidates: Citadels and Katzenjammer Blues (that one begs for a review as well...hmm...let me check my schedule...). I think I feel so negatively towards Megastar though because of the amount of enjoyment I've gotten from other Friese games. Am I trying to soften the blow of this negative review? Yes, yes, I am.

I'll leave you with this: Here's a brief list of where playing Megastar might rank in a Universal List of Fun Things To Do:

1. Coffee and newspaper on a sunny Saturday morning, while being fed grapes by the person of your dreams
7. Listening to the new Modest Mouse album
12. Eating brussel sprouts
20. Getting a free game from Richard Breese
84. Paying taxes
146. Poking a cavity in a molar repeatedly with a sharp tool
147. Megastar
148. watching the Oprah Winfrey Show

Hey, some people love this game. I don't, but I've promised to give it another shot. Maybe the next time it hits the table, I'll be able to keep an open mind and actually enjoy it somewhat. Maybe...

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-03-11T04:07:17+00:00

back of box (english)

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-03-11T04:06:38+00:00

back of cards

Thread: Megastar - Review

gschloesser — 2007-02-13T19:38:16+00:00

MEGASTAR

Design by: Friedemann Friese
Published by: Amigo & Mayfair Games
3 – 5 Players, 30 – 45 minutes
Review by: Greg J. Schloesser

Each Spiel in Essen, hundreds of folks eagerly descend upon Freidemann Friese’s 2F booth to see his latest creation. Herr Friese has quite the reputation of developing creative designs, often with somewhat loony themes. He has shown with Funkenschlag that he is more than capable of developing a deep strategy game, but most of his games are on the lighter side. Lately, his creations are reaching an even wider audience, as many larger gaming companies are beginning to release his designs.

I somehow managed to overlook one of his latest creations at last year’s Spiel. Megastar was released by Amigo and Mayfair Games. Even though I did play most of the Amigo releases, this one escaped my attention until recently.

Borrowing heavily from the theme and mechanisms of Schrille Stille, Megastar places players in the role of radio director of a local radio station. Players attempt to maneuver bands on the radio’s “play list”, attempting to balance the requests of listeners and the parent company. The objective is to position your preferred bands at the top of the play list at game’s end.

Seven cards depicting musical acts are placed in a row known as the “hit parade”. Each card is a different color, and the remaining cards each match one of the bands. A handful of cards are removed from the game, and a further eleven are placed to the right of the hit parade in an area called the “music market”. Finally, each player is dealt five cards, and places one of them face-down onto the table. The musical tussling begins.

Each player’s turn is usually extremely quick, and can almost be performed mindlessly. Players place the card that is face-down before them to the left of the hit parade row into an area known as the “requests” area. Like cards are grouped together. The player then draws one card from the music market and one card from the deck into his hand. He concludes his turn by placing one card face-down onto the table, which will be the card they play into the request section on their next turn.

Once one band accumulates three cards in the “requests” section, a countdown is held. Beginning at the band that currently resides at the top of the chart, each band is moved up a number of spaces equal to the number of matching cards in the request area. So, if the pink band is currently rests in the fourth position on the hit parade and has two matching cards in the request area, it will move up two slots to the second position. This makes it a bit easier for bands at the bottom of the list to move-up, and makes it more perilous for the top band as there is no way to go but down. Once this countdown procedure is competed, all cards in the request area are moved to the music market, and the game continues.

The game concludes when the deck is depleted. All face-down cards in front of the players are placed in the requests area, and one final countdown is conducted. At this point, each player reveals the cards they have in their hands and calculates their value, which is dependent upon the final position of the matching band in the hit parade. Points earned range from a high of five for the band at the top of the chart, to a low of 1 point for the band in the fifth position. Bands in the sixth and seventh positions yield zero points. The player with the most points rises to the position of producer and wins the game.

As mentioned, the game seems to borrow the theme and mechanisms of Schrille Stille. Bands climb and fall on the chart based on the number of “votes” they receive. The objective and end-game scoring, however, is also lifted from another game – Reiner Knizia’s Honey Bears. Players must play certain cards to move bands up the chart, but score points based on conserving those same cards. So, there is a balancing act that must be performed, playing some of the cards to increase the positioning of preferred bands, but also conserving some of those cards for end-game points.

Sadly, the borrowed mechanisms seem to work much better in their parent games. Here, they seem lost in a game that offers very little control. So much is ultimately determined by the final two countdowns, that everything preceding it seems almost pointless. The strategy is obvious: collect cards from a few bands, and try to manipulate those to the top of the chart. There doesn’t appear to be any other options. That one strategy, however, is largely beyond one’s control.

Each turn is virtually the same as the last. A player’s turn takes only a few seconds, and begins to feel extremely repetitive. Each game I’ve played I felt I was performing the tasks in a robotic fashion, without much thought or care. Interestingly, I finished either first or second in all of those games, and didn’t feel I did anything special to deserve those lofty positions.

Megastar may fit just fine within a group that enjoys playing games such as Phase 10 or UNO. It is light, quick, and doesn’t require much, if any thought. For folks looking for games with a little more thought, strategy and control, I’d recommend changing the dial.

Thread: Megastar -- Session Report

gschloesser — 2007-02-04T21:17:59+00:00

Editor’s Note: My full review of Megastar will be published shortly. What follows is an abbreviated version.

Each Spiel in Essen, hundreds of folks eagerly descend upon Freidemann Friese’s 2F booth to see his latest creation. Herr Friese has quite the reputation of developing creative designs, often with somewhat loony themes. He has shown with Funkenschlag that he is more than capable of developing a deep strategy game, but most of his games are on the lighter side. Lately, his creations are reaching an even wider audience, as many larger gaming companies are beginning to release his designs.

I somehow managed to overlook one of his latest creations at last year’s Spiel. Megastar was released by Amigo and Mayfair Games. Even though I did play most of the Amigo releases, this one escaped my attention until recently.

Borrowing heavily from the theme and mechanisms of Schrille Stille, Megastar places players in the role of radio director of a local radio station. Players attempt to maneuver bands on the radio’s “play list”, attempting to balance the requests of listeners and the parent company. The objective is to position your preferred bands at the top of the play list at game’s end.

Each player’s turn is usually extremely quick, and can almost be performed mindlessly. Players place the card that is face-down before them to the left of the hit parade row into an area known as the “requests” area. Like cards are grouped together. The player then draws one card from the music market and one card from the deck into his hand. He concludes his turn by placing one card face-down onto the table, which will be the card they play into the request section on their next turn.

Once one band accumulates three cards in the “requests” section, a countdown is held. Beginning at the band that currently resides at the top of the chart, each band is moved up a number of spaces equal to the number of matching cards in the request area.

The game concludes when the deck is depleted, and one final countdown is conducted. Each player reveals the cards they have in their hands and calculates their value, which is dependent upon the final position of the matching band in the hit parade. Points earned range from a high of five for the band at the top of the chart, to a low of 1 point for the band in the fifth position. Bands in the sixth and seventh positions yield zero points.

As mentioned, the game seems to borrow the theme and mechanisms of Schrille Stille. Bands climb and fall on the chart based on the number of “votes” they receive. The objective and end-game scoring, however, is also lifted from another game – Reiner Knizia’s Honey Bears. Players must play certain cards to move bands up the chart, but score points based on conserving those same cards. So, there is a balancing act that must be performed, playing some of the cards to increase the positioning of preferred bands, but also conserving some of those cards for end-game points.

Sadly, the borrowed mechanisms seem to work much better in their parent games. Here, they seem lost in a game that offers very little control. So much is ultimately determined by the final two countdowns, that everything preceding it seems almost pointless. The strategy is obvious: collect cards from a few bands, and try to manipulate those to the top of the chart. There doesn’t appear to be any other options. That one strategy, however, is largely beyond one’s control.

Each turn is virtually the same as the last. A player’s turn takes only a few seconds, and begins to feel extremely repetitive. Each game I’ve played I felt I was performing the tasks in a robotic fashion, without much thought or care. Interestingly, I finished either first or second in all of those games, and didn’t feel I did anything special to deserve those lofty positions.

Megastar may fit just fine within a group that enjoys playing games such as Phase 10 or UNO. It is light, quick, and doesn’t require much, if any thought. For folks looking for games with a little more thought, strategy and control, I’d recommend changing the dial.

Jim, Benjamin and I played quickly, attempting to move our preferred bands to the top of the chart. At game’s end, Benjamin possessed an impressive six cards of the top act, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the multitude of cards I possessed for the top three bands.

Finals: Greg 49, Benjamin 46, Jim 44

Ratings: Benjamin 6, Jim 5, Greg 4

Thread: Re: [Review] Megastar

gschloesser — 2007-01-29T22:41:08+00:00

Oh, my gosh, Tom ... we are SO far apart regarding our opinion on this
game. I played it this weekend with seasoned gamers Ted Cheatham (his
second playing), Craig Berg and Charlie Davis, and the game was universally
panned. Control? You've gotta be kidding. There is a smidgen here, at
best. Indeed, the game seems to play itself, and you are along for the
ride.

Our ratings were 5, 5, 4 and 4. This one is quickly headed to the trade
pile.

Thread: Re: [Review] Megastar

terp8in — 2007-01-23T22:35:04+00:00

I can't help but think from reading the review that it sounds a little like the mechanics from Colossal Arena, at least for scoring. Does it have that same flavor? I really like Colossal Arena myself, but have found a bit of resistance when introducing to my wife and other friends, based in part on theme. Maybe this would be a good alternative?

Thanks for the good review btw.

Thread: [Review] Megastar

TomVasel — 2007-01-23T21:12:22+00:00

I never know what to expect from a Friedemann Friese game, as they often have strange themes, but he usually makes a very interesting game with unique mechanics. Megastar (Mayfair Games, 2006 - Friedemann Friese) is one of his newest card games; and while the theme actually makes perfect sense (players are attempting to play the best songs on their radio stations), the game mechanics are familiar, yet still unique. Players are attempting to influence the popularity of songs, while attempting to have the most songs of that type on their station.

I enjoyed the card game quite a bit, even though some players I tried it out with just didn't quite "get it" until the game was over. It's simple enough on the onset, and players have to make choices on which cards to keep, and which to use - making those cards more valuable. You can watch the songs go up and down in popularity over the course of the game, and I found this to be an enjoyable game - one that takes about thirty minutes and has a lot more "meat" than initially might appear. You initially might think that you have no control over the game, but that's merely a clever disguise, as the players who soundly beat you will attest.

Seven cards are placed in a vertical line on the table - each representing a different band or musical artist, differentiated by color and picture. This is the "hit parade", and the highest card is the number one song at this point in time. Eighty-four band cards are shuffled (twelve for each band), and eleven of them are laid face up on the right of the hit parade, in the "requests". These cards are organized together in groups by artist, then each player is dealt five cards from the deck. Players choose one card and place it face-down in front of them, and the player with the largest CD collection takes the first turn, with play proceeding clockwise around the table. Depending on the number of players, not all the bands may be used, and a certain number of cards are removed from the deck.

On a player's turn, they first reveal the face down card in front of them, placing it to the left ("music market") of the hit parade. The player then draws any card of their choice from the music market, adding it to their hand, as well as the top card from the draw deck. They then choose one card from their hand and place it face down in front of them. Play then passes to the next player.

Whenever a band has three requests, or all cards from the music market are drawn, a "countdown" is triggered. Starting with the number one band, each band moves up the hit parade one space for each card in the "requests" area. This means that the top card doesn't actually move upwards, but will most likely move down. The cards in the request area are then moved to the music market, and play continues. The game continues until the last card is drawn from the deck, at which point all players play their final face down card for a final possible 'countdown".

At this point, all players total their scores by revealing the sixteen cards in their hand (thirteen in a five player game). For each band card that matches the current band in the # 1 position, a player scores five points, four points for the band in # 2, three points for the band in # 3, two points for the band in # 4, and one point for the band in # 5. All other bands are worthless! The player with the most points is the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The card game comes in a small box with a lid (which pops off occasionally), and a picture of a deranged teen playing an air guitar. That artwork is typical of that shown on the band cards, although each one is a stereotype of a popular (or once popular) artist. The cards themselves are of good quality - the hit parade cards showing a CD cover of the band, and the band cards showing the same picture and color, as well as a symbol to help keep them separate.

2.) Rules: The rules are on two sides of a long sheet of paper that folds up easily in the box. They are printed vertically, for some reason - it's actually a bit annoying - but have color illustrations and examples. The game itself is very simple, but people have a hard time figuring out which card to throw down, and several new players play randomly for a while, because they have a hard time figuring out what bands are going to do well.

3.) Control and Strategy: At first, I wondered myself if the game suffered from a lack of control, as it seems that the hit parade moves around a bit randomly. But really, players have a good deal of knowledge about what is going to happen. Every time there is a countdown, the # 1 song is going to go down - it's fairly inevitable. And players can play three cards on the song that they want to go up - but at the same time, risking the fact that they'll have no cards for that song at the end of the game. In my first game, I worked with all my effort to get one artist to the top of the list, and almost succeeded (they were # 2). I then realized that I simply didn't have any cards left in my hand for that artist! As I played them, and countdowns occurred, other players picked them up into their hands, and I was left with nothing to show from it. The "recycling" method of cards is really a nifty mechanic, as any cards used to move a band are then available for other players; but if they are ignored, they can be grabbed by the player themselves.

4.) Time and Players: With three players, the most control is available in the game, since your turn comes up so quickly; but I found the game enjoyable even with five. Classified as a "filler", I will agree somewhat; as the game certainly looks and feels like one, taking only a little over half an hour. But I really think that it's deeper than first appearances.

5.) Fun Factor: To increase a band, you must play cards from your hand; but to have points for that band, you must have its cards in your hand. This is the dilemma that keeps the game interesting and fun; and I also enjoyed watching the hit parade shuffle around, as a result of the cards I and my fellow players placed down. Once you realize that you DO control the outcome of Megastar, the fun factor increases tremendously.

Megastar is a unique card game that forces players to make tough decisions, with an eye out on the end of the game. Players have a direct say in how the parade cards move up and down and can exercise a decent amount of control over the outcome of the game. There is some luck in the draw, but it's mostly mitigated by players drawing cards from the music market, and watching how other players play their cards. If you're looking for a unique and meaty card game, Megastar is one that may surprise you!

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com

Thread: Fun but a bit (too) chaotic

Musti — 2006-11-13T21:52:37+00:00

What’s it about?
'Megastar' is a card game where you try to get the popgroups of which you have the most cards high up the hitparade. Scoring occurs one time at the end of the game. The player who gets the most points, wins.
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How does it work?
Cards, representing CDs of the seven groups, are played in one column, indicating the current status of the hitparade. There are cards to the right of this hitparade, indicating the market (i.e. the cards played during the last round).

During his/ her turn, a player has to do following four actions:
1) Play the card he/ she put during the previous turn
Play the card to the left of the hitparade, thus voting for this group.

2) The player picks a card from the market
And put it into his/ her hands.

3) The player draws a card
And put it also into his/ her hands.

4) The player puts a card from his hand, face down on the table
which will be the card played during the next turn.

All this might result in a re-ordening of the hitparade. This will occur when a group gets a third card or when the last card from the market is played. The groups now move up the amount of cards that have been played to it. E.g.: a group with two cards will move two places up.
After the re-ordering, the cards are moved to the market and gameplay continues.

As soon as the drawpile is empty, one last re-ordening is done and points are scored. Cards of the number one group are worth five points each, cards of the second group are worth four points and so on. The last two groups don't score any points. The player with the most points, wins the game.

Where is the fun?
The game has some interesting twists that make it quite interesting. As the game progresses and cards become more and more important, your hand grows larger since you get one card more each turn. Another interesting thing is that if a lot of cards are played next to a group, the group gets higher in the hitparade and more cards become available through the market.
Although both these things feel refreshing, gameplay is a bit dull and sometimes too chaotic. The reordening mechanism allows that groups can move up and down pretty fast which puts the focus of the game in the last two rounds.

Why should I like this?
- Plays fast
- Interesting mechanisms

Why shouldn’t I like this?
- A bit too chaotic
- Limited choices

Final verdict
'Megastar' is a light card game with some interesting mechanics. However during the whole game you don't know whether you are doing well or not. And when the game is over and you have won, you're not sure whether it's by good play or good luck.

Note that this is a review and thus therefore not cover all the rules of the game.

Thread: Inaugural Game in Essen

raolsson — 2006-10-25T19:50:25+00:00

I have recently returned from the Essen Spiel, where I purchased an played Megastar. My first game was with VuduJoie and two fellow gamers from Kiel, Germany that we met on our second evening at the Hotel Petul in Essen.

Our Kiel gamers (we will call them Alex and Sandra) helped us to translate the rules, and from there we were off to the pop charts.

Megastar is a card game where you lay out seven cards that represent different modes of music. These cards have a red back to them and do not go into your hand. From the blue deck cards, you place eleven cards drawn from the deck and lay them to the right of the matching card that you laid out initially. On your turn, you draw one card from the right of the seven cards, place one on the left of one of the cards that matches it, and draw a card. At any time there are three cards to the left or no cards to the right of the seven cards, the seven cards are re-ordered so that they move up or down. They move up the number of cards there are to the left of the red-backed card, beginning with the card close to the deck. As cards move up, the cards they move above shift down a slot. So if a low card goes up three, each of the cards it passes essentially goes down one. Cards from the left are moved to the right as they are scored.

At the end of the game, each player has 16 cards in their hand and they get five points for the top card (the top of the charts), 4 for the second highest, three for the third highest, two for the fourth highest, one for the fifth, and zero for the sixth and seventh.

Sandra taught English as a profession, so she made sure we all understood the rules before we started. While the game mechanics make it sound simple, collecting the cards you want while making sure that your cards move to the top at the right time in the game is not an easy feat. The top card cannot move up, so essentially it can only move down. In our game, many cards only had one to the right of them, so the reordering could take place at any time.

I had three of the black cards, which was the top of the charts by the end of my turn last turn. By the end of the game, however, it had moved down to fourth place. Alex won with fifty some points, VuduJoie came in second, and Sandra and I tied for third with 27 points.

A very enjoyable game that I look forward to playing more often.

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toulouse — 2006-10-25T14:00:51+00:00

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toulouse — 2006-10-25T13:24:27+00:00

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Gonzaga — 2006-10-25T12:30:35+00:00

Essen 2006

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onedayyou — 2006-09-15T14:21:03+00:00

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onedayyou — 2006-09-15T14:20:54+00:00

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onedayyou — 2006-09-15T14:20:47+00:00

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onedayyou — 2006-09-15T14:20:19+00:00