Game: Infernal Contraption

Image

Grimwold — 2008-06-06T22:30:30+00:00

3 player game in progress... someone has a small machine!!

Thread: Re: Order of events when upgraded.....

Spacehulk — 2008-06-04T02:05:06+00:00

unixrevolution wrote:
Good to know. That'll change things up a bit.

Does that mean if you can't pay the 2x cost for a "pay a card" contraption, you can't even run it in standard mode?

Yes. If you can't pay the (doubled) cost, the contraption won't be activated.

Thread: Re: Order of events when upgraded.....

unixrevolution — 2008-06-03T21:00:01+00:00

Good to know. That'll change things up a bit.

Does that mean if you can't pay the 2x cost for a "pay a card" contraption, you can't even run it in standard mode?

Thread: Re: Order of events when upgraded.....

Spacehulk — 2008-06-03T20:20:01+00:00

I just read the answer in the pp forums:

Question: 1) If you have two upgrades on a contraption (i.e., a x4 multiplier), you don't just run the contraption four times. Instead, you multiply every number on the card by 4, then resolve the effects in order.

Answer: Correct, you multiple the numbers/effects and then run the Contraption.

Thread: Re: Order of events when upgraded.....

unixrevolution — 2008-06-03T17:25:36+00:00

I always read it as "Perform the card's action twice" rather than "double all the numbers on the card.", as I think "Perform the card twice" is closer to how it's worded.

Thread: Re: Order of events when upgraded.....

Spacehulk — 2008-06-02T20:24:04+00:00

Hmmmm. we played it the other way. I will have to re-read the rules to see if I missed something.

Thread: Re: Order of events when upgraded.....

freduk — 2008-06-02T14:46:07+00:00

We have always doubled the actions. In your example, that would be: Draw 2 cards then choose whether to play either of them.

Thread: Order of events when upgraded.....

Spacehulk — 2008-06-02T14:11:30+00:00

OK, If I have a Contraption with a x2 upgrade does everything happen at once but doubled or do you do the action on the card twice?

For example, if you have a card that says, (this is an example, I can't remember exactly) "draw a card from your opponents parts pile, you may play it immediately."

Do you draw one card, play it or not, then draw anouther card and play it or not....or do you draw two cards at the same time and then decide to play them or not?

Image

swuyau — 2008-05-26T11:40:46+00:00

card

Image

swuyau — 2008-05-26T11:39:47+00:00

card

Thread: Goblin style screw your neighbour!

mwdalrymple — 2008-05-22T16:57:02+00:00

I had the chance to try out this fun little gem and I was pleasantly surprised

I am always a fan of screw your neighbour type games, so this one was an easy sell (on top of not having to invest a whole lot into this game to get alot out of it).

Overview:

Infernal Contraption is a card game where your primary goal is to 'deck' you opponent, the last man standing wins. To do this, each turn you add/enhance you your Infernal Contraption that you in turn set loose one of your opponents with a myrid of affects, the main one being the removal of cards off their deck.

Mechanics/Rules:

The rules are simple and aside from the basics of machine construction and activation resolution, everything that you need to know is clearly written on the cards. There is very little ambiguity when resolving effects. I was quite impressed.

The card/tile laying mechanis of the game allows for many many many different combintations of effects (one time or not) and abilities creating some exciting and interesting combitnations. There are also many screw your neighbour cards as well so it makes it quite fun picking on one player or another Due to the high number of cards that pass through your hand and opportunties to dig through discard piles, there is a significant amount of strategy and 'hard' choices to be made. You can never do everything, but there are not too many decisions/choices to create decision paralysis.

What I find so interesting in this game is that you never know whom is going to win at a give time. With the amount 'replenish your deck' cards, its pretty easy to turn the tables and take the lead.

Quality of Components:

Hi quality cards with great art. No complaints there. They seem to hold up pretty well to alot of play.

Overall:
I rate this 8/10. After playing a lot of MTG and other CCGs, it was a nice change having a group card game that eliminates any stalemate situations or wars of attrition. Fast and furious play that is alot of fun

Thread: Team Play

ikiru — 2008-05-09T18:01:27+00:00

So, after my first play with the wife, I started to think about playing this game multi-player. However, I really like the game where there are only 2 contraptions. The reason being is that it takes out the potential of someone either:
1. feeling like they are being picked on
2. getting knocked out and having to watch the game from that point.

I think this variation will help in these areas.

Team Variant:

In addition to the normal rules, I was thinking that:

- each team is working on one contraption.
- each teammate would have their own hand, but share a parts pile.
- turns are taken alternatively by one person on a team. i.e. one person on a team goes, then one person on the opposing team goes, then back to the original team...etc.
- effects that target an opposing player's hand must be directed to a player on the opposing team.
- players may not direct their contraption towards a teammate
- although they can talk strategy about building the contraption, teammates are not allowed to discuss/describe specifics of the cards they have in their hands. No card names, no connector type descriptions, etc...
- instead of playing a card on to the contraption, the player may blindly exchange any number of cards with their team mate. Trades must be made simultaneously...again teammates may not discuss what cards they are giving. Trades need not be of equal value. If the teammate refuses a trade, the initiating teammate may not then play a card on to the contraption until the next turn.

Thoughts? Anyone care to playtest this?

-ikiru

*enjoy the sauce*

Thread: Re: First play

lubomirvaic — 2008-05-09T17:29:38+00:00

Good review of a good game. I played this with my brother one day and we ended up playing it about four times in one sitting. The first game was basically just trying to figure out what stuff did and then further plays allowed us to tweak our machines. I like this quite a bit as a two player game as well. More players add too much chaos to an already chaotic game.

Thread: First play

ikiru — 2008-05-09T14:55:45+00:00

So, I picked up Infernal Contraption in a trade a couple of weeks ago and finally got time with the wife to sit down and give it a try. She was a bit apprehensive going into a game with direct conflict as she likes to play games that allow her to do her own thing. I guess some here would call that multi-solitaire.

Our last experience with Mykerinos made her leary about trying another game with me (if you played Mykerinos, you know that its area control and I made the spousal mistake of blocking her and totally destroying her strategy...I nearly slept on the couch that evening...but I digress). So...hearing that IC is more of a "screw you" game, I was a bit apprehensive in showing it to the wife. Anyway, not to let the threat of a sleepless night get in the way of trying new games, I convinced her to give this game a try (I think Im on the hook for a spa visit, but thats another story).

Anyway, we broke out the game, read the simple rules, and we were off. She went first by playing a card that put cards from the scap pile into her parts pile. I countered with a card that made me draw a card from my parts pile and play them immediately. Being the genius that I am, I doubled it...however, I noticed that this may not be the best strategy as now my parts pile is shrinking twice as fast as my wife's. However, the added benefit was that I was able to compensate by building a contraption faster.

The game progressed with us adding parts to our contraptions. After about 20 minutes, we had parts in our contraptions that were allowing us to pretty much move the scrap pile into our parts pile. We both wondered if this game would ever end since it seemed our parts piles were not shrinking very much. Her contraption seemed to be tweaked to making me discard my hand, and my contraption was tweaked to make me draw and play cards. So basically, I had a new hand every round and I went sort of into tactical-only mode.

This went on for a couple of turns until I found the consumable that would tip the scales. It forced her to draw as many cards as I had in my hand. Since I was drawing cards at an alarming rate, and since I put this card at the far right side of my contraption (maximizing the damage), she was going through her parts pile very quickly.

It was only a matter of time before I came across another of the same consumable. This time, it was too much for her and her pile was left depleted.

So, after feeling the emotional surge of my victory, I realized that my evening could be a long one on the couch. I looked up and asked her what she thought. She said that she liked the game and that she especially liked the fact that even though the contraptions were causing her difficulty, she was still able to build her contraption without interference. I made a mental note that the expansion may not be a good idea. She also told me that she prefers this as a 2 player game, as she would feel overwhelmed with more players.

Anyway, IC is a nice little game that falls into the "every once and a while" category for me. I think that it is a very interesting game, but like most non-traditional card games, the novelty could wear off if played too much. Overall, Im glad that I had the opportunity to get this game.

-ikiru

*enjoy the sauce*

Thread: Re: Equalizer Engine: Unbalancing mechanism?

Mike Sisson — 2008-04-18T12:23:22+00:00

I played for the first time last night and had assembled a wicked card sucking, scrap piling machine that was destroying my wife's parts pile. She had maybe 12 cards left or about 2 turns to go before the end of the game. She played the Equalizer Engine and completely turned the game around. Within 3 turns of playing the card, I was out. If the card doesn't break the game, it severly bends it.

The other thing I didn't care for was relative lack of ability to wreck part of your own machine (I know there is a card that lets you rearrange 3 of your cards) or break your opponents (again, I know there is the one terminal buster card). It looks like I need to get the Sabotage expansion to liven play up a bit.

Thread: Re: Upgrading question

ahoffman — 2008-04-15T14:02:09+00:00

I believe the answers to your questions are as follows:

1) Yes, you get the multiplier, as long as you scrap the card. When you activate a part of your contraption, the game checks for all multipliers around it.

2) Yes, you have to pay a second time to get the multiplier on a second card. Each time a part of the contraption is about to run, the game checks, and sees that you can get a 2x multiplier for a scrapped card. You then have to pay that cost, or forfeit the 2x multiplier.

Thread: Upgrading question

Sigrdrifa — 2008-04-15T07:25:48+00:00

Ok, so I have a machine spread out and I've got from Left to Right:

A Power Source, a contraption (we'll call it Contraption A), an Upgrade that only allows the multiplier if you discard a card, and then another contraption (Contraption B), and then your power core.

When I turn on my machine, and contraption A gets fired off, can I scrap a card from my hand, even though the upgrade has not been "set off" by the card order?

Second question, but related: Same setup. Do you play that you discard one card per contraption, i.e. 1 scrap for A & one for B? Or do you play that discarding one card activates that Upgrade and no further cards are necessary?

Thanks
MJ

Thread: Re: PDF rulebook?

Sigrdrifa — 2008-04-09T07:17:11+00:00

natebot wrote:
Yes the rules (the game is so easy to learn it doesn't require a 'book') are now available for download at: http://www.privateerpress.com/infernalcontraption/

Except that the rules as given on the site are different in several respects to the rules given in the box. For instance, nowhere on the website does it mention that you need to scrap a card from your hand when laying an extra card down on the machine. I guess it would be nice to have the actual rules set available.

Thread: Re: Equalizer Engine: Unbalancing mechanism?

ahoffman — 2008-03-12T18:32:54+00:00

I think that most of the time, if you're on an equal playing field, its ability is fairly reasonable; it's not a big threat unless, as you mentioned, there is some runaway winner. I've never had it be a problem with any of my games that I've played.

Thread: Equalizer Engine: Unbalancing mechanism?

unixrevolution — 2008-03-12T16:11:12+00:00

In my first 3 games of Infernal Contraption, I won through use of the "equalizer engine" card twice, both times when I was in danger of losing. Does this card "break" the game or make it unbalanced? I feel it might be an attempt to cancel out a runaway leader problem, but it goes too far. If used late in the game it can be a death knell. What do you think?

Thread: Re: Goals?

figarojones — 2008-03-10T15:12:58+00:00

I know. Dude wanted there to be more purpose than that. Like I said, I like it as is, but I was curious how one would integrate a goal system (say, they have to build a time machine, which, in sequence, must have a samoflange, quantum vacuum, arcane windmill, and so on. Once they build it, the contraptions associated are pulled off the mainline, and you're given points and/or special effects (Time machine would allow you to look through the top ten cards of your parts pile and rearrange them in any order you wish, or something to that effect). Or you could make it ten contraptions long & first person to make theirs wins. You could make up a bunch of random machine names to fit in with the rest of the theme. Would make Sabotage a lot more valuable as well.

Thread: Re: Goals?

snoozefest — 2008-03-10T14:53:21+00:00

figarojones wrote:
All you're doing is piling on effects, but not really working toward anything.

Well, sure you are: the total death and destruction of your opponents (by "decking" them; i.e., running them out of cards to draw)! The game is sort of a non-collectible CCG, and this kind of winning goes all the way back to the granddaddy Magic: The Gathering CCG!

Thread: Goals?

figarojones — 2008-03-10T09:05:54+00:00

I played the game for the first time earlier today (& screwed up too. I didn't realize that EVERYTHING had to be connected to a power source. Next time will play a lot different), and my opponent had an interesting point; All you're doing is piling on effects, but not really working toward anything. Personally, I didn't mind, but I thought it might be interesting if there was some sort of goal device, or if you had a set of cards with different listings of combinations of contraptions, and you could build those for bonus points.

Any idea as to how this would work?

Image

kilroy_locke — 2008-02-27T05:56:43+00:00

My hand... just before losing.

Thread: Re: Upgrades - Care and Feeding

Vyolynce — 2008-02-21T20:09:24+00:00

jgerman wrote:
Cinnibar wrote:
Are players required to use an upgrade if attached? That is, if the upgrade requires a scrap card cost, can the player choose not to pay? (We played last night that payment was mandatory...your machine growls 'FEED ME!' )

Also, if an upgrade is in the Main Line with a cost requirement, does the cost need to be paid for eachcontraption it effects..or just once per machine activation?

Thanks!

You were playing correctly. You must pay the cost if you can. You only have to pay the cost once however.

I don't think that's what this post says; he seems to say that it each contraption attached to that upgrade will require a scrapped card.

Thread: Re: Upgrade Questions

unixrevolution — 2008-02-14T14:27:04+00:00

jgerman wrote:
Suppose I play the contraption card that forces my opponent to scrap a card from his hand and I have three x2 upgrades on it. That forces him to discard 8 cards from his hand. Does that mean we ignore the effect if he has fewer than 8 cards in his hand? (The rules say that if the condition of a contraption is not met, then the effect of the contraption is ignored.)

No you do not ignore the effect. Costs are mandatory, effects work to the best of their ability. Your opponent would lose all of the cards he did have in his hand even if he had less than 8.

Thinking about it now, this would be right. If you had the "give your opponent a card, take 2 from his parts pile" card upgraded and didn't have 4 cards to give him to draw 8 of his, it wouldn't work. But since it's not a cost you have to pay, I think he'd just lose all of what he had.

Thread: Re: Upgrade Questions

Mr Bassman — 2008-02-13T19:54:37+00:00

Now we have one opinion supporting each of two different interpretations. My own reading of the rules is that effects are carried out exactly or not at all. Anyone else want to weigh in?

Thread: Re: Upgrade Questions

unixrevolution — 2008-02-13T14:58:40+00:00

Question 1: I would say yes, it means you can't use that contraption on him.

Question 2: The way the cards are worded, they are "executed twice" rather than "doubled in effect", so i'd say you draw, play, draw, play.

Thread: Upgrade Questions

Mr Bassman — 2008-02-13T03:00:17+00:00

Suppose I play the contraption card that forces my opponent to scrap a card from his hand and I have three x2 upgrades on it. That forces him to discard 8 cards from his hand. Does that mean we ignore the effect if he has fewer than 8 cards in his hand? (The rules say that if the condition of a contraption is not met, then the effect of the contraption is ignored.)

Also, if I play the contraption card that allows me to take a card from my opponent's parts pile and play it immediately, and I have a x2 upgrade on it, do I draw and play the cards one at a time, or all together? (It makes a difference if the second card I draw allows me to play the first one.)

Thread: Re: PDF rulebook?

Donald — 2007-11-16T18:18:20+00:00

ahhhhh thank you verrrmuch.

Thread: Re: Game looks neat but hate the box

natebot — 2007-11-15T02:43:50+00:00

PDF rules are available on the Privateer Press site at:
http://www.privateerpress.com/docs/bodgers/infernal-contrapt...

Thread: Re: PDF rulebook?

natebot — 2007-11-15T02:25:11+00:00

Yes the rules (the game is so easy to learn it doesn't require a 'book') are now available for download at: http://www.privateerpress.com/infernalcontraption/

Thread: Re: Infernal Contraption: A Fun Little Game

natebot — 2007-11-15T01:21:57+00:00

Thanks for the review!

People interested in learning more about Infernal Contraption (including downloading the rules) and the first expantion Infernal Contraption 2: Sabotage!

Infernal Contraption web pages:
http://www.privateerpress.com/infernalcontraption/

Infernal Contraption rules:
http://www.privateerpress.com/docs/bodgers/infernal-contrapt...

Infernal Contraption 2: Sabotage preview from No Quarter magazine.
http://www.privateerpress.com/docs/bodgers/IC2-preview.pdf

Thread: Re: Infernal Contraption: A Fun Little Game

tritone — 2007-11-02T06:15:25+00:00

Well, I kinda thought "fun little game" might just be the title... until cvlw replied and capitalized the phrase same as you!

Thanks for th product link... I see it now. For some reason that banner appears to come and go as I click around the site. I am surprised they don't list IC directly from their "Products" page. I had my browser window set too small to see that righthand banner before you mentioned it.

Their website organization is "unique" to say the least. I finally found the game listed in a "Previous Releases" section by scrolling down to July. Glad it's still in print.

thanks!

Thread: Re: Infernal Contraption: A Fun Little Game

beauka — 2007-11-02T05:15:08+00:00

Brad,

Fun Little Game is just a title made up to describe, well, fun little games. It's not part of a series or anything.

As for the game, it just came out earlier this year and they're just releasing an expansion for it this month. When I went to the website, there was an Infernal Contraption side banner on just about every page. You can also find it on their site here:

http://www.privateerpress.com/default.php?x=products/pip6000...

Thread: Re: Infernal Contraption: A Fun Little Game

tritone — 2007-11-02T04:46:34+00:00

What is "Fun Little Game"? Is this part of a series.

Also... is this game out of print? I went to the Privateer Press website, and this game isn't even listed (that I could find). Thx.

Thread: First Play Report - 3 Players

willk_1230 — 2007-11-01T14:21:24+00:00

I picked this game up about 10 days ago and finally got the opportunity to get it on the table at lunch yesterday. I'd read over the rules which were very easy to understand and very concise. This game is easy cheesy to learn.

What originally sold me on the game was the art. I play World of Warcraft online, and the Bodgers looks so much like the Goblins in that game it's uncanny. And, like in Infernal Contraption, the Goblins in WoW are these insane tinkerers always building stuff that blows up. In short, it was a no-brainer purchase for me on theme alone (along with a reasonable price).

What *almost* turned me off was the box. Don't get me wrong, I like the size of the box and the artwork. Unfortunately thought, it's not very sturdy and it was pretty bent out of shape, and the closing mechanism worked kinda like a tuck-box - a poorly designed tuckbox that just keeps falling open. Not too much to keep me from buying it though. Upon opening it, I found an even more bewhildering box design. There was an internal flap and then a box within the box. And this box closed even less well than the first box. Kudos to them for trying something unusual (maybe a Bodger designed it? ), but all in all, they strongly need to reconsider the packaging design for their next print run.

On to the game. The game was simple to start, but from the first turn, you could tell it was going to be chaotic. The object of the game is to be the last man standing with a Parts Pile, and I had several cards in hand that let me whittle my opponents parts pile down (on top of them drawing out of it each turn) which meant they also had cards to do the same to mine. I also had cards that let me add cards to my hand, but at a slower rate than the ones that whittled my opponents (or the game could go on forever).

Because you pick a target opponent every round, the game is very much a Take That game. You're trying to empty your opponents parts pile while refilling your own. And trying to do it in a nice manner so that he'll pick some other player as his opponent when it's his turn to whittle.

I lucked up by getting a card that let me put a card from my hand into my target's hand and then discard two cards from his Parts Pile. That's pretty good card advantage. It's even better with TWO 2x multipliers stuck to it! put 4 cards in his hand, and discard EIGHT from his Parts Pile! That'll empty a pile in a hurry. The only problem is, you can't forget to leave 4 cards in your hand or you can't activate that mechanism when the time comes (happened to me once).

As it was, my dastardly machine took out one opponent and was ONE turn from doing the same to the second opponent when his last mechanism made me discard exactly how many cards I had left in my own Parts Pile. Argh! I was 1 stinking card from winning!

The lesson I learned here is that you have to keep a sizeable Parts Pile going into the later turns. If you let your Parts Pile dip below 10-12 cards, you're going to be sunk in 1 turn as all machines seemed to be forcing you to discard that many from your pile every turn late in the game.

So, build a machine that's a discard mill, but make sure you build plenty mechs into it that will refill your own pile.

All in all, it we enjoyed it, but the chaos and luck factor is HIGH and skill in playing the game seems to be a minor factor. As long as you like your games high in theme and don't mind chaos and luck, this game is for you.

Image

willk_1230 — 2007-10-23T02:37:09+00:00

Power Core Card - everyone starts with one

Thread: Re: 2 upgrades = x3 or x4?

cparrott — 2007-10-08T14:57:53+00:00

3 multiplier cards is 8x. You wouldn't have been able to play a fourth. Devices only have four connections and one must be a power source or it won't function.

You can put an upgrade into your mainline so that one upgrade will work with 2 connecting devices, but each device would still need its own power source.

Thread: Re: 2 upgrades = x3 or x4?

Korath — 2007-10-07T19:56:27+00:00

We played it yesterday. We used it as a x4. At one point I had 3 x2 cards on one contraption. We ruled that as a x6, playing the card, then again. Then moving on and playing it again twice, then again twice. I like x8 better! And Look Forward to a x16!!! Muwhahahahaha!!!! (almost had one, too, but we had to give up the table. Would have had it my next round!)

Thread: Re: Game looks neat but hate the box

alphawolf74 — 2007-10-02T14:34:21+00:00

Two points

1) I like the box. It is unique, it holds the cards well (I went camping, and the cards stayed where I put them, and having the rules on the box makes them less likely to be lost.

2) As for the size of the box, yes they could have done a standard ccg style, but I have seen a lot of games sold at that size that just sit. They get lost in the sea of deck boxes. IC has a box that stands out, and that can only make it sell better. I have never not enjoyed a game because the packaging was "different".

Jason

Thread: Re: 2 upgrades = x3 or x4?

Grauenwolf — 2007-09-23T22:00:17+00:00

I always play 2 upgrades = x4. Insanely over-loading the machine just seems right.

Thread: Re: 2 upgrades = x3 or x4?

kurskorahn — 2007-09-23T19:29:10+00:00

Hmmm . . . that will make for much nastier machines and thus quicker games indeed.

Thread: Re: 2 upgrades = x3 or x4?

EventHorizon — 2007-09-23T19:23:10+00:00

http://www.privateerpressforums.com/index.php?showtopic=1221...

According to the official forum, we were playing wrong last night and they multiply so that you could have a x8 situation. I don't really like that rule becuase it would seem to make things too powerful at very little cost to the player, but with this game if something like that happens, you can always play again real quickly.

Thread: 2 upgrades = x3 or x4?

kurskorahn — 2007-09-23T19:02:55+00:00

I just had a quick question about having multiple upgrades on a single contraption. Would two x2 upgrades (one above and one below) multiply to x4 or do you simply play that each upgrade more or less copies it giving you a x3 result instead. This gets even worse if you have 3 upgrades because you can argue for either 4 occurences of the contraption or 8. Just curious to know what others play.

Image

Rokkr — 2007-09-18T01:43:08+00:00

game in progress

Thread: Re: compare this to Fun Factory?

tigerAspect — 2007-09-10T21:42:56+00:00

thatmarkguy wrote:
Or, for Magic: The Gathering vets / alum, imagine an MtG game between two (or more?) deck-destruction decks. A game where you're trying to win by wiping out your opponent's deck before he wipes yours out.
You mean, like a 3 player free-for-all with everyone playing Mill decks?
Sounds fun!

Thread: Re: PDF rulebook?

Mr_Dove — 2007-09-10T18:54:42+00:00

The PP forum has been undergoing some upgrades this week. I think everyone is having trouble posting and logging in.

No PDF rulebook yet but I suspect that some alternative will be available soon.

Thread: PDF rulebook?

Donald — 2007-09-10T16:21:08+00:00

Is there a PDF rulebook available? The box it comes in is a nice sales/display box but it's easier and safer to put the cards in a deck box for transport and the rules are printed on the box.

I did try to go to the P-Press website to ask but there's some kind of Mac hate going on with their website. I either can't post on the forums or their site makes my browser quit.

Thanks

Don

Thread: Re: Game looks neat but hate the box

faidutti — 2007-09-02T18:48:09+00:00

I got the game, and agree that the box is the worse one I've ever seen, and it's a real pain not to have the rules on a sheet of paper that you can fold, read during the game, etc...

I'm going to scan the rules, print them, and put the cards and rules in a standard CCG deck box, and it's not something I do often, since I prefer to keep games in their original box. It's a shame this game was not sold in smaller, nicer and more convenient box. I'm quite sure a standard box and rules printed on paper would have been cheaper than this cardboard mess.

I think the least the publisher must do is to provide a clean pdf of the rules for all those who are going to do like me.

Thread: Re: Improbability Matrix when x2 activated

KingCroc — 2007-08-26T05:11:00+00:00

jgerman wrote:
KingCroc wrote:

Just remember than Consumables are the only cards which can only be played as Plugs. That is vertically above or below your mainline.

That is incorrect. Consumables may only be attached as plugs, all other cards may be attached in the main line or as a plug.

Sorry for the confusion. I didn't mean Consumables were the Only cards that can be played as plugs. What I meant was they were the only cards that were restricted as Plugs only. Yes, all other cards can be plugs too, but Consumables can't be part of the mainline.

Image

axeme — 2007-08-26T00:22:19+00:00

The cards in the tray with a space open for the expansion.

Image

axeme — 2007-08-26T00:21:47+00:00

The card tray that fits in the smaller box with a space for the expansion.

Image

axeme — 2007-08-26T00:21:03+00:00

The removable box that holds the cards that comes out of the game box.

Image

axeme — 2007-08-26T00:20:06+00:00

Box in a box

Thread: Re: Upgrades - Care and Feeding

freduk — 2007-08-25T18:49:44+00:00

I don't have the rules in front of me (it's somebody else's game) but we play that you don't have to use the upgrade if you don't want to pay the cost.
We also play that you pay the upkeep cost once, and it upgrades all contraptions that turn.
However, I like your 'FEED ME' rule and will suggest it next time we play.

Thread: Upgrades - Care and Feeding

Cinnibar — 2007-08-25T17:07:20+00:00

Are players required to use an upgrade if attached? That is, if the upgrade requires a scrap card cost, can the player choose not to pay? (We played last night that payment was mandatory...your machine growls 'FEED ME!' )

Also, if an upgrade is in the Main Line with a cost requirement, does the cost need to be paid for eachcontraption it effects..or just once per machine activation?

Thanks!

Thread: Crowded Contraptions - 4 Player Games

wormious — 2007-08-23T14:44:48+00:00

Had some friends over this past weekend. They are pretty geeky to begin with so it isn't too hard getting them to play a game.

I haven't tried this game 4 players yet and I was really curious to see how it all played out.

It was another couple, my wife and myself who played. We managed to get a game in before we went to see a movie. Then we played another after we got back.

There was the initial beginners lag, as is to be expected with this game. Some of the non-creative minds were having trouble figuring out how to play a contraptions so it would work (have a power supply). I'd say there was more lag than usual during people's turns but I may be over-exaggerating.

Let me add that we played with a rule that I thought will help people last a little longer. We only allowed each person to choose their neighbor as the target of their machine. I think this helped immensely because I could defiantly see someone going out without turning their machine on once.

Much to my surprise the games went relatively quick, turn wise. We actually had trouble keeping track. I think this was due to people taking a little longer but also the unexpectedness of how 4 players would play out.

Game 1:
Very rough game. People were having trouble on what to do. At one point we thought we skipped someone. It was very clunky. First person out was on turn 2 (the victim had gone twice by this point) by the old "scrap cards from your parts pile equal to the cards in your hand" + "scrap your hand and draw that many cards from your parts pile" consumable combo. Very deadly in a 4-player game. The attacker was playing very conservatively. With cards like that I guess you can.

I went out next, I think this was in the same turn as my wife's defeat. I didn't have any replenishers and I was playing too aggressively compared to how often I was being targeted. My attacker had a nice setup.

So in 2 or 3 turns we were down to 2 players with considerably diminished piles. Both the newbies, nonetheless! A few more rounds past and the victor was the individual who defeated my wife. It was very close though, (3-5 cards IIRC). She was the only one playing with a "Resurrection Well" since the beginning. I believe that won the game for her.

Thoughts:
-4-players = very little turns
-Those two consumables mentioned might be a little powerful for this type of play.
-Conservative play seems to have an advantage (not necessarily true as we'll see later).
-Just as fun with 4 people as 2.
-The house rule seemed to go over well.

Game 2:
Now that everyone had a grasp of the game, this round went much smoother. Everyone decided keeping the house rule was a good idea because of how quickly a person can go out.

We also thought we could play this on our small (3'x4') kitchen table which almost proved to be true. It's nice once a player goes out all their stuff is removed from the game.

Seats:
41
32

I was in Seat 2. I got targeted first by minor inconveniences. During my 1st or 2nd turn I was able to play the card that allows you to take a card from your opponents parts pile and play it immediately. I added a couple of multipliers and this made my machine really grow into a monster after targeting. We wanted to take a picture but we forgot. I was also refilling my hand a lot so I wouldn't have to draw. In my previous plays I didn't think this would help at all. But after playing with it this game I won't hesitate to use it in the future. There are still a few other cards I haven't found a use for (other than scrap).

After 3 turns seat 1 was out, only targeted by me. The other piles were low. At this point I wanted to see how many cards I had in my parts but the others contested. I drew one of those good consumables but refused to play it because I think it is really unbalancing in four player game. Seat 3 had been targeted by one already.

Seat 3 was out next due again to my massive machine although seat 4 had helped considerably up until that point. Up until now seat 4 had been playing super conservatively. I'm not sure if this was due to his strategy or if he just couldn't play anything thing. I think it was the latter because during his turn he didn't do much to me. And I don't think it wasn't that couldn't play anything I think it was the fact that he couldn't see how to play things. It's that learning curve coming into play again.

Seat 4 tried to kill himself (draw too many at end of turn) but failed. I was able to take him out around the middle of my machine.

All in all it was a very successful game. We learned some more things and it was much more fun this time around because everyone new how to play.

Thoughts:
-No matter the players your machine can still get big.
-The variant sort of gave it a "two separate games going on" feel because the same people kept attacking each other.
-It's hard to plan ahead because your entire hand can change before it gets to you.

Thread: Re: Scans

cparrott — 2007-08-20T18:13:02+00:00

Try http://www.privateerpress.com/company/?x=help/customer/find_...

This a list of retailers world wide that stock Privateer Press products. They list several in Europe including a few in eastern Europe. I don't know if any of these stores are near you or if you can arrange to buy and have it shipped to you, but it's a start and it may not be as expensive as trying to import it.

Thread: Re: Scans

feuer_faust — 2007-08-17T19:37:01+00:00

I would advise searchign again for a copy. This is still illegal on our collective end.