Game: Riot

Thread: Re: User Review

shawnzeppi — 2006-12-20T02:35:27+00:00

Yes, this game is a riot, and it caused quite a stir when it first appeared. Inspired by the famous couch burning riots at Michigan State University after they lost a basketball game in March 1999, the game was criticized by the editors at the (Michigan) State News since it made light of bad student behavior. I personally think that they were overreacting, and told them so myself. The original editorial is at:

http://www.statenews.com/op_article.phtml?pk=10953

The game is a lot of fun, and I play tested it with the designer, who is actually a game inventing genius of sorts, he is just lazy about getting them published. The great thing about the game is its portability and the ability of other players to gang up on the leader until there is no way to stop them. Its a fun "beer and pretzels" game that makes fun of campus stereotypes.

Thread: Re: User Review

Philip Thomas — 2005-10-29T21:26:37+00:00

Thanks for reminding me of this game...played it 3 years ago. Light filler which can go on for ages.

Thread: User Review

roman1967 — 2005-10-24T23:24:54+00:00

Have you ever had one of those days? The purple M & Ms win the global vote, you can’t find that one rare to complete your set in your favorite CCG, it’s a bad year for your favorite sports team, and Jeri Ryan just won’t return your phone calls. Well, what are you going to do about it? Start a Riot, of course.

Riot is a multi-player card game from Green Dragon Creations that allows you to start and control your own university riot in the safety of your own home. Of course, there have to be rules to keep things orderly. I mean, what would a riot be without order?

In this game, 2-6 players compete to see who will be the first to get 20 rioters on their side. In the basic game, you win immediately once you get your 20th rioter. In the advanced game, you have to have 20 at the beginning of your turn. Basically, you get your rioters through the play of cards. You can also play cards to remove rioters from other players. Sound simple? It is.

There are 6 card types in Riot with different color-coding. They are:

Actions – Red

Like it says. An action. You can add rioters to your riot or remove rioters from someone else’s. Some of the actions require a die roll or a riot to be at a certain level (i.e. number of rioters.) These may only be played on your turn.

Reactions – Yellow

Reactions are the only cards that can be played on another player’s turn. They are used to counter actions or redirect police actions. A reaction only happens once and then the card is discarded.

Actions/Reactions – Red and Yellow

These cards can be used either way. Once you use the card, it is discarded. An example would be the “Couch” card. You can either play it to double the number of fire rioters added in one turn, or it can negate an attempt to put out a fire.

Law Enforcement – Blue

These cards can hinder other players’ riots. Law Enforcement cards are a little different. They have a force number and an activation number. The activation number determines how large a riot has to be before the card can be used. The force number is how many 6-sided dice can be rolled to send rioters home. You would send home one rioter for each 5 or 6 that is rolled. These cards can also be used against fire cards or topless rioters (yeah…you heard me).

Leaders/Student Leaders – Green

These cards are put out on the table and can be used once each turn. That means that a lot of these types of cards can add a lot of rioters to your riot in one turn.

Permanents – White

These cards also are played on the table and used once each turn. Both this type of card and the green cards have directions to follow on them to tell you how many rioters get added in a turn.

You start the game by dealing 3 of the 60 cards to each player. Place the rest of the cards in the center of the table. Every player has to state his or her reason for rioting. I mean, you can’t get feisty for nothing! Then you determine play order by a roll of a die (which is included! A very nice plus). Each player, in turn, draws a card and then takes all their actions. Remember, you can have a lot of cards in front of you that can be used. But you can only play one card out of your hand in a turn. If a player decides not to play a new card during the turn, they get one free rioter. All of the actions and card playing can be done in any order, so there is a little strategy involved.

Our group found this game pretty fun, but the replay value to be a little low. The game play is solid and the rules are pretty well written. And while there is some strategy involved, it just seems like there isn’t a whole lot to this game. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as sometimes easy is good, some gamers may be looking for a little more.

However, this game is enjoyable and makes a good “quickie game” addition to your game closet.

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Mattias Persson — 2005-09-20T17:43:48+00:00

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Mattias Persson — 2005-09-20T17:43:48+00:00

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Mattias Persson — 2005-09-20T17:43:48+00:00

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Mattias Persson — 2005-09-20T17:43:48+00:00

Dual purpose card: The couch

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Mattias Persson — 2005-09-20T17:43:47+00:00

Cards and riot tokens

Thread: User Review

dice-o-matic — 2004-06-19T15:41:17+00:00

Riot is a multi-player card game from Green Dragon Creations that allows you to start and control your own university riot in the safety of your own home. Of course, there have to be rules to keep things orderly. I mean, what would a riot be without order?

In this game, 2-6 players compete to see who will be the first to get 20 rioters on their side. In the basic game, you win immediately once you get your 20th rioter. In the advanced game, you have to have 20 at the beginning of your turn. Basically, you get your rioters through the play of cards. You can also play cards to remove rioters from other players. Sound simple? It is.

There are 6 card types in Riot with different color-coding. They are:

Actions – Red

Like it says. An action. You can add rioters to your riot or remove rioters from someone else’s. Some of the actions require a die roll or a riot to be at a certain level (i.e. number of rioters.) These may only be played on your turn.

Reactions – Yellow

Reactions are the only cards that can be played on another player’s turn. They are used to counter actions or redirect police actions. A reaction only happens once and then the card is discarded.

Actions/Reactions – Red and Yellow

These cards can be used either way. Once you use the card, it is discarded. An example would be the “Couch” card. You can either play it to double the number of fire rioters added in one turn, or it can negate an attempt to put out a fire.

Law Enforcement – Blue

These cards can hinder other players’ riots. Law Enforcement cards are a little different. They have a force number and an activation number. The activation number determines how large a riot has to be before the card can be used. The force number is how many 6-sided dice can be rolled to send rioters home. You would send home one rioter for each 5 or 6 that is rolled. These cards can also be used against fire cards or topless rioters (yeah…you heard me).

Leaders/Student Leaders – Green

These cards are put out on the table and can be used once each turn. That means that a lot of these types of cards can add a lot of rioters to your riot in one turn.

Permanents – White

These cards also are played on the table and used once each turn. Both this type of card and the green cards have directions to follow on them to tell you how many rioters get added in a turn.

You start the game by dealing 3 of the 60 cards to each player. Place the rest of the cards in the center of the table. Every player has to state his or her reason for rioting. I mean, you can’t get feisty for nothing! Then you determine play order by a roll of a die (which is included! A very nice plus). Each player, in turn, draws a card and then takes all their actions. Remember, you can have a lot of cards in front of you that can be used. But you can only play one card out of your hand in a turn. If a player decides not to play a new card during the turn, they get one free rioter. All of the actions and card playing can be done in any order, so there is a little strategy involved.

Our group found this game pretty fun, but the replay value to be a little low. The game play is solid and the rules are pretty well written. And while there is some strategy involved, it just seems like there isn’t a whole lot to this game. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as sometimes easy is good, some gamers may be looking for a little more.

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Lobo — 2002-08-25T18:02:49+00:00