Game: Nodwick: The Card Game

Thread: Re: Nodwick: The Video Review

jollyrogergames — 2008-07-23T23:29:31+00:00

Nice review.

Yes Frank, you have that rule there...

And the game will be reprinted but with a different theme--it's a question of 'when' rather than 'if'.

Thread: Re: Sadistic, Yes. Fun, yes. Deep, No.

gordon1018 — 2008-07-19T04:46:34+00:00

fbranham wrote:
Nice review.

1. Is there really a rule about letting the remaining players continue playing until the timer runs out after the first X players complete? I don't think we play it that way. (I did write the rules. And, no, I can't remember.)

2. The timer was inspired by Token Ring / FDDI, which has a timeout token that passes around the ring.

3. The original theme was Evil Geniuses building monsters out of parts. Aaron Williams chose the Piffany cards. (Piffany is the cleric in his Nodwick D&D-like comic. She's a perpetual optimist, which is why Rose Colored Glasses and Happy Thoughts are types of healing. )

4. I was once invited to play a game at Dragoncon by a woman and her 4 children. They ranged from about 6 to 12 in age. Somehow the idea of Duct-taping someone's Spleen in place didn't phase any of them.

5. The entire game was originally a small mechanic in a larger strategy game. Trying to do this real-time trading *AND* the weird resource farming / power base building thing at the same time caused a playtester's head to explode.

6. Jolly Roger doesn't have plans to reprint it, but I hear vicious rumors of a new edition with the original theme occasionally.

yep, there is a rule about letting the others finish. The rules state that the other players have a few seconds, until the timer completely runs out, to complete their henchmen.

thanks for the backgroundon the game. I really appreciate you taking the time to check out our review. Good luck in the future. We love this game, and we're having a blast on the reviews.

Thread: Re: Sadistic, Yes. Fun, yes. Deep, No.

fbranham — 2008-07-18T23:46:08+00:00

Nice review.

1. Is there really a rule about letting the remaining players continue playing until the timer runs out after the first X players complete? I don't think we play it that way. (I did write the rules. And, no, I can't remember.)

2. The timer was inspired by Token Ring / FDDI, which has a timeout token that passes around the ring.

3. The original theme was Evil Geniuses building monsters out of parts. Aaron Williams chose the Piffany cards. (Piffany is the cleric in his Nodwick D&D-like comic. She's a perpetual optimist, which is why Rose Colored Glasses and Happy Thoughts are types of healing. )

4. I was once invited to play a game at Dragoncon by a woman and her 4 children. They ranged from about 6 to 12 in age. Somehow the idea of Duct-taping someone's Spleen in place didn't phase any of them.

5. The entire game was originally a small mechanic in a larger strategy game. Trying to do this real-time trading *AND* the weird resource farming / power base building thing at the same time caused a playtester's head to explode.

6. Jolly Roger doesn't have plans to reprint it, but I hear vicious rumors of a new edition with the original theme occasionally.

Thread: Nodwick: The Video Review

gordon1018 — 2008-07-18T19:48:03+00:00

This review is intended as an introduction/accompaniment to the video review available at the following link. I tried embedding the Youtube in the post but I got an error message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juaK2kxMcyQ

Youtube Video

Nodwick: The Card game is a great filler game that takes almost no time to set up, minimal time to teach and a miniscule time to play.

The components are simply a deck of cards and a timer.

The game also contains a Comic book which serves to give the background behind the game plot.

The game theme is a odd and sadistic tale of the dismemberment and horrible fate of fantasy adventurers, and more specifically, their henchmen.

After an "Olympic" game involving blades and other implements of torture, the henchmen have suffered a fate that requires a little "bandaging". A Character in the comic, named Piffany, has the grisly duty of patching back together the henchmen from a collection of parts in a bucket to ready them for the next event.

The game is played in Real-time with not set game turns and in essence is a set collection game that pays bonuses for collecting the same of one color, but the realy goal is just to finish before everyone else does and the timer runs out; hence leaving you with an incomplete lackey to do your bidding. Points are scored based on the completeness of your henchmen, with bonuses given for finishing first and for collecting a lot of the same color parts.

I'm not going to go into gameplay, preferring to simply give a feel and flavor for the game. The video goes a lot more in depth. Please watch the video and consider it to be a pat of the complete review. PLease leave comments here and on Youtube for us.

Also: to receive notifications when we post new videos, you can subscribe to our channel on youtube.

www.youtube.com/gamesoverboard

Thread: Re: Out of Print

Friendless — 2007-12-10T03:23:36+00:00

Blademaster777 wrote:
I got my copy just last week from my Secret Santa. I can't wait till it hits the table.

I'll play it with you.

Well done Frank!

Thread: Re: Out of Print

Blademaster777 — 2007-12-07T22:54:53+00:00

fbranham wrote:
Hey wow, there's a first for me. Nodwick is now out of print. Jolly Roger still has 20 or so copies in his warehouse, and there are still some in distribution and shops.

So grab em if you want one.

I got my copy just last week from my Secret Santa. I can't wait till it hits the table.

Thread: Out of Print

fbranham — 2007-12-07T22:24:35+00:00

Hey wow, there's a first for me. Nodwick is now out of print. Jolly Roger still has 20 or so copies in his warehouse, and there are still some in distribution and shops.

So grab em if you want one.

Thread: Re: Rules question

fbranham — 2007-02-20T23:42:21+00:00

You only get to complete one Henchman. You cannot start a second one, nor can you replace parts of your henchman.

That really forces you to watch what other players are doing. If one person tears through their henchman and goes out first...but with mismatched parts and low point cards--that player will lose if the other players are going slower and picking up better parts.

Thread: Rules question

smithhemb — 2007-02-16T21:02:40+00:00

Do you get color bonus points (a) for all your henchmen (b) only for henchmen you've completed (c) only if you've completed the requisite number of henchmen?

We've been playing 3 player and it's usually the case that someone has one completed henchman and one almost-complete henchman at games' end. We assume that person gets Piffany points for all cards laid and, obviously, no bonus for finishing early. But the rules don't seem clear re whether/to what extent such a player is eligible for color bonus points.

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Nekura — 2005-09-02T12:39:16+00:00

Game played on CCGWorkshop.com

Thread: Re: Critical Mass; 4 players; Can I Get Some Duct Tape Over Here?

Friendless — 2005-06-18T07:16:45+00:00

I just sat down to check whether Frank bungled the rules, and the answer is that I'm a complete idiot who has been playing the game wrong. With the correct rules, nobody would run out of cards.

What we were doing was that when we played a body part we would keep the Piffany cards in front of us, thus taking them out of circulation. If everyone does this, the game becomes really hard to finish with 6 players! I also missed the rule about taking 2 cards immediately when you play a part.

The reason that we didn't notice was because the game still worked really well with 3 or 4 players, so of course I didn't reread the rules after we'd played the game successfully. Sorry to cause you stress Frank, it's a false alarm.

John

Thread: Re: Critical Mass; 4 players; Can I Get Some Duct Tape Over Here?

fbranham — 2005-06-14T19:11:56+00:00

Did I bungle the rules?

All cards which are discarded (pairs of body parts and Piffany cards) just go into a big discard pile in the center. All of them will be returned to the game.

In a 5 or 6 player game, the pile will almost surely be turned over once in the game, and there aren't enough Piffany cards to complete a 5 or 6 player game in the deck.

There is one extra trick you've not picked up on. There are 8 different colors of Henchmen. In a 5 or 6 player game, you REALLY want to nail down a full set of body parts as early as possible. It is possible to be screwed out of a part if you aren't careful.

The game still works (barely) with 7, and we have played it with 13 and two copies. (With 13, we used 2 timers going around the table.)

Moo,
Frank

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Friendless — 2005-06-04T14:59:16+00:00

Piffany cards

Thread: For Sadistic Adventurers

Friendless — 2005-06-03T23:43:22+00:00

Although I don't know much about the Nodwick cartoon, I bought this game because it sounded funny and I thought the kids I play games with would like it. Sure, it's sadistic, but I have never met any people as sadistic as little boys. If adults behaved like little boys they'd be in jail quick smart. So I was not worried about this game having a bad influence on my son. At least while he is playing sadistic card games he is not hitting people with swords or biting the dog.

Although I read the (excellent) other review on this site, I didn't know what to expect, because things I read about games just don't stick in my head until I've got the bits in front of me to make it concrete. I got the game, and found a Nodwick comic included. Bonus! It's relevant to the game's theme, and gives you an idea of what to expect. So, I read the rules. Then I read the rules again. And I just couldn't figure it out. It seemed like there was a page missing or something...

Here's what they said (paraphrased for legal reasons, of course). You've got some cards which are body parts or Piffany cards, Piffany being the cleric who can create live bodies out of dead bits. The Piffany cards are things like duct tape, happy thoughts, life force kickstart, etc, which all make sense in the Nodwick universe. Your objective is to play 6 different body parts in front of you, so as to construct a whole henchman. To play a body part, you need to have the appropriate Piffany cards, e.g. a head might require a duct tape, a staff of harmony and a rose-coloured glasses. To get the appropriate Piffany cards, you can trade with other players.

That all makes sense, so here's the weird part. There are no turns. You just do this trading and playing thing all the time. There is a 60 second timer which is passed around, as well, but I repeat, what you're allowed to do has nothing to do with where the timer is. The rule about the timer is, when you pass it to the next player, you can draw a card. On the other hand, if someone notices the timer being expired in front of you, they can call TIME! and you pass it on without receiving a card.

You might think that sounds silly, because the timer would just rush around the players and they'd get as many cards as they wanted. What actually happens is that the timer arrives at someone and they have such a handful of cards that they ignore it while they try to sort something out. Then when they're organised, they pass it on and take a card. So there are enough things to think about that the timer doesn't move particularly fast, and sometimes when you need another card it is there for you to pass on.

There's an optional rule that says you can take a card even if someone does call TIME! on you, but we don't play that because I like the idea of being penalised for not being able to do 3 things (manage cards, trade, watch timer) at once.

So the first time we played this game my son (8yo) and I recruited Mummy to help us. It's really good! It really works! We had previously played Bohnanza, so we had the trading thing working, and the timer is a nice way to regulate the introduction of new cards. I subsequently played again with my son, a 7yo boy and a 13yo girl, and they didn't really deal with it at all. The little boy couldn't hold his cards well enough to organise himself (you can easily end up with moire than 10 cards), and the girl couldn't do 3 things at once so she kept stopping the timer to organise her hand (you're not supposed to do that). Those same kids were competent playing Bohnanza, so I would say that Nodwick is harder than Bohnanza, although sillier and more chaotic. My most recent play was with 4 gamers (including my son), and was very successful (I have submitted a session report for that game, so check it out). So this game suits a strange market, in that although the theme is aimed at children, the gameplay would not be suitable for all of them.

Physically, the game is perfectly adequate. The box is good and solid (not a card box), the cards seem solid, the timer is fine, and the rules are clear, even if you don't really get them at first.

I quite like this game. You'll need to make your own assessment on whether it fits your gaming needs, but I'd say think hard before buying it for anyone under 10. My 8yo got it instantly, and once he figured out how to hold lots of cards, played well; but he is a gamer at heart and many children are not. For grown-up gamers, this is a very good trading game in the vein of Bohnanza, but I'd say a bit more fun and a little more chaotic.

Now, I need some happy thoughts, anyone got any happy thoughts?

Thread: Critical Mass; 4 players; Can I Get Some Duct Tape Over Here?

Friendless — 2005-06-03T23:10:13+00:00

After our morbid game of Gloom, we decided to cheer ourselves up with some body parts. Also, we only had half an hour until we were supposed to vacate the church hall, so Modern Art missed out again and my ambition of playing Hoity Toity was not realised for this session.

Players: Friendless, Harley, Phoeniix and Nigel.

Harley and I had played before, so I explained the rules to Phoeniix and Nigel. They didn't believe me. You mean there are no turns? How can that work? That's exactly the reaction I had when I read them, and which I maintained until I tried it out and discovered that it works pretty nicely actually.

Despite the scepticism, we quickly settled into the game. I thought there weren't really enough body parts available at first, but of course they showed up soon enough. I would like to comment on who was quick to lay down parts, but I was too busy looking at my cards and watching the timer to even notice. This is a game that demands concentration - because there are no turns, you are always doing things. I think I laid down the first part, but nobody was noticeably slow.

There is a time in the middle of the game where you have accumulated body parts that you want to play, and you have accumulated a bunch of other body parts as well. At that time, it feels like you have nothing but body parts and that you'll never lay anything down again because all the Piffany cards have gone. What you need to do at that stage is to start trading body parts, so you get some pairs the same colour and can start discarding them. I did a deal with Nigel and one with Phoeniix which boosted me out of the stagnation and got some more Piffany cards into circulation. Once you're past that hump, it's getting near the end of the game.

We found that towards the end of this game there was a definite lack of Piffany cards. I can't imagine this working with 6 at all, as there wouldn't be enough Piffany stuff to go round. When I completed my henchman, the other guys looked hungrily at the 4 or 5 cards I still had in my hand. I just checked the rules, and it says those cards are eliminated from the game. However it seemed sensible to me to return them to the discard pile because some of them were needed to complete the game.

After a little more trading, Nigel also completed his henchman, so he and I received one bonus point. I received 3 points for having 3 parts of Kurtzwick, which I didn't plan at all. Final scores:

Friendless 19, Nigel 16, Harley 13, Phoeniix 15.

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EJKemp — 2005-03-19T14:28:30+00:00

Thread: Re:Session Report

Fawkes — 2004-11-05T07:16:02+00:00

snooze, why is your TtR session report under Nodwick?

Thread: Session Report

Godeke — 2004-10-08T15:20:55+00:00

We bought this game for my son, but it was just sitting there while the regular group of four adults were there, and we were a bit pressed for time. So we figured, it should go pretty quickly and pulled it out.

A quick review of the rules (I read rules prior to the game sessions so the second reading makes more sense to me and I can answer questions with hopefully more authority) and we were off. To be honest, the dynamics of the game are not apparent from reading the rules: the use of the timer seemed to imply that one player at a time would be in a hectic trading frenzy. That isn't the case at all, this is Pit for the new era, with everyone making trades at all times. The only advantage to having the timer is when you get it you can hand it off and draw a card. The trick with the timer is to try to wait for someone to be involved in a trade and sneak it over to them.

Anyway, after the first game, where the confusion turned into a fun card trading fray, we played the game three more times in a row! Cards flying everyone, people getting more creative with trades (showing any useless henchmen to try to trade into a pair that then can be turned in for a draw and similar) I tried various tactics, ploys and trading strategies. Not a single one worked out: I came in dead last in all four games (the fourth was played with the express purpose of letting me have a chance at being somewhere besides dead last).

Despite the sound thrashing I got, I enjoyed this quite a bit. Now I just have to figure out what I'm doing *wrong*.

Thread: User Review

Godeke — 2004-10-08T15:13:38+00:00

First and formost, we should get one thing out of the way. Nodwick: The Card Game is a shares much of its nature with the classic game Pit. If you hate Pit, this game will not change your mind about simultaneous card trading games. It is loud, chaotic and obnoxious. On top of that it has a comic characters that were dismembered being reassembled hastily and poorly (and mixed and matched) as its theme, which perhaps compounds the loud, obnoxious chaotic gameplay by association. If this indicates you aren't interested, go ahead and stop reading now, nothing I say will change your opinion of this game.

As mentioned above, the theme involves reassembly of a character, in this case Nodwick or one of his henchman cohorts. Nodwick: The Card Game takes its theme from the comic "Nodwick", which chronicles the misadventures of the titular character. In the comic, Nodwick is a henchman (which in the fantasy genre is often the target of heaps of abuse and piles of things to carry). Nodwick has worse luck than most fantasy henchmen as not only is he burdened with immense amounts of stuff, but he tends to die. A lot. The parties cleric, Piffany, has unconventional methods of healing which involve lots of duct tape and happy thoughts.

In the game, Nodwick and several other henchmen have been participating in the Henchgames, a vicious and evil parody of Olympics in which every event is a deathtrap. Nodwick and the other henchmen have been eviscerated by the previous event and each player tries to reconstruct a henchman to participate in the next event from the various body parts: Head, Arms, Torso, Legs, Spleen and Spirit. Players can play a body part from any henchman as long as that body part has not already been used on their henchman. Each body part has a set of Piffany cards that are required to play it, usually two or three cards. You may mix and match henchmen (indicated by color and name) but you get bonus points for each matching body part in the largest group of matching henchman parts, so it is best to try to complete your henchman from mostly one henchman's part, if possible.

The first players to reconstruct a full henchman (comprised by one of each of the body parts) gets a bonus for completion and also the benefit of scoring points for each of the six cards that comprise their henchman, whereas the other players will have partially complete henchmen and no bonuses. The winner of a round is simply the player with the most points.

All that is odd enough, but the mechanism for gameplay is what sets Nodwick apart from most games. Instead of turns, players may offer trades at any time with anyone. Unlike Pit however, not all the cards are available at once, instead there is a draw pile that can be drawn from in three situations: discard two matching cards to draw one replacement, play a henchman part down to draw two new cards or pass the timer for one card.

Timer did you say?

In the game there is a thirty second sand timer. When the the game starts one player flips the timer over in front of themself. At any time you can simply hand it to the next player clockwise and then draw a card. When you get the timer you may flip it over, or not, your choice. If however the timer runs out of time any player may say "time!" and the player who has it must flip and pass it to the next player, forfeting their card draw.

The introduction of the timer adds an odd element. If you have a lot of cards in your hand and others are struggling, hanging on to the timer may make some sense as you execute trades or lay down multiple cards on your henchman with some of the time pressure off your back, but most of the time everyone tosses the timer like it was a live grenade. This means that you are drawing cards very quickly and must process the possibilities that the cards offer just as quickly. It also means your hand may grow to fairly unreasonable size if you aren't successful in making favorable trades. There is a side benefit to playing out a body part when you can: fewer cards to juggle. However, playing parts down too early may weaken your position for trades and tip your hand as to your needs.

Does the gameplay hold up? This is going to depend on your group. As mentioned at the beginning, this is a very boisterous and chaotic game. Fortunately for me, I have a boisterous and chaotic gaming group, so we fell into it quite quickly with trade offers, counter offers and outright snatching of cards when a trade was agreed to. I wouldn't recommend this as the only game for the evening, but it is a great way to blow off some steam after a game like Modern Art where your brain may be partially melted from analysis, or as a quick game when you only have 20-30 minutes to play. Everyone at our table enjoyed the game and has suggested that it be brought to the table again and again. I think this is because it restores the reason we play games: fun. For that reason I have given this game a 8... it is of a perfect length for a game of its chaotic nature so I am willing to suggest it and see little reason to turn down a game. This score is higher than Nodwick is getting from the other Geeks, but reflects our particular groups affinity for chaos. If your group prefers to ponder serious and weighty things over fun factor, avoid this game. However, unlike many novelty card games, this one is not based around reading funny text or vicious backstabbing attacks on your neighbors, just high speed trading and lots of fun.

Thread: Session Report

snoozefest — 2004-07-15T15:35:42+00:00

Me, Saige and Mary (both on a dinner/game break from intense fighting in Baldur's Gate). S's first time with Ticket to Ride.

This is still a fun game. S, a first timer, seemed to get it pretty quickly. Unfortunately, it turned out she misheard one of the rules and only kept 1 ticket to start with. We didn't find out till the end. Obviously it would have changed her building some - she spend most of the game in the northwest, building 5- and 6-length tracks. I had kept the LA-Miami and SF-Atlanta tickets (gave up Santa Fe-Vancouver), so although I didn't score huge during the game, I made up for it at the end. M built nice steady gains throughout, but had low-value tickets, for a much smaller gain (15?) at the end, plus 10 for longest route. Still, I won 110-93M-85S.

Fun game, but I still don't understand how to really play it. From my reading, people score big by getting a bunch of extra tickets. I always would like to do that at the start of the game, but I never seem to get central tracks and have enough flexibility to make my initial tickets and get new ones! Clearly I need more practice. Fortunately, it's a fun game, and short, so that shouldn't be a problem!

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DjihEf — 2004-05-13T20:26:19+00:00

Nodwick Box Art

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bonkheadmom — 2003-12-18T21:58:51+00:00

Thread: Preview

msaari — 2003-12-05T06:25:07+00:00

I got a bunch of Jolly Roger games yesterday and the first one I tried was Nodwick: The Card Game. The title is necessary, because Nodwick is originally a web comic by Aaron Williams. That means, of course, that the game has rather decent graphics.

The game, designed by Frank Branham (the author of the brilliant Dia de los Muertos), can trace it's roots back to early 20th century. It's descended from Pit, the manic trading game from 1919. Only this time players aren't trading for commodities...

Players take part in the Henchgames. Unfortunately, the competitors didn't do well in the 100 meter Dash of Death and are all in pieces. Players must re-assemble the competitors, using mighty healing powers such as duct-tape. Players get bonus points, if most of the parts in the assembled henchman belong to a one person.

The game moves on in real-time. Players can freely trade with each other, with whatever conditions they find reasonable. There's two main ways, either "give me spleen! I need also feet! I can give you duct tape!" or "two body parts for two body parts, anybody?". If you have a body part and healing cards mentioned in it, you can discard the healing cards to play the body part. There are six different body parts (head, torso, arms, legs, spleen and spirit) and eight different henchmen (colours). You must play one each body part - no two-headed spleenless henchmen allowed!

You can get more cards when you add a body part and also with the help of a hourglass. There's an one-minute hourglass included in the game. You can pass it to next player to draw a card. When you get the hourglass, you have five seconds to turn it over, if you wish. Of course, if it's low, just pass it to the next player! If you have the timer when it runs out and somebody notices, you'll have to pass it on without drawing a card. That's an interesting mechanic!

Round ends, when two or three players finish their henchmen. Winner of the round is probably one of them - everybody scores the number of healing cards they have played (ie. number of icons on the body part cards) and those who have completed their henchmen get bonus points for the colour they have most in their henchman. If you manage to use all the right pieces, that's six bonus points! And then it's time for another round! One round takes perhaps 10 minutes of time.

Nodwick doesn't have very good ratings at the Geek, but that's probably because of the real time mechanic. However, real time is an attraction for me. I love good high-pressure real time games and Nodwick certainly fits the bill. It's as hectic as Pit, only more hilarious.

Thread: Session Report

arneson — 2002-12-27T17:20:48+00:00

NODWICK HENCH GAMES

This wild card game is based on the Nodwick comic books, which you can read online at http://www.gamespy.com/comics/nodwick/

The premise is that the annual Hench Games have left a bunch of henchman in bad shape, each cut up into six parts. Your goal is to put together a complete henchman -- head, torso, arms, legs, spleen and spirit. If you can do it using parts that originally belonged to the same henchman, so much the better.

The game bears similarities to the classic trading game Pit, but it's much more than that.

In order to play a henchpart (head, torso, etc.), you also need to have in hand the proper Piffany cards (Piffany is the healer who puts henchmen back together again). Getting the right mix isn't always easy -- which is why you need to trade cards with other players. Trading can be done in any manner acceptable to the players involved, so you might just trade two cards blindly -- or you may say, "I need a spleen. Who's willing to trade me a spleen?"

Two mechanisms keep things moving at a fast pace.

First, a one-minute sand timer is continually circulating among the players. Every time you pass it on to the next person, you get to draw one new card. If you're ever caught with the timer having run out in front of you, you don't get to draw the card. (The timer gives each player decent control over the pace of the game. If things are moving too fast for you, just hold onto the timer for a while. Too slow, pass it on immediately.)

Second, you can turn in two cards from the same henchman, or two identical Piffany cards, in exchange for drawing one new one.

The game ends when a certain number of henchman are completed. (e.g. A five-player game ends after three players have completed henchmen.) Tom was the first to complete his henchman, earning bonus points for that, but he used parts from five different henchmen to put his together. I managed to both complete my henchman second and do it using parts all from the same henchman, earning bonus points for both accomplishments.

This is an excellent game, and I can see it becoming a regular closer for us. The only question I have is whether the "turn in two cards from the same henchman, or two identical Piffany cards, in exchange for drawing one new one" rule should be modified slightly. I'd suggest turning in *any* two henchman cards and/or *any* two Piffany cards. But I'm not sure that any change is necessary; this was our first play, after all. :-)

Scores: Erik, 23; Dana, 21; Tom, 20; Beth, 18; Mark, 18

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fbranham — 2002-09-11T12:03:40+00:00