Dan Poole
United States
Goldsboro
North Carolina
Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!!
We're charging our battery. And now we're full of energy. We are the robots. We're functioning automatik. And we are dancing mechanik. We are the robots
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Gene Pool is a card game in which 2 players play tug-of-war with a 6 piece strand of DNA in order to create a gene sequence that matches the sequence listed on their disease card(s).
The game consists of 12 base pair cards, 8 one-year disease cards, 2 two-year disease cards and 2 player aid cards.
Each player takes a disease card which he keeps secret. These disease cards, when turned in, are worth 1 or 2 years worth of research (goal is 9 years). The one-year disease cards have 4 base pairs in a sequence, the 2-year cards have 5. Each player gets 1 cytosine-guanine (CG) base pair card and 1 adenine-thymine (AT) card.
[Side note: If one uses the anology that DNA is a ladder, then a base pair would be considered a ladder rung. There are 4 different bases; cytosine always pairs with guanine, and adenine always pairs with thymine; therefore there are 4 possibilities: CG, GC, AT, TA. The sequence of base pairs serve only 1 function: to "code" for proteins. The base pairs seperate, "unzipping" the DNA. RNA comes along and reads the base sequence; every sequence of 3 bases (i.e. CAG) codes for 1 amino acid, of which there are 20 different ones. A protein molecule consists of a particular sequence of amino acids].
To continue.... On a turn a player may add (insert) or take away (delete), replace (mutate) or flip (invert) bases to try and match up the sequence on the disease card. The problem is that your opponent is trying to do the same thing which results in a tug-of war. Note that inversions may involve more than adjacent card. Also note all these actions require the play of a base pair card from your hand with the exception of the inversion action; therefore, it is prudent to be on the look out for sneaky, effective inversions. When a sequence is matched to that on one of your cards, you then turn in that disease card and claim the alloted resarch points The first player to receive 9 years of research points wins. In addition to the above mentioned actions a player may 1) draw a new base card (his choice of AT or CG) or 2) he may draw another disease card (can hold no more then 2 at a time). Note that each player may perform only 1 of any action per turn, though a player gets a new disease card as a free action if he turns in the last one in his hand.
My ratings are as follows:
Theme: 8 nice idea for a game.
Rulebook: 9 rules are printed on a sheet of paper. They are easy to follow without ambiguities.
Mechanics: 8 This game requires clever, cunning maneuvers to dupe your opponent. It is kind of similar to Phoenix, which is another game I like a lot
Strategy 8 There is a little luck, though it is a pleasant suprise when your opponent, to their chagrin, helps you with one of your own sequences.
Ashetics/components 8 Even though there are not many bits, the cards are very thick and colorful with nice artwork
Overall Fun Factor 8 Though I am not a huge fan of card games (with certain exceptions such as St. Petersburg, Blue Moon and San Juan), I really like this one. It is light and quick, but at the same time quite tricky. It is educational in that players learn about DNA structure and various genetic diseases; each disease card has a nice summary to add a little chrome to the game. This also makes a nice travel game due to its small size.
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Jon David Faeth
United States
Hilliard
Ohio
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voynix wrote: The game consists of 12 base pair cards, 8 one-year disease cards, 2 two-year disease cards and 2 player aid cards.
My copy has six 2-year cards. Was that a typo, or did you get shorted somehow?
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Dan Poole
United States
Goldsboro
North Carolina
Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!!
We're charging our battery. And now we're full of energy. We are the robots. We're functioning automatik. And we are dancing mechanik. We are the robots
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That was a mistake; I should have typed "6". Thanks for noticing the error!!
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