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VENUS NEEDS MEN turned out to be that rare, delightful discovery that justifies all the hours my wife and I waste demoing every no-budget game by every no-name company with a booth at GenCon.
Like most independent designers, VNM creator John Velonis begins with a provocative premise: various alien species competing to see who can abduct the most humans. However, unlike most first-time designers, Velonis fleshes out his concept with elegant mechanics (even with dozens of special rules and abilities for the different kinds of aliens, the play never feels clunky nor unbalanced), and shiny, retro-sci-fi graphics that are as polished as anything being offered by Wizards of the Coast or Fantasy Flight. It adds up to a little-known, new game that feels like a well-loved classic (and, given sufficient word of mouth or help from a major publisher, might well become one).
Up to six players can participate in a game of VNM, each one commanding a different species, vying to be the first race to abduct X number of humans (represented by poker chips stacked upon various regions of a world map). Among the invaders are the Venutians, whose irresistible beauty makes it easier for them to herd human slaves into their ships; the Martians, whose mind control rays can turn rival ships into tools; the organic-life-hating Plutonians, who have the comparatively easier objective of annihilating - rather than abducting - humans; the aquatic inhabitants of Ganymede, who can scoop up humans from the safety of the ocean depths; and the creepy Titan parasites, who can "infect" humans and spread like mutant bird flu. Lastly, one player can accept the thankless duty of defending Earth against the others, evacuating the populace to a secret Antarctic bunker.
Turns involve building ships, moving from deep space to Earth's orbit then down to the surface, taking pot shots at opponents' vessels, scooping up humans by the millions, or researching technologies to let you do all of the above more efficiently. There's a bit of dice rolling and rule-breaking "zap" cards to introduce a dash of chaos into the proceedings.
Besides their main power, each species has a plethora of other special technologies (the Titans have devastating weaponry, the Martians can crank out ships extra efficiently) that wind up impacting the game just as much. What's amazing is how evenly matched all of the aliens prove to be, despite all their potentially unbalancing abilities. Yes, you'll be infuriated by how the Martians can turn your ships against you or how the Titans just keep spreading no matter how many of them you take out - but rest assured your opponents are just as infuriated by your powers, whatever they may be. No one species has an inherent advantage over the others, and winning is ultimately a matter of who employs their alien abilities most effectively.
In fact, the only real complaint about VNM is that it might be *too* balanced. So far, every game we've played has come down to the wire - with every player in contention up to the very last turn - to the point where I wonder if it's even possible for one player to dominate a game via a brilliantly executed strategy. If it doesn't prove possible to become a better player with time, then that could be problematic... but the good news is that I don't have a problem playing a dozen more games to find out!
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Posted Tue Sep 12,2006 08:39 pm
