Dave R
United States
Springfield
Massachusetts
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I was first intrudeced to the Awful Green Things of outer space in the 80's when TSR version was still in print, and not quite as "cheeply produced" as other versions. Nevertheless, what's a cutout cardboard counter to a modern world of wooden weoples? But if the theme of the game draws you in enough to buy it, you'll probably find it to be curiously tactical for a game that screams gimik.
The game begins with a guided setup, scattering the crew about the ship, and confining some constituency of Green monsters in the form of adults, babies, and eggs, to a remote corner of the ship where they have begun to grow and multiply. There are some token movements early on, afterwhich the alarm sounds and the battle for the spaceship Znutar begins.
Gameplay is classic counters, with each crew & monster having values for # of attack dice, constituency, and movement, but without all the worries of terrain effects, range, etc that tend to bog down wargames in the eyes of grognards.
The person playing the crew enjoys the use various weapons who's effects are unknown until they're tried on the monsters... when you discover that a raygun only makes them grow, but a can of food (zquarts) has the deadly effect of 5 dice to kill!!!
The beauty of playing the monsters is the ability to grow and multiply... forming swarmed attacks on vulnerable crew. And since the crew cannot be replenished, each crew-counter removed is a cherished trophy.
The silly pretense, the goofy cartoons, the rediculous weapons, and one-eyed monsters hiding in the garage, laying eggs, appear from the outside looking in to be one big gimmik. But in the end, this game delivers. Behind the silliness is a solid game of decisionmaking, tactics, and overall strategy that's light enough to draw from the wargamers and non-wargamers alike.
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