Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Does anyone remember...

...when TSR, formerly the owner of Dungeons & Dragons, published these tiny little games? They were sold in slim plastic cases that contained everything you needed to play, and they were cool. I had "Vampyre", "Revolt on Antares" and "They've Invaded Pleasantville", and there were three or four more if I recall correctly.

Vampyre: One side of the board depicted Transylvania, and as one of the characters from "Dracula" you chased the evil Count around the countryside, avoiding his traps and destroying his coffin, until you'd hounded him back to Castle Dracula. You then flipped over the board to see that selfsame castle, in which you'd prowl around, looking for the Count's primary coffin, which if you destroyed put an end to the master of the undead. The place was full of monsters, and you had to keep track of time because if you hadn't finished by game midnight, the monsters were replenished and you were back where you started.

Revolt on Antares: This war game had three scenarios: Revolt against Terra, the Silakkan Invasion, and Power Politics, but they were all great. Antares was divided into seven noble houses, each of whom had a specific psychic ability like illusion, hypnotism, precognition, etc. Admittedly, it was a stretch to call the woman who called lightning psychic, but what do you want from a game that fits inside a slim plastic case? I actually still have this game, which I have never unveiled at Game Night for no specific reason.

They've Invaded Pleasantville: This was a standard "aliens who look human" scenario, in the pleasant small town of, uh, Pleasantville. Anyway, you had to troll about town, killing aliens but (hopefully) avoiding killing townsfolk. Problem was you didn't know which was which until you'd already attacked, which was really only a problem if you cared about your fellow citizens. I didn't, so, you know.

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