The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Inelastic economics meets monster horror chiller theatre. Nyahahahah.

In Parts Unknown, you play neither a hero, mad scientist, or monster. Instead, you play the most important part -- the merchant! On each player's turn, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, moves clockwise around the board, Warren Buffet style, and, depending on what space he lands on, creates demands for a category of body part: Extremities, Grey Matter, Gizmos, or Giblets. As the merchants, you and your cronies have to balance undercutting each other, and overpricing your wares to satisfy fickle demand.

Cheapass' classic "resource driven" style pervades the game. If you sold your stock too quickly, you can buy more body part cards, but the more you buy, the more you pay. If you need to clear your shelves of poorly-selling wares, toss them in the bargain bin -- which is automatically sold at half of your greedy overpriced competitor's goods! If you price your parts too low, your competition can buy your stock.

Parts Unknown has a unique Supply / Demand system worth mentioning. If the merchants don't have enough product, the game board keeps track of how many body parts of a category the merchants didn't sell. This amount is added to the next time this category is in demand. If this number exceeds a certain amount, the population of the town not-so-mysteriously disappears...

If you like capitalism and ancient Europe, this game's for you!

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Parts Unknown
Author: James Ernest Category: Board game Company/Publisher: Cheapass Games Cost: $5 Page count: n/a ISBN: n/a Playtest Review by Cedric Chin on 11/10/98. Genre tags: none	Inelastic economics meets monster horror chiller theatre. Nyahahahah. In Parts Unknown, you play neither a hero, mad scientist, or monster. Instead, you play the most important part -- the merchant! On each player's turn, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, moves clockwise around the board, Warren Buffet style, and, depending on what space he lands on, creates demands for a category of body part: Extremities, Grey Matter, Gizmos, or Giblets. As the merchants, you and your cronies have to balance undercutting each other, and overpricing your wares to satisfy fickle demand. Cheapass' classic "resource driven" style pervades the game. If you sold your stock too quickly, you can buy more body part cards, but the more you buy, the more you pay. If you need to clear your shelves of poorly-selling wares, toss them in the bargain bin -- which is automatically sold at half of your greedy overpriced competitor's goods! If you price your parts too low, your competition can buy your stock. Parts Unknown has a unique Supply / Demand system worth mentioning. If the merchants don't have enough product, the game board keeps track of how many body parts of a category the merchants didn't sell. This amount is added to the next time this category is in demand. If this number exceeds a certain amount, the population of the town not-so-mysteriously disappears... If you like capitalism and ancient Europe, this game's for you! Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)