The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Solo games: these words conjure memories of "Turn to section 124 and die" adventures, "put the suits in order" card games, and endlessly stale-mated Ogre/GEV games. Although gaming is largely a social hobby, a few intrepid designers still seek out the Grail of an enjoyable solo game. Fat Messiah Games' "Last Frontier: The Vesuvius Incident" may not replace Dungeons and Dragons as the game of choice for adventurers everywhere, but it does provide an interesting challenge for those nights when your friends are off having lives.

The Vesuvius Incident is made up of a 17" X 22", black and white map, a 24 page rulebook, 160 (count 'em!) color, cardboard counters, and a lovingly hand-crafted zip lock bag. The player controls a team of interplanetary warriors called the "Colonial Marine Corps." who intercept a distress signal from an orbiting space station. The Marines investigate and find the base overrun by hostile aliens. The Marines' goal is to explore the ship, account for the crew members, and escape with as many people alive as possible. If your games run anything like mine, this will be very few indeed. The Marines also face a time limit in the form of a decaying orbit, the length of which is random and unknown each game.

Game play consists of moving each marine around the map, rolling dice to see if any aliens or surviving crew members appear, fighting the people-eaters, and stumbling over malfunctioning robots and insane survivors. The strategic challenge of the game includes deciding how many marines to keep together in teams while covering enough ground to account for the crew. You will also have to decide when to risk exploring new rooms and when to hang back to make travel easier for the other characters. Eventually, you will have to make choices like whether to carry a wounded comrade back to safety or abandon him to save time. You also have to deal with random events such as weapon malfunctions, booby traps, and the possibility that the station's computer may try to self-destruct. Finally, just when you think you have the right balance of team members and weapons, one of your battle-hardened marines freaks out worse than Charles Manson hearing the Muzak version of "Lucy In the Sky" and starts firing at anything that moves.

Vesuvius provides an interesting and complex strategic challenge that remains involving even after numerous games. The random events and mystery of each new room ensure that you will not play the same story twice. The combat system is intricate enough to keep you on your toes and the chance that your marines might panic, combined with the chance that aliens will run away, means that battles are not simply dice-throwing exercises. The random time limit on the orbital decay keeps the pressure on as you never really know how many turns you have to get the job done.

Unfortunately, all this fun comes at a price: the time it takes to comprehend the rules. The Vesuvius Incident is not poorly written, but a rule-book weighing in at 24 pages plus two pages of errata, is a daunting task for all but the most experience gamers. FMG classifies the complexity of this game as "Medium." Any game that finds me saying "Damn, I forgot that gravity is in effect in the Chemlab!" can't be a medium. I had to read the rules several times before I stumbled through my first game. Only my most recent games have not exceeded the suggest two hour playing time. I often found myself forgetting to account for movement modifiers on my to-hit roles, not adding terrain modifiers to my movement rates, and not accounting for encumbrance. Finally, the two different turn types, exploration and combat, are not very intuitive or clear, yet the mechanic is extremely important to the game.

Although I would not recommend this game to casual players, experienced gamers will overcome the complex rules to enjoy the story and strategy provided by one of the better solo games I have played.

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

Last Frontier: The Vesuvius Incident
Author: Michael Wasson & Neal Sofge Category: Solo Game Company/Publisher: Fat Messiah Games Line: Last Frontier Cost: $10.00 Page count: 24 SKU: FMG 2010 Playtest Review by Brad Weier on 07/19/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction	Solo games: these words conjure memories of "Turn to section 124 and die" adventures, "put the suits in order" card games, and endlessly stale-mated Ogre/GEV games. Although gaming is largely a social hobby, a few intrepid designers still seek out the Grail of an enjoyable solo game. Fat Messiah Games' "Last Frontier: The Vesuvius Incident" may not replace Dungeons and Dragons as the game of choice for adventurers everywhere, but it does provide an interesting challenge for those nights when your friends are off having lives. The Vesuvius Incident is made up of a 17" X 22", black and white map, a 24 page rulebook, 160 (count 'em!) color, cardboard counters, and a lovingly hand-crafted zip lock bag. The player controls a team of interplanetary warriors called the "Colonial Marine Corps." who intercept a distress signal from an orbiting space station. The Marines investigate and find the base overrun by hostile aliens. The Marines' goal is to explore the ship, account for the crew members, and escape with as many people alive as possible. If your games run anything like mine, this will be very few indeed. The Marines also face a time limit in the form of a decaying orbit, the length of which is random and unknown each game. Game play consists of moving each marine around the map, rolling dice to see if any aliens or surviving crew members appear, fighting the people-eaters, and stumbling over malfunctioning robots and insane survivors. The strategic challenge of the game includes deciding how many marines to keep together in teams while covering enough ground to account for the crew. You will also have to decide when to risk exploring new rooms and when to hang back to make travel easier for the other characters. Eventually, you will have to make choices like whether to carry a wounded comrade back to safety or abandon him to save time. You also have to deal with random events such as weapon malfunctions, booby traps, and the possibility that the station's computer may try to self-destruct. Finally, just when you think you have the right balance of team members and weapons, one of your battle-hardened marines freaks out worse than Charles Manson hearing the Muzak version of "Lucy In the Sky" and starts firing at anything that moves. Vesuvius provides an interesting and complex strategic challenge that remains involving even after numerous games. The random events and mystery of each new room ensure that you will not play the same story twice. The combat system is intricate enough to keep you on your toes and the chance that your marines might panic, combined with the chance that aliens will run away, means that battles are not simply dice-throwing exercises. The random time limit on the orbital decay keeps the pressure on as you never really know how many turns you have to get the job done. Unfortunately, all this fun comes at a price: the time it takes to comprehend the rules. The Vesuvius Incident is not poorly written, but a rule-book weighing in at 24 pages plus two pages of errata, is a daunting task for all but the most experience gamers. FMG classifies the complexity of this game as "Medium." Any game that finds me saying "Damn, I forgot that gravity is in effect in the Chemlab!" can't be a medium. I had to read the rules several times before I stumbled through my first game. Only my most recent games have not exceeded the suggest two hour playing time. I often found myself forgetting to account for movement modifiers on my to-hit roles, not adding terrain modifiers to my movement rates, and not accounting for encumbrance. Finally, the two different turn types, exploration and combat, are not very intuitive or clear, yet the mechanic is extremely important to the game. Although I would not recommend this game to casual players, experienced gamers will overcome the complex rules to enjoy the story and strategy provided by one of the better solo games I have played. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)