The Inside Scoop on Gaming

A month ago, I received a copy of Escape from Elba from RPG.net for review. This is a game that was on my 'to buy' list, but near the bottom. I also own Kill Dr. Lucky, Save Dr. Lucky, Ben Hvrt, The Great Brain Robbery, Lord of the Fries, Give Me the Brain, and The Very Clever Pipe Game. The favorite games of the moment in our group is Settlers of Catan with the Seafarers and Cities and Knights expansions, followed closely by The Great Brain Robbery. I state this in the interest of full disclosure.

Theme

Escape from Elba is a game from Cheapass Games. The theme is one of Napoleon trying to escape from the island of Elba. All of the players (3-6) are Napoleon, with other 'people' in the game either Niall Campbell (a guy who was supposed to keep him from leaving), or other people in the building.

Rules

The way to escape from Elba is to spell one of the 'escape' words, move to one of 4 towers, and roll a number under your strength. One can also escape by spelling either 'Emperor' or 'Campbell'. Spelling words is accomplished by using cards that have one letter on them each to form words. The cards are illustrated by John Kovalic, and use his unique brand of humor (For 'F', there is a picture of a French Passport, which is really a phone bill). At the bottom of each card are the 'escape' words that can be formed with that letter. At first glance, the rules seem complex for a Cheapass game. They come on the standard 8.5" x 11" sheet folded in half. In most Cheapass games that I own, the rules take up a small part of the sheet, with either background story, cheat sheet, or a map taking up the rest. Every player is represented by a unique D6, and then enough generic D6's to make 12 together with the player's D6's, and another die to represent Niall Campbell. Players have 7 Action Points for each turn. An action point may be spent drawing a card, moving a generic die one room, or moving yourself one room. If you can spell a room from the letters in your Bag, you may jump to that room for one action point. When two players end up in the same room together, they may choose to fight. Fighting is accomplished by rolling a die, adding the number on each player's die to the roll, and them comparing to each other. The higher roll wins. The losing player gets to increase their Strength (by turning the player's die to the next number). This was explained in the rules with "remember, experience is what you get when you don't get what you want". The loser then is transported to another spot on the map, and a card is given to the winning player (from the loser's hand, or from the deck if it was a generic person in the fight). Then, cards are put into the Bag, which can contain any 2 letters, or an english word. If that word is a 'fighting' word, then it can optionally add to the fighting roll. Fighting words were defined as weapons, or even something like 'FRACAS' or 'SCRAP', "because they seemed to belong." Obviously, 'fighting' words should be agreed on beforehand if they do not belong in the included list.

Playing the Game

I assembled 4 people to play this game, including myself. After the first read-through of the rules, we started to ask questions about certain cases. These cases were stated clearly in the rules, however, this was the first time with a Cheapass game that we have had to do this, normally the first read-through is enough to discover everything. James Ernest normally does a great job of designing games that have clear, well-thought out rules with few or no loopholes or house rules needed. After this, we setup the board, and put out the dice. I had another player bring in his auxillary dice, since I didn't have enough D6's for the game (this isn't a complaint, but more an observation--it takes about 18). Shuffled the cards, and dealt them out. Everyone immediately noticed the art by John Kovalic (what the @%$& is a 'Runcible Spoon', anyway?). We started playing the game, and dived right in. During the course of the game, the rules did have to be consulted a few times, but this is normal for the first playing in almost any game we try. The complex rules seemed much simpler in practice. Halfway through the game, I asked around the table for impressions. The general consensus was this was a good game mechanically, but it wasn't really 'grabbing' anyone. We continued on, and finished the game. Two players were within a move of making a play for the win, when one of the other players came out of nowhere and won it. The game was over in about 90 minutes.

Final Impressions

Asking around the table after the game was over, one of the players said "This is a good game mechanically, but the theme doesn't fit in with it. It seemed tacked on to the rules without any thought about what the game was about." The game is full of strategy and player interaction, but it just didn't seem to be much fun. I don't know if it was the game itself not fitting into the types of games we play, or the theme killing the spirit of the game. For $6 however, that is a night of cheap entertainment (like most Cheapass Games).

Escape From Elba
Escape From Elba Playtest Review by BeoPunk CyberWulf on 22/07/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money) You are Napoleon, and so is everyone else. There is a game in there somewhere, but I couldn't find it. Product: Escape From Elba Author: James Ernest and John Kovalic Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Cheapass Games Line: Cost: 6.00 Page count: Year published: 1999 ISBN: SKU: CAG 024 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by BeoPunk CyberWulf on 22/07/01 Genre tags: Historical Comedy	A month ago, I received a copy of Escape from Elba from RPG.net for review. This is a game that was on my 'to buy' list, but near the bottom. I also own Kill Dr. Lucky, Save Dr. Lucky, Ben Hvrt, The Great Brain Robbery, Lord of the Fries, Give Me the Brain, and The Very Clever Pipe Game. The favorite games of the moment in our group is Settlers of Catan with the Seafarers and Cities and Knights expansions, followed closely by The Great Brain Robbery. I state this in the interest of full disclosure. Theme Escape from Elba is a game from Cheapass Games. The theme is one of Napoleon trying to escape from the island of Elba. All of the players (3-6) are Napoleon, with other 'people' in the game either Niall Campbell (a guy who was supposed to keep him from leaving), or other people in the building. Rules The way to escape from Elba is to spell one of the 'escape' words, move to one of 4 towers, and roll a number under your strength. One can also escape by spelling either 'Emperor' or 'Campbell'. Spelling words is accomplished by using cards that have one letter on them each to form words. The cards are illustrated by John Kovalic, and use his unique brand of humor (For 'F', there is a picture of a French Passport, which is really a phone bill). At the bottom of each card are the 'escape' words that can be formed with that letter. At first glance, the rules seem complex for a Cheapass game. They come on the standard 8.5" x 11" sheet folded in half. In most Cheapass games that I own, the rules take up a small part of the sheet, with either background story, cheat sheet, or a map taking up the rest. Every player is represented by a unique D6, and then enough generic D6's to make 12 together with the player's D6's, and another die to represent Niall Campbell. Players have 7 Action Points for each turn. An action point may be spent drawing a card, moving a generic die one room, or moving yourself one room. If you can spell a room from the letters in your Bag, you may jump to that room for one action point. When two players end up in the same room together, they may choose to fight. Fighting is accomplished by rolling a die, adding the number on each player's die to the roll, and them comparing to each other. The higher roll wins. The losing player gets to increase their Strength (by turning the player's die to the next number). This was explained in the rules with "remember, experience is what you get when you don't get what you want". The loser then is transported to another spot on the map, and a card is given to the winning player (from the loser's hand, or from the deck if it was a generic person in the fight). Then, cards are put into the Bag, which can contain any 2 letters, or an english word. If that word is a 'fighting' word, then it can optionally add to the fighting roll. Fighting words were defined as weapons, or even something like 'FRACAS' or 'SCRAP', "because they seemed to belong." Obviously, 'fighting' words should be agreed on beforehand if they do not belong in the included list. Playing the Game I assembled 4 people to play this game, including myself. After the first read-through of the rules, we started to ask questions about certain cases. These cases were stated clearly in the rules, however, this was the first time with a Cheapass game that we have had to do this, normally the first read-through is enough to discover everything. James Ernest normally does a great job of designing games that have clear, well-thought out rules with few or no loopholes or house rules needed. After this, we setup the board, and put out the dice. I had another player bring in his auxillary dice, since I didn't have enough D6's for the game (this isn't a complaint, but more an observation--it takes about 18). Shuffled the cards, and dealt them out. Everyone immediately noticed the art by John Kovalic (what the @%$& is a 'Runcible Spoon', anyway?). We started playing the game, and dived right in. During the course of the game, the rules did have to be consulted a few times, but this is normal for the first playing in almost any game we try. The complex rules seemed much simpler in practice. Halfway through the game, I asked around the table for impressions. The general consensus was this was a good game mechanically, but it wasn't really 'grabbing' anyone. We continued on, and finished the game. Two players were within a move of making a play for the win, when one of the other players came out of nowhere and won it. The game was over in about 90 minutes. Final Impressions Asking around the table after the game was over, one of the players said "This is a good game mechanically, but the theme doesn't fit in with it. It seemed tacked on to the rules without any thought about what the game was about." The game is full of strategy and player interaction, but it just didn't seem to be much fun. I don't know if it was the game itself not fitting into the types of games we play, or the theme killing the spirit of the game. For $6 however, that is a night of cheap entertainment (like most Cheapass Games).

Escape From Elba