I have recently determined that I, like many of the denizens of RPG.net, am both a game player and a game scientist. A multi-classed Ranger-Geek, of sorts. We are interested not just in PLAYING the game, but also EXAMINING it, both for likes and dislikes, similarities and differences in comparison to the other systems and scenarios that we have tucked away in those little test tubes in the back of our mental mad scientist laboratories….right next to the large dusty plasma globes flanking the table with the large monster built to look like Steve Jackson.
The cool thing about this obsession is that in our self-Game Mastered quest through the fun, strange and not naked enough dungeons of gaming, we get to discover some great treasures such as Call of Cthulhu, Warhammer Quest, Cyberpunk and Lunch Money. However, along the way we often find more insidious trinkets such as Don’t Look Back, the first releases of Obsidian and Marvel Super Heroes, and the Plutonium Dragon that is Wizards of the Coast.
In keeping with the metaphor then, Riot would be an Enchanted Broadsword of Blah.
“…Tell me about the treasure chest. I’m checking it for traps...”
Upon receiving my reviewer’s copy of Riot (kindly sent from Green Dragon), I was first struck by the packaging; a small round metal tin, reminiscent of an oversized chewing tobacco can. This is a really neat concept as it makes the game both portable and eye-catching. Inside, there are a bunch of plastic chips (40 black, 20 yellow), a small D6, a rulesheet and a deck of 60 2.5 inch square cards. In the interest of being thorough for you, my fellow adventurers, I shall discuss each as a way to enlighten you into the ways of Riot.
“...Do I know what it does? Have I ever seen one like it before?”
The concept behind Riot is to “…create and control your very own university riot in the safety of your own home”. Simply put, the aforementioned chips represent rioters. Each player draws a card and then plays a card from their hands to either add to their individual riots or take rioters from opponent’s riots, with the first person to 20 rioters being the winner. You may opt to not play a card on your turn and receive a rioter instead, however. Our first problem was that although the rules explain the cards and rules, they didn’t always do a good job of explaining all of the cards – since there aren’t that many in the deck, a break-down of each card would have been a nice touch. The group got bogged down more than once on vague card interpretation that a specific card description (such as in the Lunch Money rulesheet for example) would have cleared up. However, the sheet folds up neatly to fit in the tin, so it isn’t all bad.
“…Is it magical? Am I getting a bad feeling about it at all?”
The cards themselves are small and black. The pictures are corresponding photographs of the card title tinted with the color of the card (i.e., the red Arrest card has a red-tinted picture of a guy handcuffed. Easy enough). As with many such games, the different colors denote different abilities of the card.
Action cards are red, and are used to start stuff, either by sending home rioters or adding to your own party.
Reaction cards are yellow and are played on an opponent’s turn to prevent him or her from doing something bad to your rioters, like sending them home. In addition, some cards are red AND yellow, meaning that they can be used as either in certain circumstances. Both red and yellow cards have the number “1” on them, denoting that they can only be used once and then discarded. Why the rules couldn’t simply state that red and yellow cards are used only once, instead of additionally marking them is a question for the sages.
Blue cards are Law Enforcement, and are played in front of you to use against other riots. Law cards have a force (number of dice you can roll) and an activation number on them (how large the opponent’s riot must be before 5.0 gets involved). Simply put, you roll a number of dice equal to the force of your card. For every 5 & 6 you roll, one opponent’s rioter goes home (reaction cards notwithstanding).
Leaders and Student Leaders are green cards. Like the law enforcement cards, these "remain in play" and either add to your riot every turn or can attempt to take away from another riot every turn.
Finally, the white cards are Permanent cards that remain in play and can be used to add to your riot or affect others.
As with the unnecessary numbering and extra rule of the red and white cards, I was immediately wondering WHY there needed to be different colors for the student leaders and permanent cards. Their rules are identical, and they are well marked, so cards targeting the green “Student Council President” or the white “Topless Rioter” can get to them without having to worry about the color of their card. This just seems like more pointless delineation in the rules, and adds to the wordiness of a game whose major concepts could be realistically conveyed using a Speak and Spell.
Another issue that arose as the game progressed was the usefulness of the red arrest card. The text states “roll force 2d6 for riot level or higher to discard him or her”. The force of the blue card being used (the highest being a very rare 4) plus 2d6 is a max of 16. Since the more common blue cards have a force of 1-2, this card was only useful early on (and then only for a time, since law enforcement can't attack smaller riots). Once the game progressed and the riot gets larger than 16 (when you really need to pare down the riot), you can kiss it goodbye. And since the leader cards are pretty powerful and are mainly targeted by the arrest card, it took no time at all for the one player with 2 leaders in play to go way above 20 rioters every turn, while the rest of us watched, over time privately hoping that no one would stop him on their turn so that the damn game would end.
“Okay, so what ELSE is in the chest?”
The chips (the scientific term would be “tiddlywinks”) are black (1 rioter) and yellow (5 rioters) and are a nice touch (they could have been cardboard, after all). The die is VERY small, and has a “lose me” potential of 9.5 on a 10 point scale. A bigger die would have been nice, and probably still would have fit).
“There are TENTACLES coming out of the chest? Screw the elf, I’m leaving!!”
Riot is a game with a pretty straightforward concept that is, for lack of a better term, okay at best. The gameplay is nothing exciting, and in fact is pretty repetitive after awhile. In addition, with the fairly simple and aforementioned card combination it is nothing at all for one or two players to just dominate the game, leaving the rest to wonder why they are even there in the first place. Riot is cheap, small, portable, repetitive and a time-killer. If you are in the market for such a game, perhaps between game sessions or while in line for Episode II tickets, then Riot honestly does it better than most. From a standpoint of replayability, I would probably look elsewhere. I will honestly be interested to see what Green Dragon releases later on in this year, because at the least, Riot is a well produced and marketed game for a first attempt (there is a well done demo of the game at www.greendragon.com that I would recommend to those interested).
I can’t say that it isn’t always pretty or maybe even a little fun at times, but I would liken it to the kind of fun a dog gets from a jerky treat or squeek toy right before being taken to be castrated. But look at it this way; if nothing else, your $12 buys you a pretty cool metal can to store dice in. Or in gaming metaphor, a “tin of holding”....
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