The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Backstage Pass

Backstage Pass is an expansion for the Battle of the Bands card game, designed and illustrated by Dan Smith. Since it is an expansion, I will not be reviewing the basic mechanics of the game; there are several reviews of the original card game in the rpg.net review database that you can look up.

Disclaimer: while I did not receive a free copy of the expansion, the circumstances of my purchase of it probably warrant an explanation of my possible biases, which I will explain in a separate comment to the forum.

“What you get’s what you see...” - Colin James

Backstage Pass contains 60 new cards for Battle of the Bands, including two additional Me cards, which allows the game to be played with up to 6 people. The expansion contains a revised set of rules for the game on a larger sheet of paper, as well as some specific rules related to the new cards.

The cards themselves are much the same as those in Battle of the Bands, with a few changes. First, Third World Games seems to have switched manufacturers for the cards. As a result, the cards for Backstage Pass are slightly different in size and shape - maybe a millimeter smaller, and with more rounded corners. I didn’t find this terribly problematic, although it might be interfering a bit with shuffling. (It’s difficult to tell, because the game’s stack of 160 cards is about two inches thick, and difficult to shuffle in any case.) According to the designer, the next printing of the main game will match these new cards.

In addition, the front of cards have a musical note symbol in the lower left corner, which provides a way to easily separate the expansion set from the original.

Band member cards also now have an M, F, or * in the upper right corner, to indicate their gender. (* is for neuter, such as that wacky percussionist K’tulu) This is becomes relevant when a few new cards are played. Cards from the original set do not have these marks, but it’s actually easy to tell the gender of just about all the band members anyway.

“A change is gonna come...”- Sam Cooke

The rules for the game remain mostly the same. However, tied Gigs are now won by the person who played the Gig, regardless of whether they were one of the bands tied for first place. This is a good rules change, as it makes sure that someone receives the Gig card, and its points count towards their chance of victory.

The original rules also made reference to the possibility that the winner of a gig could have “no Band Members able to participate due to certain Monkey Wrenches in play”, in which case the Gig would be discarded. This was confusing, to say the least, since it was counter-intuitive that someone who didn’t show up to a gig might win it. This has been removed from the rules.

Instruments can now be used as Monkey Wrenches by any band member without an instrument during a Gig, rather than being restricted to Guest Stars. This makes things simpler and also increases the usefulness of Instruments.

The rules section also includes some explanation of how to use specific cards (Ace, Prodigy, Gender Specific, and Encore), some House Rules, and a short FAQ.

“He deals the cards to find the answer...” - Sting

The two new Me cards have a very slight edge over the standard Me cards. Each of them can apparently match either of two instrument types to get that bonus Superstar Point. However, this one victory point is rarely difficult to get anyway, so it’s not a big issue.

The rest of the cards, the cards that players will be drawing and playing in the course of the game, are just great. Some are hilarious, some are powerful, and some draw on fine old music business tradition. Or all three! For instance, the Smash All Instruments card evokes the classic punk era, giving the band a big 6 during a Gig - but at the end of that Gig they must discard all of their instruments. This can be used to devastate an opponent who has the edge in Gigs.

The gender of band members becomes an issue due to a couple of new cards. Gender Specific is a potentially vicious card: it forces the target band to discard all band members whose gender is not the same as the Me card. And then there’s The Donnette, a 1-point band member whose value jumps to 4 if in an all-girl band. But if your gaming group is mostly made up of men, don’t worry - the Androgynous card can be played on your Me card to allow you to form an all “female” band.

Interestingly, Backstage Pass does not include any new contract cards, although it does provide 4 more Gigs - one of them signed - and 5 Hit Singles. The effect of this seems to increase the value of Gigs, since Contracts are harder to come by, and thus it’s harder to get Hit Singles into play.

“Games without frontiers, war without tears” - Peter Gabriel

In actual play the expansion seems to work quite well, although I have one small reservation. To date I have played four games using the expansion - two three-player games, and two five-player. The three-player games were both excellent; the first five-player game was relatively short, but the last five-player game went on for some time.

It seemed that with five players we were going through the cards rapidly for players to find the cards needed to “tear down” the leading player’s position. There were more opponents who could take an action against the leader, too. It’s also relevant that the Superstar Point goal for victory in the five and six player games is eight points, the same as when playing with four. While six points might be too low (a 2-point Gig or Hit Single, combined with a doubling card, can give a player four points), I think I might try playing large games to seven points in the future.

Other than that, though, Backstage Pass is an excellent addition to a very fun game. It cranks up the silliness level of Battle of the Bands up another notch, but as any fan of the game knows, that’s all part of the charm.

Backstage Pass
Backstage Pass Playtest Review by Chris Camfield on 11/02/03 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) A kick-ass expansion to a rocking card game. Product: Backstage Pass Author: Dan Smith Category: Card Game Company/Publisher: Third World Games Line: Battle of the Bands Cost: 9.95 U.S. Page count: n/a Year published: 2003 ISBN: n/a SKU: 3WG0202 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Chris Camfield on 11/02/03 Genre tags: Modern day Comedy	Backstage Pass Backstage Pass is an expansion for the Battle of the Bands card game, designed and illustrated by Dan Smith. Since it is an expansion, I will not be reviewing the basic mechanics of the game; there are several reviews of the original card game in the rpg.net review database that you can look up. Disclaimer: while I did not receive a free copy of the expansion, the circumstances of my purchase of it probably warrant an explanation of my possible biases, which I will explain in a separate comment to the forum. “What you get’s what you see...” - Colin James Backstage Pass contains 60 new cards for Battle of the Bands, including two additional Me cards, which allows the game to be played with up to 6 people. The expansion contains a revised set of rules for the game on a larger sheet of paper, as well as some specific rules related to the new cards. The cards themselves are much the same as those in Battle of the Bands, with a few changes. First, Third World Games seems to have switched manufacturers for the cards. As a result, the cards for Backstage Pass are slightly different in size and shape - maybe a millimeter smaller, and with more rounded corners. I didn’t find this terribly problematic, although it might be interfering a bit with shuffling. (It’s difficult to tell, because the game’s stack of 160 cards is about two inches thick, and difficult to shuffle in any case.) According to the designer, the next printing of the main game will match these new cards. In addition, the front of cards have a musical note symbol in the lower left corner, which provides a way to easily separate the expansion set from the original. Band member cards also now have an M, F, or * in the upper right corner, to indicate their gender. (* is for neuter, such as that wacky percussionist K’tulu) This is becomes relevant when a few new cards are played. Cards from the original set do not have these marks, but it’s actually easy to tell the gender of just about all the band members anyway. “A change is gonna come...”- Sam Cooke The rules for the game remain mostly the same. However, tied Gigs are now won by the person who played the Gig, regardless of whether they were one of the bands tied for first place. This is a good rules change, as it makes sure that someone receives the Gig card, and its points count towards their chance of victory. The original rules also made reference to the possibility that the winner of a gig could have “no Band Members able to participate due to certain Monkey Wrenches in play”, in which case the Gig would be discarded. This was confusing, to say the least, since it was counter-intuitive that someone who didn’t show up to a gig might win it. This has been removed from the rules. Instruments can now be used as Monkey Wrenches by any band member without an instrument during a Gig, rather than being restricted to Guest Stars. This makes things simpler and also increases the usefulness of Instruments. The rules section also includes some explanation of how to use specific cards (Ace, Prodigy, Gender Specific, and Encore), some House Rules, and a short FAQ. “He deals the cards to find the answer...” - Sting The two new Me cards have a very slight edge over the standard Me cards. Each of them can apparently match either of two instrument types to get that bonus Superstar Point. However, this one victory point is rarely difficult to get anyway, so it’s not a big issue. The rest of the cards, the cards that players will be drawing and playing in the course of the game, are just great. Some are hilarious, some are powerful, and some draw on fine old music business tradition. Or all three! For instance, the Smash All Instruments card evokes the classic punk era, giving the band a big 6 during a Gig - but at the end of that Gig they must discard all of their instruments. This can be used to devastate an opponent who has the edge in Gigs. The gender of band members becomes an issue due to a couple of new cards. Gender Specific is a potentially vicious card: it forces the target band to discard all band members whose gender is not the same as the Me card. And then there’s The Donnette, a 1-point band member whose value jumps to 4 if in an all-girl band. But if your gaming group is mostly made up of men, don’t worry - the Androgynous card can be played on your Me card to allow you to form an all “female” band. Interestingly, Backstage Pass does not include any new contract cards, although it does provide 4 more Gigs - one of them signed - and 5 Hit Singles. The effect of this seems to increase the value of Gigs, since Contracts are harder to come by, and thus it’s harder to get Hit Singles into play. “Games without frontiers, war without tears” - Peter Gabriel In actual play the expansion seems to work quite well, although I have one small reservation. To date I have played four games using the expansion - two three-player games, and two five-player. The three-player games were both excellent; the first five-player game was relatively short, but the last five-player game went on for some time. It seemed that with five players we were going through the cards rapidly for players to find the cards needed to “tear down” the leading player’s position. There were more opponents who could take an action against the leader, too. It’s also relevant that the Superstar Point goal for victory in the five and six player games is eight points, the same as when playing with four. While six points might be too low (a 2-point Gig or Hit Single, combined with a doubling card, can give a player four points), I think I might try playing large games to seven points in the future. Other than that, though, Backstage Pass is an excellent addition to a very fun game. It cranks up the silliness level of Battle of the Bands up another notch, but as any fan of the game knows, that’s all part of the charm.