Players: 2
Playing Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 3 (of 10)
The Components
UWO comes with 92 cards and 1 rulesheet.
The Cards: The cards are all printed on medium-heavy, glossy cardstock. 80 of the cards, 40 green and 40 purple, show the combatants of UWO, the pnorfs and gnorfs. Each of these cards shows a picture of a 'norf, statistics for movement and combat (with energy costs), and a pictorial depiction of which norfs each norf is immune too.
The artwork is generally cute & attractive. The pictures are all somewhat comedic and cartoonish, and remind me of the classic illustrations of Tom Wham. (The actual artist is designer Thomas Jansen.) The layout of the cards is attractive and easy to use. Using illustrations to show invulnerabilities is on the one hand a nice, intuitive idea, but as implemented is too hard to see when you're looking at the cards upside down from across the table--the only flaw in the otherwise nice card design.
The other 12 cards are "energy" cards, which mark energy used, but also define the 5x6 playing field, a clever innovation, though it got a little messy late in the game because of the fact that you're constantly toggling the energy cards.
Rulesheet: A one-page, folded, black & white rulesheet. The rules were OK to learn from, though the formatting was a bit hard to read, and I had trouble looking up two rules (knockouts & what do if you pass on a turn) during the game. Overall, it was adequate.
On the whole, UWO is attractive, colorful, and funny, with good quality cards. It thus earns a "4" out of "5" for Style: very nice.
The Gameplay
The object of UWO is to destroy all the 'norfs belonging to your opponent, and thus gain asendency over ... UWO land.
Setup: The game is setup by laying out the 12 power cards, 6 in a column, then 6 in a row beginning from that column, to form two sides of a 5x6 grid. Next each player lays out his 10 basic 'norfs in the first two rows of his side of the grid.
The rest of the 'norf cards (which include more 'norfs as well as "missed" cards) in each color are shuffled and form a personal draw deck for the player in question.
The 'Norf Cards. (or, if you prefer, the UWO cards.) These are your army. Each 'norf has five characteristics. They have a move from 1-3, a cost for doing that move from 1-3, an attack range from 1-3, an attack cost from 1-3, and a list of immunities (showing other 'norfs). As an example the basic 'norf is move 1/1 and attack 1/1 with no immunities, while the awesome tank 'norf is move 1/3, attack 3/3, and has immunities to basic 'norfs, gun 'norfs, and 'norf riders.
There are three special 'norfs: the 'norf riders, move 3/2, no attack, but can step on other 'norfs to knock them out for a turn, immunity to grenade 'norfs; the bazooka 'norf, move 1/2, attack 3/2, but knocks himself out for a turn when he attacks, immunity to 'norf riders; and the dynamic 'norf, move 1/1, attack destroys everything around the 'norf and costs 4, no immunities.
Changing between these different 'norfs to optimize immunities and attacks is the heart of the game.
Order of Play: On his turn a player may (optionally) morf once and take one action in any order. If he didn't morf he may then cycle a card. The player then draws up to a hand of three cards.
Morf: A player morfs a 'norf by playing a new 'norf card from his hand on top of one of his 'norf cards on the table. This changes the old 'norf to the new 'norf. It costs one energy point.
(Energy are marked by those little energy cards to the sides of the grid, and are just moved slightly sideways when they're used.)
Take an Action: As an action a player may may one 'norf his movement range or may attack with one 'norf at up to his attack range (though the attacking 'norf may not have morfed this turn). Moving and attacking each cost the indicated amount on the 'norf card in energy.
When you attack, your target may defend himself by playing a "missed" card from his hand (for free) or by immediately morfing into a new 'norf that is immune to the attack (for the normal cost of 1). If a 'norf successfully defended he may then counter attack (even if he just morfed). Which may cause a counter attack, and a counter attack, etc. An attack ends when someone doesn't defend (which kills the 'norf in question) or when someone doesn't attack.
Cycle a Card: At the end of a turn, if you didn't morf you can instead discard one 'norf to the bottom of your draw deck, then replace it.
Running Out of Energy: If you're out of energy and your opponent isn't they may keep taking turns until they use up their energy. However, since there's just 6 energy total each go around, this imbalance is never too great.
Ending the Game: The game goes until one team of 'norfs is entirely destroyed.
Relationships to Other Games
UWO is a pretty simple wargame with rules that are almost abstract in nature. In some ways you could thus say it's ultimately in the same category as classic like Chess, though it's clearly much more random and wackier. Others might see correlations to miniatures games.
The Game Design
UWO is a fairly simple war game. Because the actual combat is so simple, there's some opportunity for long-term strategy, as you move 'norfs ahead based on what cards you have in your hand and as you decide when to use your "missed" cards and when to save them. There can be quite a lot of analysis as there's essentially no opportunity for surprise with the tightly constrained turns.
On the other side of this, there's quite a lot of randomness, mainly due to the small 3-card hand, which ultimately limits your look-ahead potential. Nonetheless, UWO is a clever little war game, with some unique and interesting aspects, most notably how it's built entirely as a card game, and how your forces can constantly mutate and change.
However, I think this game needs to be played pretty lightly. Or at least well. I hit one stalemate at the end of the game which negatively impacted my gaming experience. If each player has a 'norf left that the other player doesn't have a defense against (because the "missed" cards are all gone and their morfing supply is limited), nothing will ever happen. I suspect this will happen less often among more experienced players who know to better maintain their resources, but it was surely an issue for us on our review game.
On the whole I thought that UWO was an interesting, amusing, and strategic game that slightly outstayed its welcome. I was really enjoying it through the first half of the game, but as the battlefield grew slowly emptier, the gameplay grew less interesting. Still, I let it eke in a "3" out of "5" for Substance. The game is enjoyable if you approach it with the right point of view, and definitely original beyond that.
Conclusion
A clever and pretty card-based wargame. I had a bad experience with an endgame stalemate, but I suspect that doesn't come up too often. For the rest of the time this is an original and enjoyable light wargame.
