I picked this digest sized, bagged, game when the local game store marked it "NOW $2!". Aside from the staple bound, paperboard covered rulebook, the bag contains three sheets of board components and four sheets of army pieces. Nothing fancy, a cheap ass game before Cheapass was a game company. Simple but fun, if you know the basics of chess, you can play this game.
There is some effort to create an atmosphere. Mad World is apparently inspired by that Star Trek (original series) episode with the gladiators. The players are encouraged to wager "kwatloos" on their armies, just as the beings did in that episode. A Star Trek, original series, font is also used in various places throughout the text. All other inspiration is from Crunchy Frog's other games and chess.
If you can imagine a chessboard cut into pieces, shaped like "T's", three squares in a row with one attached to the middle, then you have an idea of the board components. After initial set up, board pieces are added and moved about, making for a constantly shifting playing surface. Some of the army pieces can fly or attack over gaps in the board, while others cannot. It is possible for pieces to become stranded until the board shifts in their favor.
The armies are varied in genre. Crunchy Frog's Critter Commandos and $tar Corp$ space marines are two of the possible armies of combatants. Patton's US Army and the denizens of hell are the other two. Each army has unique abilities, but all pieces are likened to one or more chess piece so far as movement is concerned. For example, a US Army major moves like a chess queen and knight piece. Pieces just "take" each other as in chess, though some can do so at a range. Otherwise this is just a wacky chess variant. Some pieces fly, others shoot, and US Army pieces can be promoted to higher-ranking pieces. The author suggests that the game can be played with traditional chess pieces, on the ever-shifting board, as well.
If you need a quick diversion, Mad World can provide and, even at the cover price, be satisfying.
This review appears in Alarums & Excursions #316 (see review archive) and appears here with permission.
