Thursday, June 19, 2008

#81: Powerpuff Girls: Saving the World Before Bedtime

  • designer: Craig Van Ness
  • publisher: Milton Bradley
  • date: 2000
  • BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 2866/6.0
  • age: 8+
  • # of players: 2-4
  • print status: OOP
  • cost: $6.94 or more (Amazon.com)
There aren't a lot of TV/movie tie-in games on this list... though if you go to Wal-Mart or Target or Toys'R'Us, you could easily be fooled into thinking that this is the main source of new kid games. Thankfully, the Powerpuff license inspired some really nice design work from Craig Van Ness, one of the gurus behind the development of Heroscape.

The three super heroines zip about the city (game board) at the player's direction - and that direction is provided by cards which specify which piece (or pieces) is moved. Players choose their cards simultaneously and reveal them. The order of play is determined by a time stamp on each of the cards - a nifty design element that gives this game a bit of kick.

When they encounter a villain, the player rolls the appropriate dice (one for each girl present) and sees if they got enough "hits" to vanquish their foe. Defeat enough evildoers & you win the game.

There are re-roll cards as well as traps (which knock out the girls who land in the space for the rest of the turn)... and the card deck has ways to move the girls en masse and to block another player's card. As befits a game about superheroes fighting villains, it jumps along at a very nice pace - a lesson that should have been taken by the guys who designed the Marvel Heroes game.

Although my son & I don't know the Powerpuff Girls TV show, the humor on the cards is cute. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my lack of knowledge about the show didn't diminish my enjoyment of the game one bit.
at

4 comments:

  1. ironcates7:43 AM

    I expected this much higher on the list. I haven't actually played the game but watched two playings of it. What a great little game! I watched a few shows back in the day and the humor matches the show very well. My wife and I would watch the show together even without kids around :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dani In NC8:29 PM

    I'm not surprised that you don't know the show. It was at its height when my twins were in first or second grade -- they are 11 now. I can almost tell how old someone's kids are by what cartoons they know :-).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gameguythinks10:47 PM

    I remember when the show first aired, and I thought it was pretty cute. The professor/dad was a great character and I loved that they girls would have to raise their hands to be excused from class so they could save the world. Oh, and the speech patterns of the monkey with the exposed brain, Mojo Jojo, was absolutely hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:07 AM

    Hmmm. I passed over this game at a thrift store a while back as I've never watched the show. I guess I should have taken a closer look.

    ReplyDelete