When my wife and I first got married, we had an invaluable friend – Jared. Now of course, we were friends with Jared for various reasons, not including his possessions, but we were certainly thankful that he had a pickup truck. It came in handy when we moved, bought furniture, etc. Of course, Jared had lots of friends who needed help, so he was sometimes busy with that truck. And therein lies the theme of You Need Drew's Truck (Interactivities Ink, Limited, 2003 – Mike Young), as everybody is trying to use their friend Drew, to transport their stuff in his truck. The game is very inexpensively produced, and some additional counters are needed that are not included. And the game was fairly fun – if you want a fairly quick game with a good bit of chaos, this may be an inexpensive amount of fun. I do think that the fun would rub off fairly quickly after several plays, but by then the game would have paid for itself. The ideas contained are unique, but not so unique that I think every gamer must go out and buy the game. Let me tell you a bit more about the game The game board (paper) is placed in the middle of the table. On it are six spaces (locations), arranged in a circle, connected by a winding road. Drew's truck (a metal plate) is placed at the castle – one of the six locations, while each player gets three identical tokens. A deck of 45 cards is shuffled, and each player is given five of them, with the remainder placed by the board as a draw pile. A pile of magnetic shapes are placed near the board. (These shapes are made up of four to ten connected squares – Tetris style). Each player picks one of the six locations as their destination – unique to that player. Then, each player places their three tokens on the board, putting them on three different spaces (determined by their starting location). Each player is attempting to move these tokens to their destination. One player starts, and then turns go clockwise. On a turn, a player draws a card, then performs two actions, in any combination. For every three "Stuff" cards they discard, they receive an additional action. Draw a card, to get even more cards! Play an action card (usually a screw-your-neighbor type) Move Drew's Truck one location (in either direction) Play a Stuff card. Each magnet has a matching card, which tells you what the stuff is (irrelevant). The player replaces one of their tokens with the magnet for that card, leaving the card in front of them so that they know whose stuff it is. Load stuff: If a player has their stuff at the same location the truck is at, the player can put it on the truck. They must be able to fit the shape into the truck, which is a six by four grid, without overlapping other stuff or the edge. Unload stuff: If the truck is at their destination, the player can unload stuff at the truck (if they have anything on it), placing the magnet on it's matching card. When a player unloads their third "stuff", they win the game! Some comments on the game: 1.) The components are fairly inexpensive, since the company is very small, so take that into consideration. The game comes in an envelope – similar to Cheapass games. The magnetic shapes are all one big magnetic sheet that have to be cut out. I found this a little annoying, but my wife did her best to cut them out (a woman's touch!) and they look fairly decent. I was surprised that they used colored designs (look like they had fun with Photoshop) instead of pictures on the pieces – it's a little more abstract that way. The paper board is brightly colored, but very flimsy, as are the cards. The metal truck is a cool piece, even if it is a small license plate (not sure what it is, frankly). Overall, the components are a little better quality than your typical Cheapass game, but not by much. Still, for the price, you can't complain much. 2.) Rules: The rules are printed on a small sheet of paper, both sides, but are fairly clear. I missed one rule on the initial reading, but it was mostly my fault. The game is extremely simple to teach and play, and most people find it easy to pick up quickly. The cards are simple, and most need no explanation. 3.) The Truck: I really like the idea of the truck. When you load your stuff in the truck, you are trying to place it in such a way that other people have a hard time putting in their stuff. In real life, people who do such things should be shot. In this game, it's fun, and reminds me slightly of a warped game of Tetris. The magnets stick well to the truck, and peel off easily, and I thought the magnet idea was rather clever, especially for a small gaming operation such as Interactivities Ink. 4.) Players and Time: As long as players move quickly (i.e. don't take a year positioning their stuff on the truck), the game moves at a fairly good clip. Up to six players can play the game (although it can get rather chaotic with that many.) If a player gets fairly desperate, they can always save up piles of "stuff" cards to take the extra actions they need. 5.) Theme and Fun Factor: The theme is funny, good, and fits the game appropriately. The game is enjoyable and fun, especially if taken as a light-hearted romp. People have fun putting their stuff on the truck, and playing action cards that hurt their opponents. 6.) Strategy: Here the game is lacking a little. While there is some strategy in determining what actions to take, or positioning your stuff on the truck, it's actually rather obvious usually what are the best moves to take. While the game is fun, this does take it down a notch. So I find it hard to give this game a high recommendation. It's inexpensive, certainly, and is fun and quick. Yet there are other games that give just as much fun with nicer components, and I think you would do better to pick up one of them. On the other hand, for eleven dollars, you do get your money's worth. I think it all comes down to the theme. If you like the idea of moving stuff around in your buddy's truck, then by all means pick up the game – it has some interesting concepts and is fairly fun. Otherwise, you might want to pass it by for something else, especially if you want a deeper game. Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 12 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by George Phillies. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com