I came to a conclusion a while ago. When Fantasy Flight comes out with one of their small boxed games - buy it! I've enjoyed every one that I've played, with the possible exception of Delta V (and even that one wasn't that bad), and some of them are pure classics! (Kingdoms, Citadels, Cave Troll). So Quicksand wasn't a very difficult game for me to snag. So how did Quicksand (Fantasy Flight Games, 2003 - Stefano Cavene) fare in this line up of incredibly good, short, fun games? The answer is that while it may not appeal to the adult crowd, I think it is an excellent short game, becoming a good "vehicle" to teach children about the wonderful world of board games. To tell you more would require a description of how the game is played… Two jigsaw pieces are placed together to form a small board in the center of the table. On the board are forty rounded spaces, each with one to three arrows pointing from them to other circles on the board. Six of the spaces have the picture of an explorer on them. Six explorer pawns are placed on these spaces (each matching the picture and color of the space). The explorer pawns have a picture of the explorer on one side and a picture of quicksand on the other. Each player is randomly given an identity token, which they should keep secret from the other players. This token lets them know which explorer they are. A deck of eighty-three cards is shuffled and six cards are dealt to each player. One player takes the first turn, and then the other players follow in clockwise order. On a turn, a player does two things. First, they may play cards from their hand, movement cards, or quicksand cards. Each explorer has matching cards in the deck, which are played to move that explorer. A player may play as many movement cards as they please, as long as they are in the same color (or shield cards - which act as wild cards). For example, Bob can play three blue cards (zoologist) and one shield card to move the zoologist four spaces. The moving explorer must follow the arrows, but can be moved at the whim of the player whose turn it is. When moving the explorers, players want to be discrete, so that nobody knows which explorer they are. If the explorer ends in quicksand, the explorer token is flipped over to its quicksand side. To "rescue" the explorer (flip it back to its regular side), one extra movement card of their color (or wild card) must be played. For example, if the green botanist is flipped over, and I wanted to move her two spaces, I would have to play three cards. If the explorer ends on a space that is their same color, the player who moved the explorer may discard a card from their hand, allowing that player to get rid of cards they don't need. If an explorer ends on a space with a shield on it, the same thing occurs. If a player plays quicksand cards, instead of movement cards, they can flip over any token of their choice to the quicksand time. More than one quicksand card may be played by a player on their turn, on different explorers. When the first explorer reaches the temple (final space), the player that controls that explorer is the winner! If no one controls that explorer, it goes back to its starting position, and the game continues until one player is the champion! Some comments on the game: 1.) Components: As always, Fantasy Flight does a top notch card. The board is very pretty, with bright colors and very easy to distinguish spaces. I rather like FFG boards, as they fit together nicely in their jigsaw style, and always with beautiful artwork on both sides of the board. The cards are of good quality, and have nice artwork on them. Because of the different pictures of explorers, even a color-blind person wouldn't have problems with this game, although most players will find themselves referring to the explorers by colors, rather than their names. The player pawns for the players are nice, large wooden discs with stickers on both sides. The identity tokens are octagonal cardboard tiles, but will only be looked at twice a game, so they aren't very important anyway. The whole game exudes a very cheerful air (kind of odd with the deadly theme), but looks very well, and fits well inside FFG's typical quality box with plastic inset. 2.) Rules: Fantasy Flight games usually have very easy rules, translated into six languages. Quicksand is no exception, except the rules are so easy, that it feels like they are stretching to even get to two pages. Many strategy tips are included, along with pictures of components, to help pad out the rules. The game can be taught in a minute, and is easily picked up and learned. 3.) One problem: I found that the end game can get clogged up. Since explorers cannot occupy the same space, the last six spaces can get filled up near the end, with the first player to get cards in their color winning. This isn't really a problem per se, but it does cut down on the strategy. 4.) Strategy: The strategies of this game are simple. Try to move your pawn without everyone figuring out which explorer you are, while moving other pawns strategically. Try to maneuver your hand until you get the cards you want. However, the luck of the draw negates quite a bit of strategy in this game. But the mini-bluffing aspect, plus the limited tactics, still makes the game an excellent tool in teaching bluffing and tactics to younger players. 5.) Fun Factor: I found the game to be a lot of fun, as I tried to guess which person was which explorer. The others in my group were much less impressed, and one person even compared the game to Candy Land, saying that their options were extremely limited, and that the game depended on luck of the draw. I disagree, and think that strategic play can help you out quite a bit. I did quite well, playing strategically, and think that good tactical play does make a differ-ence. So, in closing, I will recommend the game, but only as either a very light filler (it's fairly short), or one to be played with kids. And a game that interests children, of course, is a huge plus in my book, so I'm a fan of this game. The theme is lightly tacked on, but for kids, it could easily be imagined. If you have children that you want to introduce to the world of board games, this is an excellent one to try! Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 2 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by George Phillies. 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