This is the new collectible 'clix' game from Topps and Wizkids. The object of the game is to assemble your team from your collection (there are 199 collectible baseball all-stars in all) and play baseball. You have an arbitrary number of points (usually 1000) from which to construct your team and cover all positions. There are two 'starter sets' which comes with a full nine player team, turning ring (for the performance dial), dice, six fence markers, play mat, and rules. They go for $19.99 retail. There are booster packs which contain three random players going for $6.99 retail. 1. Game Components: The game components rate a B+. The starter sets come with everything you need to start playing, other than another player. It has the rules, nine players that add up to exactly 1000 points, the play mat, and the special dice. The only reason I don't give this an 'A' is because the play mat is a large piece of poster paper that folds up and never stays flat. I find this to be *tacky*. I am going to get this monstrosity laminated, perhaps with a cardboard back if I can find one. Overall, the components are very good and the starter sets give you all you need to start playing - everything but Greg Maddox ... One other word about the game components: Unlike a lot of games of this genre, all of the playing information can be found on the play mat and on the player's dials. There are no myriad of charts. These dials are *crammed* with information. It looks overwhelming at first, but with just a little practice becomes *much easier* to reference. I will mention this more in the next section. 2. Game Rules and play: This gets another B+. The rules are short and come in different levels ranging from the simplistic pre-season rules (used primarily to get people used to using the dials) to the superstar rules, which make use of intangibles, team creation, and even player replacement. The rules are good and have great examples, but the intangibles rules have some holes in them that may need to be plugged. In the superstar level game, you can do just about everything that can be done in a normal baseball game. The only thing you cannot do is steal home (but you can do a 'suicide squeeze'!). The game is played at the at-bat level. There are no balls or strikes, just a choosing of dice and rolling for the result of the at-bat. For each at-bat, each side chooses one of two dice. The batting team chooses between the blue 'contact' die and the black 'power' die. The pitching team chooses between the white 'control' die and the red 'velocity' die. The fielding team also sets up their defensive position based on the player's spray chart! The choosing of the die comes from two basic things: either go with your strength *or* try to 'cross up' the other guy's choice. Each of the possible die combinations favor either the pitcher or the batter and the 'guessing game' for playing the right die gives the game a simple but effective tactical choice. I won't go into all the gory details, but suffice it to say that choosing the right die makes a difference! Each side chooses one die and rolls them with a third die (a normal d6 used to determine the 'spray' where the ball is hit) and reads the appropriate dial for the result. There are results that give either the pitcher or batter 'total control' of the at-bat. In this case, the controlling player 'gains a click of performance' to the good and chooses a favorable result. Otherwise, the appropriate dial is referenced. That result and the spray die determine the play result. Some results will require die rolls for things like fielding checks, throwing checks, paint-the-corner strikeouts, and batter control walks. Depending on the results of the plays, any of the principal players can 'gain' or 'lose' clicks of performance. This gain and loss of performance impacts the potential of the player! It is these gains and losses that is the principal determination of how the game will go. Some games can give out a lot of 'clix' and other games give 'clix' few and far between. The nice thing is that *everyone* in the at-bat has the potential to gain or lose performance clicks! Overall, the rules are good and will look familiar to those who are familiar with the 'clix' system already. There are some holes, but I attribute this mostly to the fact that this is a brand new game. 3. Collector and Gamer views: I will skip that piece here since that may be considered 'off topic'. E-mail me (don't reply to the group) if this interests you. 4. Game Pros: The game is very engaging for both sides. There is actually more to do on defense than offense! This game has all of the strategic elements of baseball and a good mechanic for generating at-bat results. The bases and dial mechanic will be foreign to those who haven't played any of the 'clix' games already, but it *is* very easy to learn and very convenient. There are no other charts or parts - its all on the dials and play mat. I like the fact that setting up the defense plays a part in the game and how the spray element, albeit simplistic, serves to assist in setting up the defense. The gaining and losing of 'clix' is really well done. It helps to determine the flow of the game without 'breaking' it. The rules are very solid. Stealing a base, sacrifice bunting, or turning a double play can be looked up easily if need be. Finally, the game plays in 60-90 minutes, closer to 60 for experienced players. There is also good support for Sportsclix leagues already in place from the Heroclix and Mage Knight games. There are already plans for leagues starting in May. This is a good baseball game simulation that plays with less time and complication than Strat-o-matic (Btw, I really like the computer version of SOM!). 5. Game Cons: The play mat, while nicely designed and informative, is just a large piece of paper that folds up and never stays flat. That can be fixed. The other cons are that *some* of the intangibles rules seem to have holes in them. I believe that these will be ironed out before the leagues start in May. Also, home runs are very *rare* events in the first innings of the game, but become more frequent (or at least easier to get) by the end of the game. In short, the beginning is stiff, but the ending is much more loose. For example, playing with just the starter sets, with no relief pitcher, the starting pitchers become very cold in the eighth and ninth innings - making hits a lot easier. It creates good drama in later innings and doesn't hurt game play, but looks really strange from a 'simulation' point of view. While on this subject, there are relief pitchers (no set-up pitchers), but they are way overpriced and can have a significant (bad) impact on your normal starting lineups. The cons seem to stem from the fact that this is a brand new game. I expect the rules to be ironed out, but the tight-to-loose game may never change. This doesn't hurt game play at all, but does look strange from a 'simulation' point of view for a real game. 6. Conclusion: Overall, this is a great offering from wizkids and Topps. I give it a 'B+' from a gaming standpoint, but an 'A' from a collectible standpoint. The game itself plays very well with a good tactical element, offers almost all of the strategic choices in baseball, and with 199 different players offers a *myriad* of team combinations and possibilities. From a collectible standpoint, the fact that Topps is a part of this makes this 'collectible game' *very attractive* to anyone who is passionate about baseball. 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