Hack'N'Slash

The Fantasy Adventure Card Game

Reviewed by Kerry Lloyd

Designed by Shawn M. McKee
Card Illustrations by Gary M. Williams
A Black Unicom Production BMT Designs
PO Box 3591, Kingsport, TN 37664
Release Date: August, 1984
Price: $4.00
Complexity; Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: Low
Rating: ***1/2

Hack'N'Slash is a card game based on dugeon-delving adventures. A group of characters (each players' hand) prowls through the underground, seeking treasure and avoiding danger, when possible. The game is easy to learn, fun to play and takes only a little time for a round or two.

The game comes in a colored, heavy card-stock wrapper/box printed in black. The game consists of two decks of cards, with different colored backs, and a small (20-page 3 1/4 x 4 1/2-in.) rules folder. Several different colors of stock were used for the box, but there is only one version of the game. The two decks of 52 cards each are backprinted in blue and red.

The blue card deck contains 13 each of 4 character classes-Warrior, Rogue, Sorceror, and Flamen (cleric) valued from I to 5 points each. The red deck contains cards for monsters, traps, treasure, and magical artifacts. Four additional cards with no color printing are also included for the players~ convenience. Two contain a thumbnail description of the rules and the victory conditions. The other two have a summary of the various traps on the first, and magical artifacts on the second. The stock used for both cards and box is not the same as is used for normal playing cards, and care should be exercised in the use of the decks.

Hack'N' Slash is a relatively quick game that can be played by virtually anyone (we've had a 4and a 5-year-old playing). Almost anything can happen during a round- near-winners can have treasure stolen by other players, traps might kill party members or end a players turn, a monster could slaughter an entire group and steal much of their accumulated treasure.

Play is quick and lively. The game is unlikely to repeat, and the winners will seldom be the same from round to round. The average round, playing until one person is a clear winner, takes about 25 minutes, although we had some that lasted only 3-4 minutes and others that ran for nearly two hours.

Each player (2-5 is recommended, but four seems to be the optimum number) is originally dealt a hand of five characters. The underground is traversed by drawing encounters from the red deck-treasure or magical artifacts may be immediately secured, traps do damage to the party, and monsters can be fought by the characters cutrently in the players hand. The player may end his turn whenever he wishes.

Combat is handled by matching the values of the characters to the value of the monster, starting with the highest value in the players hand. One rule states that until equalled or exceeded monsters must be defeated using the least number of character cards. All characters used in this attempt are discarded at the end of the combat even if they didn't beat the monster. Treasure equal to the monsters value must be returned to the red discard pile if the monster wins.

At the beginning of each new turn, players recruit their hands back up to five character cards, and try again. Accumulation of a number of points of treasure, magical artifacts, defeated monsters, and disarmed traps indicates the winners.

The number needed to win is determined by the number of players in the game. A player can also win by defeating the firedrake Dracaena.

The rules are well organized and readable. Unfortunately, there's little true strategy in the play of the hand, other than deciding when to quit. Luck is the major factor in the play of the game. A good bit of strategy could be introduced if the rule regarding the use of the least number of characters necessary in combat is ignored.

Luck shifts from person to person, and a player who gets off to a good start may find himself wallowing in traps by midgame. As the lower-value monsters are defeated and taken out of the red deck, the encounters get tougher, and the treasure to be gained dwindles down to a precious few. Frequently, the game ends when someone manages to steal enough treasure from another player to push over the mark. Seldom is Dracaena defeated!

Hack 'N' Slash is a different way of adventuring. It's simple, doesn't require the skullsweat that many other games do, and its fun. The price is right: $4.00 for a good, playable game that fits in your hip pocket is hard to beat.

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© Copyright 1999 by Dana Lombardy.
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