Judge Dredd

The Game of Crime-fighting
in Mega City One

Review by Kerry Lloyd

Designed by Ian Livingstone
Games Workshop
Released: UK: October 1982, US: Jan. 1984
Price: $16.00
Complexity: beginner
Solitaire Suitability: Low

In England, a popular comic book series portrays the adventures of judge Dredd, an enforcer of The Law in Mega- City One in the not-so-distant future. Judge Dredd, the game, is based on this series, heavily for background, loosely for mechanics, and is designed for play by two to six people. The object is to arrest the criminals who infest the city as they commit their crimes. The winner is the player with the most points garnered from criminals arrested and crimes stopped.

The sturdy game box is brightly colored, with an illustration on the front cover reminiscent of one of the scenes from the comic book series. The two-piece board inside is heavy stock, hinged, cloth covered. A very small plastic self sealing bag contains one die and six little plastic figures of judges in armor, with guns out and ready. The four- page rules folder has a fullpage illustration of Judge Dredd himself exclaiming, "It's time we cleaned this city up!" on the front.

The game box also contains a deck of 55 Action cards (one is blank-a replacement?), two sheets containing 21 Sector cards, 28 Perp(etrator) cards, 28 crime cards, and six judge cards plus a turn start card, and a 24- page Card Album supplied by "Jack Caldwell's Old Fashioned UMPTY CANDY 'which lists explanations of the various cards. The printing on the cards is crisp and clear, and the Action deck (the one most likely to be thoroughly used) is a good quality standard size card deck. The two sections of the playing board have sheets of tracing paper between the printed faces for protection. Overall production quality for the game is quite high.

Being a judge in Mega-City One is fun. Going out to arrest the perpetrators of crimes in the city provides an interesting adventure, and it is possible for a judge to be injured and put into intensive care during the exercise of his duty. No two sessions of the game are alike, and the winner is seldom the same person two games in a row. Play is a reasonable balance of luck and strategy since bad luck can put a judge against the wall, but bad strategy gives a player little chance at all. The game is definitely worth repeated play.

Judge Dredd is played in Turns with all players getting a movement chance and an arrest chance during each Turn. A different player starts each Turn. At the beginning of the game, players get their judges and select one of six locations from which to begin their careers. The starting player for the round sets up six crimes and their perpetrators on the board and deals six action cards to each player. Players then move toward the crimes that have been reported in the various sectors of the city and attempt to take the perpetrators into custody. After all players have had both movement and arrest rounds in a Turn, the previous starting player passes the Turn Start to the player on his left. Action cards and crimes being committed are replenished to six, and a new set of movement and arrest rounds begins.

The Arrest process is essentially combat, with bonuses and penalties provided by the play of the Action cards, and a little bit of luck in the form of a die roll. The winner is the player who accumulates the most points in crimes and perps during the game. The rules are written in such a manner that the players are led through the play process as they read them and are clear enough to present no problems.

Judge Dredd is a universally playable game, interesting whether any of the players follow the comic series or not. The more players in the game, the more fun it is, with play frequently becoming a riot of laughter as the comments on the cards are read. The price is reasonable, and Judge Dredd is definitely a worthwhile addition to a game library.

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