The GameSmiths
$29.95

How many of you remember going to the theater as a kid to see one of the movies with the most ground breaking special effects in cinematic history? Of course it had to be a Disney movie. I don't know about you, but Tron is still one of my all-time favorite movies. Okay, so what does that have to do with the game? Robotanks, the fourth game by The Gamesmiths and designer Jeff Siadek, reminds me of those awesome tank battles in Tron.

The concept behind Robotanks is that each of up to four players controls a stable of four computer programmed tanks, and a command post. After set up, which entails merely setting the tanks in their assigned positions on the board, the computer program deck is shuffled and 18 cards are dealt to each player.

Then, the players are allowed to set up a program loop for each tank, which will represent the order that the commands are executed in. If the player holds back a reserve of cards in his hand, he will have them to draw from later. The remainder of the cards are set aside to be used later also. The real strategy in this game is careful choice and ordering of the program cards.

The object of the game is to be the only player to have tanks on the board. The program cards are designed to control the movements, and the combat actions of the tanks. Each turn, each player is allowed to either play the next card in the tank's program loop, or declare a re, programming and reorder/replace the cards in the loop from the reserve hand. The greatest aspect of this game is when the player thinks he has. the perfect program loop, and things go strangely awry.

Bait: In combat, the tank shoots at the closest target, regardless of to whom it belongs. The definition of "target" includes command posts (one of which may be the player's own, because the tanks start right in front of it).

Hook: Whenever a tank takes damage, the program cards for that tank are shuffled, one is drawn randomly, and discarded. When a tank no longer has any program cards to command it, it is destroyed.

Reel: The same goes for when the command post takes damage. The cards held in reserve by the player are also subject to the same damage procedure as the tanks, except that when all of the cards are lost from the reserve, all of the players remaining tanks are destroyed and the player is out of the game. The player can also be put out of the game just by losing all of his tanks in combat. A four-player game only takes about an hour, maybe 90 minutes for the first game.

Besides how the game plays, this is by far the best looking game The Gamesmiths have yet produced. The computerized images of tanks on the cards is stunning. The rules aren't a whole lot to sneeze at, either. All seven pages of them are easy enough for a child to comprehend, and shouldn't take an adult more than a few minutes to read. I have to admit that I became a fan of Jeff Siadek after I had purchased a used copy of Total War.

Robotanks is a fresh alternative to the limited nature of traditional board games. Monopoly can only go so far. I prefer North American Rails, Supremacy, and Robotanks.