Goonhammer Previews Flag Rascals: Capture The Flag, However Fun

Disclaimer: The designers of Flag Rascals offered us entry to the TTS model of the sport to preview throughout their Kickstarter. In the method of reviewing it, we discovered one in all their crew members is a Goonhammer Patron; this had no affect on our curiosity in masking the sport, however is famous for transparency.  

For a sport mode so ubiquitous that it transcends actual life sport into video video games, I’ve typically marveled at the truth that Capture the Flag has by no means actually made for a compelling board gaming expertise. I can actually perceive the explanations and see why, however I’m additionally typically stunned that there actually aren’t that many makes an attempt at it both, as if individuals had given up on the concept from the get go. Recently, the crew behind Flag Rascals reached out to us and requested if we’d like to check out their board sport, which, lo and behold, was precisely that: a seize the flag sport for 2-4 gamers.

Playground Rules

In Flag Rascals, gamers assume command of a bunch of rascals, with a captain after which just a few different youngsters beneath their command, who’re attempting to steal the opposite crew’s flag and return it to the center of the board, often called the Creek. What instantly grabbed my consideration about this setup is that gamers are pressured to maintain observe of either side of the map, somewhat than one participant “attacking” and the opposite “defending”; as a substitute, each gamers are required to handle offense and protection, as a result of capturing the opponent’s flag is the identify of each participant’s sport. Whereas many video games typically depend on an asymmetrical setup during which one participant has to defend the bottom whereas the opposite storms it after which reverse, Flag Rascals as a substitute has gamers transferring the rascals each aggressively and defensively and judging the dangers for doing so. Do you solely ship one child throughout the creek to get on the flag, or do you strive a broader method which will depart your personal facet defended solely by one particular person? There’s quite a lot of threat/reward there, and it was one of many first issues I actually famous that stood out to me with the idea.

The children even have numerous talents, and every Rascal has a capability as each the Team Captain or crew member; for instance, as captains, the Teacher’s Pet has a capability referred to as “Sore Loser” that permits them to put a benched teammate subsequent to a different teammate, whereas the Journalist can Flip a tile adjoining to a teammate, and even choose to Flip the tile again over on the finish of your flip. As a teammate, the Teacher’s Pet as a substitute means that you can Peek on the adjoining tile after which transfer two areas, whereas the Journalist means that you can swap two face down tiles which can be on the identical facet of the creek as they’re. There’s 16 in whole, and every time you play you’ll choose a captain and draft two extra rascals, so there’s quite a lot of selection in crew composition too.

I cherished the artwork on the playing cards and the varied tokens, and whereas I used to be solely capable of play the sport in TTS, from seeing the bodily fashions proven off at PAX, I really feel like the sport will visually pop off the board at residence too. The better part is that issues are simple to learn and iconographic, which additionally makes it simple to trace which token belongs to whom, and which rascal is represented on the board. There’s quite a lot of enjoyable taste within the character designs too, and actually virtually all the appeal within the sport comes from the varied rascals designs and the way their character archetype manifests within the sport, so I used to be more than happy with how simple it was to begin remembering what every character did after just a few video games.

Quick, Fun, And Easy to Learn

Although I really feel like many video games attempt to tout themselves as fast, enjoyable, and simple to be taught, in follow I typically discover that almost all video games are literally just some mixture of this stuff. They could also be fast and simple to be taught, however not that enjoyable to play, or fast and enjoyable, however not truly as clear as one would possibly count on. So I’ll give kudos to Flag Rascals for managing to nail all three of this stuff, as a result of the rulebook offered within the TTS demo was easy to comply with and helped mimic a mock sport, which then made enjoying by a demo sport and selecting up the sport exceptionally simple.

My normal play companions all are usually the “learn by doing” kind of board sport gamers, so there’s at all times a bit hesitation for me to make sure that I do know each potential rule with a purpose to reply any questions that come up, which might turn out to be fairly tiring. Thankfully, the foundations have been clear, and we additionally didn’t have many questions in any respect throughout our first few performs of the sport.  About the one query we did have come up was that about “Pushing”, which is actually the fight of the sport, during which Rascals can try and Push different Rascals, primarily to attempt to cease them from capturing the flag, and even these questions have been solved by simply enjoying out the situation and understanding the way in which issues correctly labored.

We had quite a lot of success with the video games being quick, too, which was a promoting level for the sport; our longest spherical of Flag Rascals took round 45 minutes, and that was primarily our first sport during which we arrange every little thing, learn each card, and took every flip exceptionally slowly in order that we understood what was taking place. Once we had that sport below our wing, we discovered that video games hewed nearer to the 20 minutes marketed within the marketing campaign, and even had just a few video games begin to get below that quantity the extra we performed. Since successful is a single step requirement (deliver the Flag of your opponent to the Creek), we did find yourself discovering the sport labored finest as a two out of three model competitors between gamers.

More Friends, Less Problems

The sport additionally marketed a 2-4 participant rely, so we did additionally strive the three and 4 participant variants. These create “teams” during which two gamers face off in opposition to both one or two different gamers, and every crew selects 4 Rascals as a substitute of the three from the bottom sport. The quirk to that is that every participant on a crew selects two Rascals, and so they determine which of their Rascals to activate on their given flip, which means that one participant can’t take all of the actions of a groups flip. This was maybe the primary half the foundations was not inherently clear about, however my gamers and I discovered that’s what was meant after studying after which fascinated about the foundations for a second. There’s additionally a special play space for 3-4 gamers that makes the board barely greater, and that did assist deal with the crowding of two additional Rascals on the board.

The three participant variant merely provides one participant management of a complete crew, which additionally made the above rule a bit muddier; since just one participant is controlling 4 rascals, there’s no want to make sure that gamers are taking turns pretty or one particular person isn’t simply chain activating the identical two individuals each flip, however it finally ends up enjoying the identical as the one participant nonetheless has to exhaust the 4 particular person Rascals themselves. Obviously, you most likely received’t be stunned to listen to this, however the 4 participant variant was enjoyable, whereas the three participant one was simply okay. If I solely ever had three individuals on the desk, I’d probably look to play one thing else, or have gamers take turns in 1v1 video games to have some type of ultimate stand off sport.

No Flag Fouls Here

I actually loved my time with Flag Rascals, and so I’ll say that if the sport appears fascinating to you, take into account testing the Kickstarter for the sport that’s at the moment dwell for roughly the subsequent 20 days or so. I believe the sport performs excellently at two and was fairly enjoyable at 4, and I additionally assume that whereas all of my experiences with the sport was with different adults, this might make for a reasonably simple household sport with a bit endurance to assist youthful gamers perceive what it’s their rascals can do and see how they piece collectively a method. The nostalgia issue of “playing outside after school” actually appears to be an enormous a part of the sport, although, and it did make my play group speak a bit about random antics we used to stand up to after college. Given the way in which issues have modified since then, I ponder if that theme is as related or enticing to youthful gaming teams which will choose up the sport to strive, however I suppose that’s a really totally different article!

Overall, for those who’re searching for a enjoyable, tight, and surprisingly dynamic 2v2 sport, then Flag Rascals is a superb time that doesn’t overstay its welcome on the desk and presents sufficient selection to stay contemporary even after enjoying it just a few occasions again to again. The number of captains and drafting groups actually helps keep away from a way of sameness to the sport, and I’m curious to see if the success of the sport reaching its aim will end in some additional stretch objectives or content material for the sport (and the way these will manifest in, say, retail variations). I’m an enormous fan of fast and simple to show video games that don’t cling round on the desk too lengthy, and for my group, Flag Rascals is an ideal match for a enjoyable and aggressive two participant expertise that doesn’t really feel too imply or swingy; if that appears like your jam, take into account backing it over on Kickstarter!

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