World Cup Rematch

With Andrew back in town, the boys and I tried out a three-player game of The World Cup Card Game. Andrew piloted Spain to the Cup, with a 4-3 final against France. (Germany beat England 4-1 in the Round of 16 in our card game, just as they did in today's actual game.) Andrew's Cameroon lost to Patrick's Algeria in the consolation game.

There's enough luck in the game to cause the occaissional upset and keep it interesting. But the better teams do have a slight advantage under the game's mechanics. Each team's card has a small number of icons that affect the game play to reflect their relative rankings. (Note that this is very primitive -- the game is not at all in the vein of a typical Strat-o-Matic or APBA game.)

Each player controls multiple teams, meaning that you have to make choices regarding which teams to "support" with the limited number of stronger cards. I may want to play my best cards to help the US win its match, but if I also control Germany, I may want to instead play the best cards for Germany -- figuring that they have a better chance of going all the way to the finals. It's a nifty mechanic that gives the better teams an advantage beyond what's printed on their cards.

The game is very enjoyable, but it is tied to its theme. Thus, while it's a blast to play this summer during the World Cup, I can't imagine pulling it out much once the World Cup is over (sort of the same way that Christmas music just "feels wrong" once the holidays have passed). The game's rules could certainly be applied to the Premiere League, for instance. And I'm hopeful that the game's creater, Shaun Derrick, will do this (once he's recovered from today's game).