Death Angel

Not much gaming going on -- too much work and too much bad weather.

I did have a chance to try out Fantasy Flight's Death Angel: The Card Game. The game allows for solo or cooperative play in the Warhammer 40k universe. The player(s) control space marines fighting their way through a ship filled with Genestealers. I had picked the game up the first week of January using a 50%-off coupon at Borders. With the coupon it was about $10.

I'll write a more complete review after I've had a chance to play a few more games, but it was tension-filled and fairly streamlined, which are the two most important factors in a solitaire game. Patrick was playing Wii while I was playing the game, and the tension must have been evident in my grumbling, since he kept asking "Dad, did you die?"

I haven't played Space Hulk (which is what the game is loosely based upon). I think Space Hulk looks like a cooler game (for any groups wanting a game with the sci-fi-dungeon craw theme). But it only supports two players, plus it's out of print and quite expensive (over $100) on the secondary market.

Death Angel: The Card Game also lacks the traitor mechanic, found, for example, in Shadows Over Camelot, Battlestar Galactica and Saboteur. Cooperative games without the traitor mechanic, such as Pandemic, run the risk of becoming group puzzles, where one player takes over, telling the others what to do during their turn -- and ruining the fun. The traitor mechanic not only keeps this from happening (since players are required to maintain a certain level of secrecy), but it adds a psychological demension that resembles poker.

So, while I had a good time with the game, I don't know that it's a must-have for most gamers.