RedneckLifeRedneck Life
Gut Bustin’ Games, 2003

Remember “The Game of Life”. We all played it as kids. Get an education, get a job, marry, have kids, make money and try to end the game with the most money. Redneck Life is a hilarious twist on that old favorite. You get an education (2nd to 12th grade), get a job (anything from taxidermist to clerk at the Ciggy Shack), get married, have lots of kids (mostly named Darrell, Darryl, Darrel, etc.) borrow money from “Uncle Clem”, and try to end the game with the most teeth.

Game play is easy-peasy. Roll 2 dice, move your token and do what the space says. If it says “Go Redneckin”, then you draw a “Go Redneckin” card and see what happens. If the space says stop, then you stop and find the chart that tells you step by step what to do.

The game comes with great sets of vehicles from “Uncle Clem’s Rodeo”. You have to purchase enough vehicle space to tote your young’ens around. It also has homes which you have to purchase when you marry. The great thing about both of these is that they are *acutal* real life, no we ain’t lyin’, places and vehicles.

As to actual game play. It’s like life. You roll the dice & do what it says to do. No strategy. HOWEVER, it is a hilarious game. Break out your best redneck accent and role-play your way through this one folks. We have found that as you do this, you’ll find things crop up for people again and again giving them a “theme”. You might be the bass fishing guide, and pick up the trout painted station wagon, and suddenly you’ll find your “Go Rednecking” cards will go with your theme. I know this is random, but it does seem to happen a lot as we play. The last game we played, my 13 year old daughter ended up stealing her first vehicle, drew a card which said she had stolen a bunch of beer from the back of a truck, then she snatched someone else’s vehicle when she lost hers, and drew another card which said she picked up a hitchhiker and robbed him! At the very end of the game, she drew a card where she would have gained $200. Someone took that card from her, so she drew another, and ended up stealing wheelchairs and selling them, making $300. Another player landed on all the moonshine spaces, and every card they drew had something to do with alcohol. Obviously, the town drunk!

So, you may have gathered… This game isn’t PC… REALLY isn’t PC. This game might offend you. It might offend your friends. It probably isn’t good for kids. It might offend your family. But if you aren’t easily offended, pick this one up. It isn’t one you’ll replay with the same people over and over, and the game even comes with an optional rule to roll 3 dice to speed up play. It can run a bit long after awhile. But still, if you get into the role-playing and like to let loose, and aren’t easily offended, give this a go.

OddballAeronautsOddball Aeronauts
The Maverick Muse 2014

Oddball Aeronauts is a quick two-player steampunk themed card game. Each player has a deck of 26 cards which consist of the crew of their steampunk airship. The entire deck is held in your hand, so you can play this game just about anywhere. It’s great for waiting to get seated at a restaurant, or really any time you have to wait in line for more than 10 minutes.

Basically, each card has 3 skill boxes with 2 numbers in each box. The three skills are: Sailing, Guns, and Boarding. Your deck is held in front of you, face up, so that you can fan out and see all your cards. But only the top 3 cards will be used in any battle. The main (larger) number in each skill box on your top card is the primary number you use when choosing to battle. The smaller numbers in each box are listed as +#, and are used as support cards to add to your main skill. On your turn, you will decide which skill you wish to use in the upcoming battle. You have to use your top card, but then may use either, or neither, of the next two cards to bolster your numbers. Your opponent will be doing the same thing. The first player (determined initially by rock, paper, scissors) declares which stat they will use first. This can be a disadvantage, as then your opponent will know what you are doing and may change their strategy based on this knowledge. Once both players have declared their skill choice, players will simultaneously hold up a number of fingers equal to the number of cards they mean to play. Then the players play these cards, add up their totals and a winner is declared.  All played cards are discarded face down at the bottom of the deck.  and the effects of the battle are determined. If the winner chose the sailing skill, they are allowed to recover two cards. They take the top two face down cards from the bottom of their deck (the ones closest to the last face up card) and turn them face up, in place, adding to the bottom of the active deck.  If the winning player chose the guns skill, then the loser must discard their next two face up cards to the bottom of their deck. If the winning player chose the boarding skill, then the loser discards one and the winner recovers one card. The object of the game is to be the last player to have active, face up cards.

This game plays very quickly and is fairly simple to learn. There are a few things here I didn’t cover, such as events, tricks, and mercenaries. And rules are provided, along with some extra cards, to customize decks. Expansions are already in the works, so there will be more opportunities to customize as time goes on. This is a good game to have when you have a few minutes to kill and and are looking for something lightweight to pass the time. The artwork is beautiful and gameplay is fairly decent. Being able to use 1-3 cards from your deck gives you quite a few options for strategic play, although in the end, it does just end with highest number wins.

Good game to have in your purse or car for emergencies.