Do you or don’t you? Our latest article has chosen four games in which you must be daring and willing to take risks to have the most fun. If you venture too far or are just unlucky, dragons, pirates, and guardrails can determine your (not-so-great) fate.
Ratchet & Clank
In Ratchet & Clank two to four daring adventurers descend into the dungeons below Dragon’s Keep in search of the hidden treasures of dragon Nictothraxian (Nicki to the friends, according to the game rules). The deeper you venture, the more precious the artifacts you can find, and the greater the chance to make a ‘clank’ or noise to wake the dragon from its sleep.
Ratchet & Clank keeps you constantly weighing risks, just like playing roulette at non GamStop casinos. Do you take that card that makes you much stronger but simultaneously gives you extra clank? Do you risk waking the dragon hoping it will attack another player? Will you go even deeper into the dungeons in search of greater treasures, or is it time to return? As soon as the first player surfaces again, a final and exciting race starts to escape alive from the depths below the castle.
A thematically well-developed game with beautiful artwork, where you not only go your own way but also have to keep a close eye on what your opponents are up to. Highly competitive players may find the luck factor too high, but this game can still appeal to young and old. Those who don’t like the fantasy theme will find the same game with even more exclamation marks in the science fiction variant Ratchet & Clank In! Space!
Can’t Stop
In Can’t Stop, the daring players try to climb a mountain as quickly as possible. There are eleven trails, each leading to a mountain peak. As a player, you roll four dice, and you combine the values as you like in two pairs. Your three mountaineers move up one step for each combination you form in this way. You can keep throwing as long as you like, but if your last throw doesn’t advance at least one mountaineer, your turn is lost, and all three must return to base camp (the position after your previous turn). In this game, the players must decide whether to continue rolling the dice or stop. By combining wisely, a pinch of tactics, and of course, also a portion of luck when throwing the dice, the players must try to be the first to occupy three mountain tops of three mountain routes.
If a game, like on non Gamstop sites, is still commercially available after over forty years, that means something. Can’t stop is as simple as it is infectious and as addictive as it is exciting. By the way: the first editions with the STOP traffic sign as a playing field are much nicer than the recent edition with a neoprene play mat. So don’t hesitate if you see an old copy at a flea market or in the thrift store!
Port Royal
Port Royal is currently a small port in Jamaica, but in the 17th century was ‘the richest and most sinful city in the world,’ a notorious base for daring pirates in the Caribbean. In the game of the same name, the greedy players try to grab as much of that wealth as possible. The other deadly sins do not play a part.
In Port Royal, the active player turns over cards one by one, appearing as ships in the harbor, mercenaries you can recruit, expeditions that will bring you gold, and officials who want to tax your wealth. The more cards you dare to turn over, the bigger the reward, but if you can’t defend yourself enough when a second ship of the same color appears in the harbor, you lose your turn.
Initially, you are alone, but the mercenaries and ships you collect in previous turns strengthen your position in the following rounds. The final round starts as soon as someone gets twelve victory points.
No game board, no coins or other tokens: Port Royal consists of 120 cards, which simultaneously serve as gold pieces, the ships in the port, the characters you hire, and certain events in the game, victory points. A wonderfully compact game, quickly put on the table, ideal to take with you on holiday or even in a café.
Rallyman GT
Growling engines, squealing tires, daring drifts, and the smell of burnt rubber in the air. Rallyman GT brings the atmosphere of Michel Vaillant to an exciting game where you roll the dice to get your car across the line first. Six dice form your car’s gears and help you move forward on the track. Each die can only be used once per turn, and you must use them in increasing or decreasing values. Another six dice help you maintain your speed, brake where necessary or accelerate faster. Each die also has many hazard symbols. If you throw too many of them, you will lose control of your car. Speed limits on challenging sections cleverly reward the player who cuts corners in the best way.
Rallyman GT creates an exciting racing game with a good balance between luck and tactics with a handful of dice and a set of simple rules. Of course, you want to be the fastest on the circuit and you can’t do that without a good portion of guts here and there, but those who only want to accelerate and don’t plan and shift properly will inevitably fall behind or fly out of the corner.
In this game, you make your own racetrack with hexagonal tiles, and that is half the fun. Moreover, you can choose perfectly how short or long a game should last. Rallyman GT can be played with six players, but then it becomes a bit too long-winded and chaotic, and I think the game comes into its own better with a maximum of four people.
