“It’s a nice day in Meepleton. You and your friends are enjoying the day without a care in the world . . .
“BOOM! Transformers blow, cars crash, people fall to the ground. Phew, you’re wobbly but okay.
“RAWR! Nearby, a giant monster wreaks havoc!
“Hurry! Get to the school’s forgotten fallout shelter,” so starts a description of Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse at www.subquark.com
It sounds like a rather dynamic, game, one that conjures visions of a gaming table covered with chits and cards and dice.
Well the dice are present, but neatly packed in a teeny, tiny, mint tin.
Let that soak in a minute as you continue to read the game description.
“Once two or more of your team members make it inside the shelter, send out a reconnaissance pair to grab a box of supplies. One box is plenty and it doesn’t matter who grabs it. But the monster spots you once you do - so you gotta be fast!
“The shelter holds a max of seven and it takes four from the same team to pull the door closed.
“Do what you must to survive - If you’re standing outside, knock down an opponent and make them scramble to their feet again. If you’re in the shelter, shove them out and make room for your team.
“But wait! It might not be over if you spot a manhole cover. Grab it and knock the monster down or use it to pry open the fallout shelter. If you grab the cover before you secure the box of supplies, the nefarious monster will surely notice you.
“Looks like the apocalypse is here!”
Now when you think of a game in a mint tin suggesting all of the above in terms of action it’s pretty easy to think the writer binged a bit on hyperbole, but that is not the case.
Game designer David Rene Miller has managed to pack a lot of fun and action into the little tiny tin which is about as transportable as any game can be.
The game was launched on Kickstarter last year, and more than 3,200 backers pledged more than $65,000. A single game was $12 US.
That is part of what makes this game so amazing, fun for $12. How often do you need to play the game to get your money’s worth?
In terms of mechanics play is simultaneous. You are rolling a pair of dice in search of sevens which allow you a variety of actions, ultimately to get your ‘meeples’ into the fallout shelter before your opponent does, and before the big green monster arrives to devour all of the living.
Because it is a race game of rolling dice there is a sense of drama in each roll, in keeping ahead of the opponent, or making quick decisions about what action to take with each ‘7’.
This wouldn’t work as a $50 game, but for quick, cheap, portable fun, it really is hard to beat. Grab a copy, you will like it.
