There are some games which speak to particular seasons, and that is the case for Venison, a game which is tied to Christmas in what has to be considered an unusual, but fun way.
The back of the case, a VHS tape case reinvented as a handy game box, pretty much sums up the craziness of the game.
"Santa has only five houses left to deliver gifts to this Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, the town is rife with hunters that only want one thing for Christmas Venison! Will Santa be able to deliver all the toys to the good little boys and girls before the hunters shoot all of his reindeer down?
"In Venison, one player delivers the gifts to the children by flicking reindeer disks at the houses. Meanwhile, the other players employ traps and bullets to hunt all of the reindeer down. But the reindeer aren't without tricks of their own."
Venison is a dexterity game, in the same family as Crokinole, although there is no board involved. All you need is a table, and of course the pieces which arrive in the aforementioned handy, dandy case.
There are eight wooden disks with reindeer stickers on one side, plus a red disk to represent everyone's favourite sleigh-puller, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Five wooden houses are targets for Santa to deliver gifts too.
The hunter player has two trap disks, and five smaller disks which represent bullets.
From there let the fun begin.
The houses are placed in the play area, at least six inches apart, and the hunter then shoots his traps into the play area.
Santa then plays all nine reindeer, collecting a house when he hits one.
If a deer hits a trap it is lost. If a reindeer goes off the table it does.
The hunter then flicks each bullet, collecting a deer each time one is hit.
Scoring is simple.
If all houses are collected, the Reindeer player scores points equal to the number of living reindeer he has left.
If all reindeer are collected, the hunter scores points equal to the number of remaining houses left.
Players switch roles and play again. Whoever has the most total points at the end of the second round wins!
The game is simple, easily transported, requires skill, and is fun. Designer Erik Dresner has managed a game which is humourous, quickly learned, and still reliant on skills which can be improved. That is not an easy task to achieve in game design, and he deserves a pat on the back for Venison.
A light-fun and skillful game which has to be highly recommended.
Check out this offering at www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39302/venison
If anyone is interested in this game, or other boardgames feel free to contact [email protected]
Past reviews are collected online at calsboardgamemusings.blogspot.com
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