This summer’s Sci-Fi blockbuster will not be playing in cinemas. It will be played on a tabletop near you. Get ready for Roswell 51!
Experience the thrill of being in a 1950’s B Movie with this thrilling game from Gamewick Games.
For several years, Larry Wickman and Gamewick Games have been quietly creating a new game system called Shuffling Horror. The first game in the system, Pittsburgh 68, is an homage to the classic horror film Night of The Living Dead. The game is about as close as you can come to experiencing a film in game form.
Shuffling Horror creates a cinematic experience that gets under your skin from the first card played. This isn’t your typical zombie game. Any calm you had is long gone as the dead begin to multiply all around you. There’s no where to hide, and there’s no where to run. Your only choice is to fight through 4 reels of terror, and hope you survive until the Fade Out. You can purchase Pittsburgh 68 HERE.
A word about the Shuffling Horror System. The game has four rounds, here called reels as in film reels. This simulates the action of a real movie. Each reel is represented by a number of cards to reflect the length of each act of a movie. Reel 1 has 10 cards, and this is always where the heroes and villains are introduced. The action builds from here, as each reel gets a bit longer until the final reel where the film’s climax occurs. Along the way, the players face any number of perils as they fight to make it to the next reel. At the end of the reel, the deck is reshuffled and the tension builds again.
The Time: 1951. The Place: Roswell. The Problem: Aliens.
This year, Gamewick Games has turned their eyes to the stars. From beyond our solar system, aliens of every kind have invaded the Earth. In the small town of Roswell, a small band of townspeople face off against these horrors in Roswell 51, the newest game in the Shuffling Horror series. And much like Pittsburgh 68, you will be drawn into the action much like you would at your local cinema. The aliens are numerous and as varied as the local zoo is. Each one is different, with different strengths and powers. You never know what will be coming next, so you have to stay alert and ready to fight or flee.
In Roswell 51, one Player is the Director, who shuffles the deck and controls all of the aliens and their actions. Everyone else is a citizen of Roswell, from a teenager to a reporter to a farmer to the Sheriff. Up to 13 people can play, and latecomers can easily slide into town to play. And if you get killed? No problem. You’ll just come back to town as a pod person, working for the aliens to take over the town.
The real centerpiece of the game is the Shuffle Board itself. This board is laid out like a drive-in movie, with the screen in the center and cars parked all around the bottom of the screen. The real genius of the board is how easily everything can be set up to play both Roswell 51 and Pittsburgh 68. There are spaces for the aliens, townspeople, sanctuaries, discards, survivors and the Dealt Hand. There are also spaces for the reels in play and spaces for 13 Players. The Shuffle Board comes with the Roswell 51 game, and it’s one of the best game board designs that I’ve seen in many years. The Shuffle Board raises the game to a new level, where you feel as if you are inside of a 1950’s B Movie. It also creates that drive-in experience that many of us remember from our youth. Quite a feat. A great design job that will be all you need to play all 4 of the Shuffling Horror games.
My experience with Roswell 51 has been hair-raising and almost a disaster for the town of Roswell. Two times I’ve played, and twice we’ve beaten back the alien menace. It was close both times, and we squeaked by to the final reel with most of the town dead or taken over. It’s a rare game that you just want to stay in your seat and play again immediately. Roswell 51 is one of those games. I can hardly wait to play it again.
Roswell 51 is currently on Kickstarter. The campaign will run through July 15th. Don’t wait. This is a game that you will return to again and again.
Go HERE to go to the Kickstarter campaign for Roswell 51.