Today's Review: Connect 4 Dunk

Everyone loves Connect 4, right? It's a game of logic, a game of betrayal, a game of gingerly dropping tokens into a grid. But what about when Connect 4 just isn't enough anymore? My son recently received this interesting little game as a birthday present, it's Connect 4 Dunk, a Connect 4 for the new millennium. Though it doesn't really look like Connect 4. Observe:

Yeah, that's what it looks like. You have the tower, and the two catapult contraptions either side. See, this isn't really like Connect 4 at all. You need to sink four tokens to win, sure, but they don't need to be connected. Basically the idea is to launch your tokens as quickly as possible, so you can get four in before your opponent. In that respect, this is more like a game of glorified Tiddlywinks than Connect 4, but I was willing to give it a chance. 

It turns out it's pretty fun. Sure, there are tokens flying all over the place while you get used to the distance and force required to actually launch them into the right place. Once you do get the hang of it, it's fairly simplistic, but it's a nice, fast paced game that can be pretty competitive, and there's a nice little score slider on the front of each catapult, so you can go a few rounds pretty easily. Sure, this is a simplistic game dressed up in flashy colours and angles, but it's one my kids can all get their head around pretty easily, and really leaves no room for cheating. You can even pop the funnel off the top of the tower for a bigger challenge, which is a neat touch. This may have nothing to do with the original Connect 4, but it's an interesting, if extremely tenuous, twist on a classic that makes for a fun time.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Zombies!!!

There's nothing like a good board game at Christmas, especially one that involves a zombie apocalypse. Zombies!!! Is a board game in which the players build the board. You all start out on a town square, and each player gets a new piece of the map, complete with any zombies or provisions that go with it. As all the streets become interconnected and full of the undead, players have to make their way to the later-revealed helipad, or kill 25 zombies to win the game.

You get 2 dice, one which determines how many spaces you can move, and one that gives you your zombie killing power. Roll a 4 or above to kill a zombie ad add it to your collection, but if you roll less you'll have to sacrifice your scarce bullets to make up the number, or lose one of your three lives. If you lose all your lives, it's back to the start, so be sure to stock up on provisions to safely clear the helipad and win the game.

So yes, it's quite competitive, but the real spirit of the game lies in the event cards you pick up. These can either provide weapons or bonuses, paralyse other players, or give you the ability to surround them with or move them into groups of zombies. These cards can be played at anytime, so just as someone looks like they're going to win, the tables can be turned quite easily.

There's a lot of fresh stuff here to lake this a novel and entertaining board game. Sure, the rules are quite complex, and it can take a while to get into the swing of things, but I'm coming to the end of a 2 hour session and the time has flown by. Zombies!!! Is a very refreshing experience compared to your regular Christmas board games.

My rating: 4/5