I am sure there are people reading this that were just as in awe as I was when I first saw this in my local game shoppe. Well that AWE did not last long with me (sorry to say). The game itself is not bad, but it lacks replay value big time and I find it is really aimed at smaller kids (so more of a family game, which is fine).I was able to test this product and give a demo of it at my local store and not having to buy it was a plus.
When I got home, I noticed there were BONUS stickers with the game; these were for all the little meeples the game comes with - front and back stickers. You don't have to put them on, but it is nice to see the different characters (cheerleaders, army guys, etc.)
It took me about 1.5 hours to get all those little stickers on there and now a few months later they are starting to peel off or rip, etc. but it was nice while it lasted.
There are also stickers for the monsters and for the pods they stand on.
To setup the actual board, you have to actually stick certain bases (building bases) to the actual board and the board itself comes in 2 pieces which you have to join together by a center piece that is also the main base for the stadium.
Here is the overview of what you get in the box:
You place your monster on the pod in one of the four corners of the board. Then each player has a choice to do 2 of 4 possible actions: move, attack, blow or throw. Then you get to eat a meeple in your zone for each tooth you still have.
Here is a short description of each possible action:
1- Move: Remove your monster from the pod and use your fingers to flick the pod then place your monster back on the pod (be careful, if you flick too hard, you might fly off the board and you lose a tooth).
2- Attack: If you moved your pod close enough to a building (touching at least the sidewalk surrounding the building) you take your monster, stretch your arm over the building and drop your monster - any meeples that fall off stay where they land; any building levels that are completely free of debris are collected behind your monster screen and if by chance you made another monster fall over, they lose a tooth and you collect it behind your screen.
3- Blow: This action is quite interesting and funny at the same time. You place your chin on the top of your monster and take a deep breath and blow as hard as you can on whatever you want. Once again, any meeples that fall off stay where they land; any building levels that are completely free of debris are collected behind your monster screen and if by chance you made another monster fall over, they lose a tooth and you collect it behind your screen.
4- Throw: This action is fun, if there is a vehicle in your zone, you may take the vehicle place it on the head of your monster and flick it towards something and same as above with the meeples, floors and other monsters.
Once you have completed 2 of these 4 actions (you can also do 1 action twice), you get to EAT meeples that are in your zone (ZONES are identified with colours and borders - there is a park zone, a marina zone, street zone, etc.); however, you cannot eat a meeple that is touching a sidewalk or on debris and you cannot eat more than the number of teeth you have.
So you do this until there are no more floors left to clear. The game ends and you score your points (and if I am not mistaken, certain meeples are worth more and so on).
As you can see, it is a really simple game (maybe a bit too simple) and a tad pricey for what you get but it will keep your little ones entertained for a couple of hours possibly - just make sure to keep an eye on those flying meeples.
As a gamer I give this 2 dice out of 5, but as a family man, I would give it a 4 dice out of 5.
