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Rating: 8/10 after 2 plays
by Satoshi Nakamura
art ?
published 2004 by Yohudo Inc.
players: 2-5
duration: 15-20 mins.
type: middleweight filler card game
PACE: QUICK. There are two phases in a round: the drafting of your hand from "hands" being passed around the table (to 5 cards); then the playing of your hand (playing 3 of the 5 cards and discarding the remainder). The drafting takes longer than the playing, and the drafting only takes 2 or 3 minutes. The first time you play this game, play will be a little slow as players try to figure out how cards will compliment each other, but by the second or third playing, the game flies.
COMPLEXITY: MEDIUM. The drafting rules are simple, the rules for playing cards are simple. The only tricky part of the game is the effects of the cards. The good news is that there's not a lot of text to wade through here: all cards use a pictographic system to tell you what they do, what cards they need to score, and what cards they compliment. The beauty of the game is trying to draft a hand that will supplement your cards in play, then trying to play in such a way as to maximize point values, and defend your cards from potential attacks. This is the first time I believe I can apply the term "middleweight filler" to a game: Fairy Tale is very short,but lots of decisions.
LUCK: MEDIUM. Obviously there is some luck of the draw, mitigated by the draft. But there is also "luck of the draft", where cards you need may or may not be available depending on what others take. But the luck in the game is offset by many of the decisions players can make including "guarding" important cards from attacks, and the mechanic that allows players to draft 5 cards, but use 3 cards, allowing them some elbow room to react to changing situations on the table.
TENSION: MEDIUM. This is not a high tension game -- gameplay is simply too quick for that -- but the tension in drafting and trying to build a good hand is an interesting part of the game. Do you take what you need or deny your opponent? Gamble on a longshot card worth more points or go with a card you know will yield you points?
CONFRONTATION: MEDIUM. There are cards that allow limited "attacking" powers, forcing players to "disable" (flip over) their cards temporarily. But all cards are well-balanced, and the attacking cards are offset by lower point values and other possible negatives. Some attacking can be useful to keep your opponent's high cards in check, but an "attack strategy" will not win this game.
INTERACTION: MEDIUM. Even though the attack cards are a part of the game, and ellicit some interaction, the majority of the interaction is the far more subtle and indirect kind found in the drafting phase. Deciding what cards to allow to pass to your opponent is a key decision in the game. Since some cards rely on multiples, or certain trigger cards, you may want to deny them to your opponents to prevent big scores.
VISUALS: EXCELLENT. Not only does the game contain wonderful Anime illustrations (decked out in full regalia, each character dressed in the colors of the suit they belong to), but the rather clunky looking but highly functional pictograhpic system on the cards is very helpful in remembering all the attributes of the cards.
THEME: HIGH. Not so much in the idea of building a "Fairy Tale" but considering this is a 15 minute game, certainly the theme is well implemented when you consider the effects of the cards in relation to one another.
PLAYER SCALING: unknown. I've only played with 4 players and expect the game would still be very good with 3 and 5. It would seem that 2 players would change the nature of the game somewhat, so need to try it before commenting.
GAMER APPEAL: YES. Who doesn't want to play a middleweight filler game? What other game fits that niche?
CASUAL GAMER APPEAL: PROBABLY. The initial 1 or 2 game learning curve might have casual gamers scratching their heads, but after that I think they'll play this game ad nauseum.
REPLAY: unknown.
RATING: 8/10 after 2 PLAYS
- You don't exactly tell a story in this Fairy Tale, but the requisite fairies, dragons, warriors, and backgrounds are all present. The game consists of 2 phases. First off, players build their hands by drafting one card from each of the "draft hands" being passed around the tables. Secondly, the players will then play their cards on at a time to the table, trying to put down combinations of cards that will score them lots of points. Some cards need to be in sets of the same kind to score big points, other cards are worth big points only if you can find the specific trigger card for it, still other cards require you to have the majority in a suit in order to get the points on it. Some cards even allow you to force your opponents to "disable" their cards by flipping them over; but of course other cards can rescue disable cards if only you can find them. A 15 minute filler game that packs a lot of wallop. Sadly, at present the game is very difficult to find, being published only in Japan. History shows us that in all liklihood this game will be picked up by an American publisher sometime in the near future.
My 2 cents: What's not to like about a 15 minute game with great graphics and a good helping of decisions? I fnd the pictographs a bit clunky to look at, but they perfect sense once explained -- so much so, I think even a 7 year old could explain the effects of the cards. The drafting of hands, then the playing of cards makes for a very unique filler game, the seemingly excellent balance of the cards even allows players to try different strategies too. It has a really nice flow to it. It didn't blow my socks off (though it certainly has doen that to a lot of other people) but this game rates very highly for me, and I think that I'll be playing it for a long time to come...that is, if I can find a copy. (Publishers, are you listening?) Further proof that great games don't always come from Germany!