Kobayashi Maru

I was recently exposed to the game Space Alert, a newer game by designer Vlaada Chvátil. I was reluctant to try it out on two fronts. First, I'd played his other popular game, Galaxy Trucker, a few times, and liked it a little less each time (to a point of utter frustration the last -- and probably last -- time I played it; sorry Sangediver!). Secondly, it's a cooperative game, everybody vs. "the game." This isn't a dealbreaker, but I've played very few such games that I've actually liked. Such games usually seem to be slow-paced and predictable.

The game surprised my expectations on the second front, and in doing so, surprised them on the first as well. The thing that really makes this cooperative game tick is a time pressure. Players have exactly 10 minutes of real time to plan everything they're going to do to try and beat the scenario thrown at them. When the 10 minutes are up, that's it -- you must all now run through your planned steps in sequence and find out if you've actually worked together well enough to triumph. The execution of everything is also quite short, meaning a game of Space Alert can be played in about 20-30 minutes -- considerably more appealing than the three to four hour epics common in the cooperative genre.

Players represent the personnel aboard a spaceship. (Well, technically, in a spaceship simulator.) You must work to survive a series of threats, both internal and external. This requires players to run about the ship pushing buttons, planning your moves in a somewhat Robo Rally-ish "register programming" method. But the catch is, most actions work best (if at all) when done in tandem with another player in a different section of the ship. Hence the planning and coordination.

The threats are rather chaotic. They actually come very close to the level of uncontrollable chaos that put me off of that other game, Galaxy Trucker. But here, rather than having one player be randomly screwed by events, you all go together if you go. This important difference, combined with that short run time, keeps the game pretty fun even though it's not as deep and strategic as the sort of board game I prefer.

I suppose there's a good chance that if I played it too often, the novelty would wear off. But the small dose I had recently was enjoyable, and I'd certainly be willing to play again another time.