Game Reviews (and other rated comments on Game pages)

I didn't notice this page when it was new, but now I'll give it a super
rating, and then ignore the game itself and talk instead about an idea it
gives me.

Popeye cartoons definitely go back to at least the early 1930s with themes
from the Great Depression (I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger
today).

I wish I had a tape of 'Olive Oyl for President' so that I could memorize
the lyrics of the song -- and check the credits to see who wrote the song
'If I were president'.

Asterix cartoons will be 50 years old in a few years; in them, there was a
druidic potion, made from mistletoe and other unknown ingredients, which
did much the same thing as Spinach in Popeye -- but a little bit
different.

Obelix fell into the potion pot as a baby, and therefore gained permanent
super strength; and the attacks of a spinached-up Popeye would merely
bounce off of Obelix.

I wonder if anybody could make a game of that?

I've been looking at the point scheme.

The total number of points a player can have for critters next to the
campfire is 24 plus 1 for each Shrew that can be promoted to Chipmunk, or
32.

If you assume that promoting Shrews is difficult: 

Then the likelihood of exceeding your opponent's point count by 30 is close
to zero.

And the likelihood of losing the game even though the opponent's Bear is
eliminated for 20 points is close to zero.

Furthermore, to achieve the maximum score (32) for Campfire propinquity,
there would have to be 16 critters adjacent to the Campfire.  Since the
train passes through each Campfire square 2 of every 20 turns,
orchestrating the 'campout' without some critter getting sqooshed would be
near impossible.

Another interesting effect is that if each side loses its Hunter
(foolishly, since the only way I can see for that to happen is for them
both to be squished by the Train), the game can never end, except draw by
agreement.  Perhaps in this case we need something like a 50-move rule, but
instead of a draw, the winner is declared on points.

I can see the possibility of an urban variant of PASGL 312 called NYCTA
IRT, where commuters jostle to be near the door to get on or off a subway
train without being pushed onto the tracks or having their pockets
picked.

BTW, I noticed no one has actually rated this.  I give it excellent for
concept.  Play is still moot.