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| by Playware Hobbies |
Truly, the Oddest of Bods...
So, I am very lucky. My mother, the Dowager Meeple, gives the wife, Mrs. Meeple, and I a weekly date night by taking my son, the Toddler Meeple, for a few hours while we go see a movie or have dinner or something.
Most of the time we send him over with some of his movies, like Cars or The Incredibles, or even more educational fare like Daniel Tiger.
Imagine my surprise when I came to pick him up and found him glued to Grandma's TV watching these little suckers:
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| What the heck is an ODDBOD anyway?!? |
It's not that they're violent or anything like that, but the writers give them cute "Personality Quirks" as a way to distinguish them, but that really just amounts to each of them having a SERIOUS psychological disorder (the purple one has such severe OCD that he throws his own BIRTHDAY PARTY because he doesn't want the rest of the Oddbods to mess it up!).
But at the end of the day, it's pretty harmless, and they're cute, and the Toddler Meeple LOVES them!
So, when Playware Hobbies announced that they were doing a kart racing tabletop game with these fuzzy little weirdos that was supposed to "Fun for the Whole Family", well, I jumped at the chance to get ahold of it. But is it something that I'll bring to the family table with glee or with groans?
Micro Racing Machines
Oddbods GO-KARDS is a two to five player racing style game where players take control of their favorite Oddbod to help them be first to complete a circuit around the colorful modular track pictured above. This is done by players playing cards on their turn.
These cards have a Move Value on them, from one to three, and after you've played your card, you move your Oddbod Meeple (no relation) that number of spaces.
The thing is that every different color of space you land on has a different effect that triggers when you pass through them. Red Spaces, for example, let you discard a card from your hand in order to move an additional space, while Yellow Spaces let you draw an additional card for free.
This is actually a pretty cute mechanic, as normally games like this only resolve an effect when you LAND on a space, the fact that effects trigger on just about EVERY space can lead to some pretty crazy (and often unintendedly hilarious) chain reactions!
However, my favorite mechanic is the Dare Cards. These are a special type of movement card with Party Game style tasks that must be accomplished by the player who played them, such as hugging another player or keeping a straight face while everyone else tries their best to make you smile.
The reward for this? You get to play another card.
There's just something about watching two grown men hug it out for that precious, precious extra space that tickles me. This is the kind of stupid fun that should be present throughout the entire game, in my opinion, however, there are only a handful of these cards in the entire movement deck, and that seems like a missed opportunity to me, as that's where the real fun comes in.
There are also these interesting corner tiles:
They have special effects that trigger as well, such as a GIANT MONSTER TRUCK that pushes everyone back to the start of that side of track, but honestly, sometimes they can get incredibly frustrating, especially when you consider that it may have taken some of your kids two or three turns to get as far as they did, moving only a few spaces at a time. That can be frustrating for the youngers, but can be really satisfying for the adults.
High Performance Fun
This is the section where I normally talk about components and component quality, so I'm going to preface this by saying that Playware Hobbies sent me a prototype copy, so the components included in the final production copies may change.
That said, the component quality of this game is pretty high. The Oddbod Meeples are not only unique in color, but also in shape, which helps to differentiate them on the track, and the track itself being modular means that no two races will be the same. In fact, while there's really no difference between Track Tiles that are in the forest, snow, or desert, each Track Tile has a unique layout, and the fact that they give you SO MANY of them to build your circuit from is really awesome.
The cardboard is of a nice and thick stock and feels like it could stand up to the general wear and tear that accompanies a game being played by seven year olds.
The cards themselves are FINE, though there's a lot of wasted space on the regular Movement Cards, as the Move Value itself is sequestered to a small space in the bottom right corner, and there's nothing else on the rest of card of real importance.
I do wish, however, that each Track Tile had a legend or key that explained what each colored space did. As is, the only explanation for these effects can be found in the manual, so that means you're constantly playing with that sucker in-hand.
Additionally, there isn't really anything else to distinguish the difference in spaces other than color. This can pose a large problem for colorblind gamers.
Buy It!, Try It!, or Fly It!
So, I'll admit, when I first opened this game up, I let out bit of a groan. I mean, the game mechanics themselves are really just one step above Candyland. You play a card, move that many spaces, and draw two more cards. That's pretty much it.
But when you sit down to play this game, especially with the young'uns, this game begins to shine. When you see your character sliding around the track and causing all sorts of commotion. And it's actually a HIGHLY thematic game. Remember that aforementioned Oddbod with OCD? When you land on a space matching his color (purple) he has special RULES you have to follow, otherwise you're punished!
When you look at this game through the scope of a child, this game succeeds on a lot of counts. Yes, it's fiddly, and, honestly, it can play a little long for what it is, but I can't describe the sheer look of JOY on my son's face when I opened this box and started to play with him.
If you're looking for a deep strategy game, in which only the most seasoned gamer can claim victor, this game isn't for you. If you're looking for a silly, fun game for the whole family, Oddbods GO-KARDS should be high on your list.
The Verdict...?
BUY IT!
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