Dungeon Monsters and the IRS

 And My Tax is another Alexander Shen game that makes me ‘That was a nice little fluff… let’s play it four more times’

And My Tax is a game about taxing dungeon monsters. Which is mechanically the same as fighting them but funnier. The components consist of ten cards and every regular D&D die or, as the rules say, all the dice you can roll.

The cards have two to three pieces of mechanical info on them. Target number (which you need to either go over or under depending on the monster), coin/point value and maybe a special power.

The basic idea is that you deal out two cards. Pick the one you are gunning for. Pick a die and try to roll over/under the target number. You can add more dice but you will be discarding all the dice you use. I think the dice add together and, if that’s the case, won’t be a choice for low targets.

Special powers are either restriction on taxing the monster or special powers you can use by discarding the monster after you’ve collected them. The only one I’ll use every time is the Auditor Orc that’s only worth one point but can be discarded to get two dice back. You can discard any card to get a die back.

Game ends when you run out of dice, run out of cards or decide to stop. Coins on the cards you collected and didn’t discard are your score.

And My Tax doesn’t just make a virtue of minimalism and brevity, it makes an absolutely necessity of them. I originally thought ten cards was terribly small. After playing the game, I realized that the game would fall apart if it was heavier in any way.

Many years ago, one of the first micro games I ever played was Pico 2, a game I still think holds up well. At the time, I said Pico 2 couldn’t sustain a half hour of play but it does well with ten minutes. Well, And My Tax couldn’t sustain ten minutes but it works under five.

I was prepared for the game to be completely random but between the choice of cards to pursue, the choice of dice to use, and the special powers, you do get to make some choices. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very light and random game but there is some actual game.

It’s not my favorite Alexander Shen game but it is another of example of how they create a surprisingly engaging game in a tiny space. There is a time and a place for such games and I’m finding myself playing And My Tax there.