Well, it happened again. I went into an Alexander Shen game with low expectations and my first reaction to playing it was "Let's play that again"
While Trap Construction Corp is themed around building traps for a dungeon, it is really filling a grid with Xs and numbers. While many of Alexander Shen's games have a certain level of whimsy, if only in the artwork, this one is as abstract as Tic Tac Toe.
You have an eight by eight grid. Each turn, and there are only eight turns, roll a six-sided die. On one to five, you get to fill in a pattern with the number in the middle anywhere on the grid. Ones just take up one space while fours and fives let you fill n lines from edge to edge. Sixes force you to block off a three-by three space whose location is determined by rolling two eight-sided dice. New patterns can cover up numbers already on the grid. And those three by three blocks cancel out any numbers or Xs within them.
At the end of the game, your score is determined by a value determined by the number of numbers on the grid (This is not adding up the numbers but a chart. More numbers, higher value) plus the number of Xs minus the number of empty areas multiplied by the size of the larges empty area. Trap Value + number of Xs - (number of empty areas x size of largest empty area)
Did I mention Trap Construction Corp was abstract?
Yes, the grid is supposed to be a dungeon you have been contracted to fill with traps. The numbers are the traps, the Xs are the area of effect of the traps. and the 3X3 areas are your client's personal quarters. But does it remotely feel like that? No. Honestly, a theme about urban development would make more sense, although it wouldn't make the game any more thematic.
I have played a lot of abstract strategy games and a lot of Roll and Writes over the years. And you generally get a sense of when a game is going to be functional with no mechanical issues but with no engagement. The equivalent of balancing your checkbook but without the positive outcome of accomplishing something, even if its just your own entertainment. And I really assumed that Trap Construction Corp would be like that.
However, what got me is the empty spaces and trying to make them as small as possible. The actual hook of the game is cutting up the grid. Even a rolling a one and only being able to fill in one space can be crucial it its the right space. And since you have the freedom to place a trap on any open space, you have a lot of actual choices. And the sixes with their 3x3 blocks keep the tension up.
Yeah, somehow rolling eights ones would lead to a completely broken play. However, that would clearly be an extreme outlier. And the game is eight turns long. That makes a potential unbalanced game like that more forgivable.
Alexander Shen's focus seems to be making tiny games and puzzles that take five minutes or less to play. That's not something everyone needs or wants. However, be it for coffee breaks or brain fog breaks, I have found that I am indeed in the demographic that plays those kind of games. And Shen has proven to have a real gift for creating them. it might seem like a super easy thing to make but I have seen enough bad examples that I have come to appreciate Shen.
That said, Shen has had misses, games and puzzles that didn't interest me or were even broken. I really expected Trap Construction Corp to be a game i checked off the list and forgot. Instead, it looks like it's headed for my clipboard of coffee break Roll and Writes.
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