Taking another look at Target shelves

I periodically check out the game shelves at Target. While I have grown used to seeing designer games at Barnes and Nobel, it is fascinating for me to see what Target will take a chance on.

The last time I looked, I was surprised by some of the things I saw. Century:Spice Road was pretty surprising. We are looking at family weight games but I view those as one of the bedrocks of the gaming industry. And they are also what got me into designer board games.

However, here’s a few things that really struck me on my last look.

Shadows in the Forest... is that a remake of Waldschattenspiel? A game that was a grail game when I first started collecting because open flame was a major component. And it’s in Target with an electric candle? (Well, I guess I can add my own live candle if I wanted to)

 Voltage is a game I bought when it first came out almost ten years ago. It was one of a couple games that Mattel (!) put out, presumably feelers to see if their market was ready for designer games. It’s still in my collection and I think it’s a nice, almost Balloon Cup game. I just never thought I would ever see it in print again, let alone in a place like Target.

Ticket to Ride:New York is something I didn’t even know existed until I saw it at Target... and I still don’t know how I feel about it. I love short games but Ticket to Ride condensed down to fifteen minutes might be cutting out too many choices.

That said, I’d have bought in an instant in my hording days but I’d get more out of it now either as a ‘the kid’s asleep, let’s game’ or introducing a preschooler to Ticket to Ride. I’d rather have New York than First Journey.

I’m not sure how I feel that three of my top ‘really need to buy’ games  are available at Target (Kingdomino, Santorini (which a friend bought for me), and Azul, by the way) are all available at Target. That really dings my gamer rep :P However, I think that it also says a lot about designer games becoming more and more mainstream in the United States.

Which isn’t the first time this has happened to me. When I started watching Doctor Who in the mid-80s, it was an eccentric thing to do :D

Voltage, one of Mattel's experiments

Voltage came out about ten years ago, a strange experiment by Mattel where they put out a couple games that were basically German Family games aimed at the American mass market. Voltage wasn't a bizarre experimental game. It was just in a weird experimental place.

Voltage is a two-player game where you are engineers fighting for control over a power plant that's on its last legs. Players take turns playing cards on either side of a board.  

The game is firmly in the world of Lost Cities-style play. There are four suits or colors of cards and the board has four spaces for players to make columns in each color. Players can play cards on either their side or their side. When there are five cards total, it gets score, with the current position of a plastic fuse token  determining if low or high will get the point. First player to four points wins.

(As usual, I've glossed over a lot of rules. Like players get two actions per turn, which can either be drawing or playing cards, or some cards let you flip the switch token.)

Earlier, I wrote that Voltage was an experiment for Mattel but not as a game. That's practically an understatement.  Voltage is very much a simplified/streamlined version of Balloon Cup/Piñata (yes, known both versions). Voltage has a simpler deck with the random element of the transformers that flip a token immediately. It also has a much simpler scoring system compared to Balloon Cup/Piñata's set collection system.

Between Balloon Cup/Pinata's more deeper decision tree and lower random factor, I think it is fair to say that it is a better game than Voltage. Not that Voltage is bad. It's pretty good. Just not AS good.

However, that simplicity is why I have kept Voltage. In addition to the fact that you know, I really enjoy Lost City-style games. It isn't that it's easier to teach. Frankly, Balloon Cup isn't that big a jump.

No, it is actually the _physical_ simplicity of Voltage that has made me keep it. A tiny board with a score track and four plastic tokens instead of tiles, score cards and a bag of cubes. The end result is a very small footprint with minimal housekeeping.

After all, I enjoy playing the style game to relax and mellow out. The physical elements of Voltage adding to the ease of play are really nice for that purpose. 

I have a feeling that if Voltage was released for the American mass-market audience now, it would be a lot more successful. German family games have been making definite inroads. Unfortunately, I think it came out too soon and sank.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24082/voltage