KUNG FU FIGHTING!!!

Hello Dear Reader!

I regret to inform you that...YOUR KUNG FU IS NO MATCH FOR MINE!!!!

Today's review is about the fast-paced, all-action, "hong kong cinema-style", card game...

KUNG FU FIGHTING!

THE GAME DESIGNERS: SLUGFEST GAMES! Geoff Bottone, Colleene Skadl, and Clifford Bohm. Slugfest Games is a self publisher, proving that you don't have to be under the BIG UMBRELLA to produce a high-quality, uber-fun game!

PLAYERS: 2 - 6, approximately 30 mins, ages 10 and up.

GAME BASICS: You are a kung-fu master! Unfortunately so are all your opponents! Each player gets a CHI CHART card and crimson glass jewel ( nicely provided ) to mark your CHI level! After that each player gets 7 cards, a draw pile and discard pile area are created and the mayhem begins!!

Using the various cards available, you can assault your fellow Kung Fu masters with straight attacks, combo attacks, weapons, and unconventional weapons like tables chairs and umbrellas!!

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! In the classic Kung Fu tradition, various styles emerge and you may adopt those as well inflicting even MORE Chi damage to your opponents! Ahhh...but beware...for every stance has an opposite that can inflict great damage upon you as well!!

GAME DISSECTION: SECRETS OF THE KUNG FU MASTERS!!

ART: As always...I can easily get suckered in by one of two things in a game....great art...or lots of lil pieces.... and ART is what drew me to the Slugfest Booth at Origins. My friend Doug and I sat down with Cliff and played a quick round of KUNG FU FIGHTING, and for me it was an instant purchase! The artist responsible for luring me in is a man named Peter Nguyen, under Clifford Bohm's art direction....they make a smash-bang team!

PRICE: 20$ Its a nice number for a game. If I were to break it down by the number of times I have played this game....let's see....carry the one...divide by PI....give back one kadan to honor the Hebrew God....and this game cost me about 25 cents per game.... and is much more satisfying than just about anything else I can buy for 25 cents nowadays.

REPLAY: Lots and Lots!! Its not a three hour game. This is a good game for playing with a few people before a big night out or while your personal Game Master of Triskelion is setting up a world for you to crawl through. Doug and I played it later on in the the open hall of Origins and in the hotel room along with the other games I bought from Slugfest...which will also be reviewed at a later date!

MECHANICS: VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD..with some twists! The stances give you bonuses for using certain attack enhancements, the attack enhancements can be stacked numerous times to turn your basic kick into a FAST, FLIPPING, WILD, SPINNING, KICK! ...and each time you add the appropriate bonuses! The game play is balanced and not rigid in that you can attack anyone at the table...not just someone next to you....or if you are extremely confident in your Kung Fu....two people at once!

** HOUSE RULE ALERT!!! ** Doug and I played this game and on one occasion one of us just got kung-fu hammered to near death in the first go, and promptly died the second attack! SADNESS! Undaunted though, we quickly invented the ZOMBIE NINJA RULE!! Whereby we come back at half CHI and can only use basic attacks!! This added an under-dog effect which we both enjoy and promote often! And yes....sometimes Zombie Ninjas win!

FUN: MORE FUN THAN CAN FIT INTO AN OCTAGON! Yes, really! It has three of my favorite game qualities...Simple. Pretty. Cool.

WHO ARE YOU? The Gamer Profile:

CASUAL: I doubt that gramma will play it with you. But if your Dad is like mine and watched alot of karate movies, and even took classes..... Its very possible that you could get him to drop a couple roundhouse-kicks on you, even if he's typically a non-gamer. My boy has played this with his friends and they all learned in about ten mins and played for an hour the first time out of the box... that was when they were 11.

ACTIVE: Going camping? Throw it in the back pack and practice your Bruce Lee Huuaaaaaaaa! Its affordable and small packaged so its not going to be in the way. You might even learn valuable bear-fighting moves in the process!

GAMER: By this point in the article you should have already logged onto slugfest games website and bought it and read about the upcoming expansion.... if not... roll a natural 20 or you lose one level and are weakened for one game day. Head to your local game store and buy a copy.... thus supporting your local economy and purifying your negative gamer levels for not already owning this! If you have no local store, log into slugfest games website and you can snag a copy from the good people at Paizo via the website.

CREATOR: One very interesting point.... my copy of KUNG FU FIGHTING was made in the USA. This is unusual as alot of games get published in other countries, most commonly China. I know with the current fuel prices alot of work is coming back to the states and that means that you can probably support the home economy and save money, time, and possibly someone's job. I wouldn't call it patriotism, but having pride in one's own country is not to be discouraged either.

FOR THE LADIES: One of this game's creators IS A WOMAN! Colleene Skadl. I met her at the conventions too, as well as an artist for another of Slugfest's games, Beth Trott. Kung Fu might not be your first choice, but supporting your fellow women in the gaming world has its perks too! YOU GO GIRL!

ABOUT ME: I'm a Gamer, Game Designer, and above all, a good guy who loves sharing games with people! if you have any questions, write me at redearth72@gmail.com