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The Awful Green Things from Outer Space

Comments[2] by Dave in General
Cover of Awful Green Things from Outer SpaceWith the book out of my hands again, I'm trying to return to normal life by doing things like leaving the house, watching movies and playing games with the kids. Tonight's fun was The Awful Green Things from Outer Space, an easy-to-play and very cute Steve Jackson mini-game (a board game) with an interesting set of rules. It's perfect for Alex, who at 9 is absolutely fascinated by game systems and rules.

TAGTFOS is about a space ship that is boarded by green monsters; monsters who grow each turn from eggs to babies and from babies to egg-laying adults. To fight off the monsters, the ship's crew members grab whatever weapons they can find, things like bottles of acid, cans of rocket fuel and blow torches. Problem is, the crew has no idea what the weapons do until they use them (and they change every time you play). So, if you fire a stun pistol into a room full of monsters you might blow 'em to bits, which sounds good until you realize that all of those bits will grow into babies next turn.

I got my copy of TAGTFOS from The Dragon magazine back in '79. The game is out of print, but you can find copies at used game stores online (around $15 a copy).


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Comments:

Other good non-traditional games for kids: <p>Dino Hunt from Steve Jackson; fun game, and the cards are gorgeous. It's pretty simple in terms of rules. <p>Fluxx - card game; the rules are that the rules constantly change; great for someone interested in rules :-) <p>Stuff from Cheap-Ass (James Ernest) - I got a pack of 8-10 games a few years ago. All fairly simple. <p>Your comment about getting Awful Green Things in 79 reminds me of the Microgames that Steve Jackson was involved with in that time frame. I had a bunch, and even still have a rule book for one about cavemen or something. And when Ogre went back on sale a few years ago, I picked up a copy, but haven't dared cut the pieces out yet. Someday ...

Posted by Patrick Mueller on May 10, 2006 at 10:15 AM EDT #

I loved those Microgames and I've got a bunch of them in good condition: OGRE, G.E.V., WarpWar, Melee, Wizard and CHiTiN. We played OGRE and G.E.V. recently and they were good fun, but they're not as unpredictable as the Awful Green Things.

Posted by Dave Johnson on May 10, 2006 at 11:53 AM EDT #

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