Flix

 Down From The Attic 4: Flix.

Video review can be found here! https://youtu.be/C8KfnX66oXM

Here’s an unusual and mostly forgotten about game from 1994, Flix, by Milton Bradley. You’d be forgiven for not remembering this one, a one year release span for a game isn’t massive. But what we have here is a quick, entertaining lateral thinking and strategy game for two players.

 

The box isn’t much to look at, standard MB fare really, I’ve always found the font so indicative of the 90s though. This is a board game by principles, but just take a look at the board.

Yeah, this isn’t your regular cardboard fold out game board. 

The game board comprises of three blue segments that fit together to create a large hexagonal play space. Getting the board together is a feat in itself, the sides of each of the segments have a sliding latch. Getting two of these in place is easy enough, but getting the third in place invariably displaces the first two. I remember this being a particular pain in the backside as a kid but twenty three years later it’s no easier as an adult. You need an engineering degree to get this together! The pieces are solid and incredibly robust, they feel solid and sturdy. So, with all three clips together, you give the board this twist/push movement on all three segments and it clicks into place, voila!



The underside of the game board has small ball bearings fitted to each segment which help with rotating the board round and this will become more apparent as we play. In addition to the main board are these plastic triangle pieces that fit around the edge, they indicate the starting positions for the the balls. The rules indicate that 3 triangles of one colour to be on one side but you can mix this up if you wish to implement house rules, it changes how you view the board and adds a different element of play, rather than seeing each side as a “base” the board appears more a level playing field.

So starting the game, each player has nine balls around the perimeter of the board. You take it in turns to flick balls around the game board using these flick paddles. 

Each segment of the board is a sunken 3 sided pyramid which gives you 3 different sides to place your flick paddle before flicking…..there’s a lot of flicking flicks to that sentence!

 The aim of the game is to create a large triangle using four of your balls occupying the smaller triangles. 

You can’t use non flicked balls to create this, so flicking balls near the starting position of other sides won’t count, the starting positions don’t count as part of the triangle. 



The game mechanics are simple enough for anyone to pick up very quickly, and there’s a surprising amount of strategy and forward thinking with this game. Many times you’ll spin the board round to see that your opponent is one flick away from winning and you can only hope you can land your ball in the triangle to stop that from happening! There’s a certain cleverness to this, it’s satisfying to set up a scenario where there’s no win for your opponent, they can block one big triangle, but are unable to stop you winning with another.

 

Sometimes you’re a little enthusiastic with your flick and your ball will go off the board or land in a triangle that’s already occupied, all what happens here is you return the ball to where it was and the players turn ends. It can take a few attempts to get a feel of how strong a flick you need to execute, some times you’ll only want your ball to land the next triangle ahead, you might want it to get to the other side of the board. There’s a certain element of dexterity to this game. Of course, with certain flicks, ball will bounce off the divide between triangles or even bounce right out of the triangle you aimed for, there’s been times where a flukey shot like this can really change how a game plays out. 



Flix is a very simple game at it’s heart, and sometimes some of the best games are the simplest. I see this game as a sort of horizontal Connect Four only with a dexterity and luck thrown in for good measure. Getting accustomed to how hard a flick should be takes a bit of practice, but most new players are quick to pick up the mechanics and rules. Game usually last maybe up to 5 minutes and I’ve never played just a single game of this, most players want to play a number of rounds because this is the sort of game that you instantly feel you can do better next time around. Flix is no longer being produced by MB games but copies aren’t so difficult to come by on ebay and on other second hand sites. This game is a fun addition to any collection and young children and adults can enjoy this, it’s quick to learn the rules, quick to play, just fiddly to put together!

Down From The Attic Episode 3: Pop Up Pirate!

Down From The Attic ep.3 Pop Up Pirate

Video review here! https://youtu.be/-j6DjR68NSo

Here’s a game I think most of have played at some time, whether owning it or playing round at friends as kid, shiver me timbers, baton down the hatches and hoist the main sail,  it’s Pop Up Pirate by Tomy. This is a game that’s instant action, simple to play, and down to pure chance, there’s one loser and multiple winners.

The box art is fun and friendly, lets not forget that this is aimed at children, a jolly pirate and his parrot smiling out from the box. “It’s a barrel load of family fun. Slide the swords into the slots, but BEWARE, if the pirate pops up- YOU’RE OUT”  The pirate is smiling pretty relaxed for a guy who, oh I don’t know, has a sword in his back?! There’s a sinister edge to this game that you pick up on as an adult. 

Unlike many board games were the rules and instructions are printed on the box lid or on an instruction manual, this has the game instructions printed right on the back of the box. “Pop up pirate is a barrel of fun for everyone. First gently but firmly push pirate down until he locks down into position. Then select your favourite colour swords and take it in turns to slide them into the slots in the barrel. But beware, slide it into the wrong slot and out pops the pirate- and that means you’re out! But which slot is the wrong slot- you won’t know because it’s a different slot every game.” That’s right, it’s completely random. This is Russian Roulette for kids, only with a 24 chambered gun….barrel….that’s triggered with swords. It’s not the best analogy I’ll admit. 

The game pieces are charming, there’s really no other way of describing them. The pirate in particular is simply adorable, a big round head and a tiny body, I always liked the way this figure looked. The only stickers to him are the eye and the body, his bandana, beard and eye patch are all moulded pieces fixed in place, which i’m thankful for, it’s really helped keep him looking in good condition over the years. He’s surprisingly lightweight, which helps with him popping up, and trust me, he can pop up quite high. 

The barrel is nicely weighted and feels solid, and even after all these years, the spring mechanism works flawlessly every time, a real testament to great design. The swords are solid, they don’t feel cheap in the least bit, obviously rounded off for safety reasons.

 The base does a good job of fleshing out the whole desert island/pirate motif. There’s a giant squid and a the friendliest shark ever in the sea and the stickers underneath the barrel display a desert island, complete with beach with driftwood, palm trees, treasure, a giant angry vulture and friendly locals.

You know what’s going to happen. Everyone playing knows. It’s an inevitability….but when? That’s the real question. This game gets tenser and tenser as each sword blade is slotted in place. Ideally, you want to play this game with four people, one for each colour, but playing with two? Two colours each. Three players? pick a colour each and share out the remaining colour. More than four? choose swords at random, it doesn’t matter since you take it in turn to put the swords in place, everyone at the table will know who popped the pirate. 

Look at this thing now, it’s like a porcupine! Knowing that one of the remaining slots was going to set him off was almost unbearable as a kid, knowing that your choice dooms you….or dooms your friends. Getting to this stage and putting the sword in and nothing happen, you felt like a bomb disposal expert snipping the right wire. “It’s come to this, two slots left…which do i pick?! I’m gonna go with….no….no that’s obvious it’s the wrong one….or is it? I’ll go with the other, definitely the other…..no, I was sure with that first one, this one….I’m not sold on.” Everyone is looking round like they know what’s going to happen… the sword goes in….

POP!

With the slot being triggered to set the pirate off popping, you think you’d feel some slight resistance putting the sword in. Not at all, until you click the sword fully in, you have absolutely no idea of whether you’re safe or doomed. I’d love to see how this game works but I’m conscious that undoing the screws would cause springs to uncoil and it’d never work again. That’s another impressive thing with this game, no batteries, it’s all done with springs and cogs, clever stuff, it genuinely impresses me how inventive toys of the 80s and 90s were.

I played this game frequently as a kid and it never failed to liven up a rainy day or an afternoon after school with friends. Even now, as an adult, this game is fun. The games are very short, and length of the games really depends on how quickly the pirate pops. I’ve played this game with people who’ve never even heard of it and seeing the tension and suspense on their faces as they place sword after sword in, not knowing what will happen, it’s immeasurably satisfying. I compare this game to the likes of Crocodile Dentist and Jenga in that there is really only one loser and multiple winners. This game is thankfully still being made and still being made by Tomy, i highly recommend you getting a copy either for your kids or to relieve childhood memories, it’s a really great party game. 

Down From The Attic Ep.2 - Crossbows and Catapults

Down From The Attic Ep.2 - Crossbows and Catapults

Watch the video review here! https://youtu.be/ystpdRARiAE

There are so many board games that are, with no better way to put it, boring. Lengthy, complex rule books, game play that chugs along, long set up times, sometimes you want a little action. This week, we’re looking at Crossbows and Catapults Master Battle Set from 1992 made by Tomy. This game is anything but boring, this all out table top warfare!

The tatty, battered state of this box that my copy of this game tells you that this was well used and well loved. Look at that artwork on the box, hand painted, I love seeing dedication to a theme like this, the fact that a company would hire on a painter to create epic fantasy artwork… for a children’s board game. Of course the first thing that you notice is the two duelling warlords but look in the background, this poor fella is getting frazzled by this huge fireball! “ Discover an amazing world of warrior heroes, towering castles and brilliant all-action battles to play with your friends” The box proudly boasts “Over 100 pieces!” and they’re not kidding, flipping the box over shows you what you get inside, figures, flags, weapons, bricks, towers, and much more!. On the box is clearly shown the mechanics of the game, and the core game play concept.

Castles, towers, traps, crossbows, catapults, battling warriors, smashing stuff up, firing weapons, epic artwork, what kid would walk past this in the toy shop?! Well, admittedly, this one. To be fair, the game was positioned in the toy shop with the likes of HeroQuest and Dungeons and Dragons and I immediately wrote it off as one of those role playing games. It was my dad who pulled my over to it and said “hey, what about this?” “hmmm, yeah ok, that looks cool I guess”. I had no idea how incredibly fun this game was going to be. 

The instruction manual does a lot to introduce the two waring factions and the story leading up to the battle. You take control of either the Impalers of The Clannic Shelf, a barbarian-viking like army who live on a floating rock island above the world, who enjoy throwing their prisoners off the edge onto sharp objects or…unsuspecting passer by. The other faction are The Doomlords of Gulch, squat desert warriors from right under the Clannic Shelf, they’re shorter due to the extra gravitational force of the shelf weighing down on them. The Doomlords want to destroy the Clannic Shelf to enjoy normal gravity and normal seasons, The Impalers want to preserve their homeland. Tempers have reached boiling point, it’s time to wage WAR!

….but not before setting up the battlefield. I’m using the table here as the battlefield, as a kid I’d play this with my friends, my brother or my dad on the carpet and the projectiles would always get caught on the weave of the carpet, it’s far better to play on a smooth surface. On to the pieces! Each side gets a catapult tower, a castle keep, a siege catapult, a crossbow, 12 castle wall blocks, 8 figures, 5 flags, a tent and a ton of projectiles! 

The crossbow, catapult and catapult tower all require rubber bands for firing the projectiles, it’s a good idea to use short rubber bands or loop them up. On the back of the catapults are these notches that allow you to adjust how powerful the shot is, this is a pretty neat idea and helps a lot with fine tuning play to your style.

 However, the catapult tower requires two rubber bands, not just for the weapon, but for the trap. The platform on the top is spring loaded, a direct shot on the castle door will cause the platform to spring up, hurling the poor warrior on top in the air and down to his demise. 

The playing pieces allow you full reign to customise and change up your fortification layout, you can go for wide and expansive, small and compact, have your men upfront or to the back, build your walls tall or have them span your battlements, it’s entirely your choice, which just adds to the fun, no two battles will be alike. Being a wily veteran of this game, i’ve figured a few build styles and item positions that can help, but trick shots can always undo these.

Before starting the game, one of your warriors is selected to be leader and you place these 2 immortality discs underneath him. This effectively gives that figure 3 lives. It’s a good idea to position your leader in a place that’s not directly in the line of fire. I usually pop him behind the catapult tower. 

Who goes first is decided by the old “which hand is it in” game, and then, let the battle commence!

You take it turn by turn to fire at your opponent, each turn you can take two shots and you can choose to fire both shots from a single weapon or a mixture. The crossbow is by far and a way the most accurate and most powerful weapon in the game, when we play one of the house rules I implement is if you use both of your shots on the crossbow this turn, next turn you can’t use it. The catapult tower is pretty accurate, and can drop shot onto enemies pretty well. The small catapult is the wild card of the deck, its pretty powerful though can be difficult to aim and fire, it usually takes a few shots off it to get a feel for how strong a shot should be. 

The aim of the game is to kill all your opponents figures, you do this, you win the game. So, what’s to stop you from keeping all your figures hidden safely behind the catapult tower? Well, your weapons must have a figure within 4cm of them to fire, that’s where these battle rulers come into to play

 The exception to this rule is the catapult tower, a warrior must be stood on top of it in order to fire from it. You’ll need to think carefully about positioning your men, rotating the crossbow or catapult could interfere with them or push them away. So what happens if your warriors are too far away from your weapons? You can sacrifice a shot to move them up to 15 cm. Here’s where you can really be mean with your opponents, if they need to get a figure up to the catapult tower, is it 15cm as the crow flies or 15cm along the ground and up the tower? This really is down to your decision, and how well the battle is going for you.

You may have noticed all the flags around, they’re not just for decoration. Knocking down all five of them will allow you to bring a fallen warrior back to life. Not only that, but your opponent loses a turn. Knock down three flags in one turn (two shots) and you can bring two warriors back to life or take another two shots! The tent does much the same thing, knocking the roof off the tent brings a warrior back to life or gives the player another shot. 

Sometimes, bits of castle wall will fall in the way of weapons. Can you move them out the way? No chance! Your only options are to blast them out the way or sacrifice your whole turn by moving the weapon up to 15cm. I almost never move my weapons, the problem is that, fine, you can move your weapon out of debris but more often than not, where you move it to will be too far away from the warriors to operate it. You’d need to move a warrior to it sacrificing yet another shot and this just seems like a waste to me.

Standard projectiles are pretty destructive on their own but are you hankering for something a bit more devastating? This game has you covered! There are three special projectiles, rock, fire and oil. You only get one shot with these, so making them count is crucial. Unlike the standard projectiles, the special ones have a ring you overlay on the projectile once it has landed. Anything caught in the ring is destroyed. That’s right, with these you can destroy weapons, and there is no way of getting them back. The only weapon impervious to these attacks is the catapult tower, but it still kills the warrior stood on the top. Having one of these land on the crossbow is absolutely crushing, your best weapon is taken from you. The oil projectile works differently than the rock and fire, it’s designed to be used to with the fire projectile, it essentially extends the range the fire spreads. It’s a massive gamble and in the twenty plus years that i’ve played this game only once have I ever had the fire ring touch the oil ring. Of course, any warriors caught in the oil on it’s own will die but oil landing on weapons does nothing on it’s own. If it’s a full moon on a leap year and all the planets line up and you have your 4 leaf clover, lucky horse shoe and rabbit’s foot maybe….maybe you’ll get lucky with your shots. 

So your battle is going poorly, and you’re getting low on men and desperate for a solution. Fortunately, you have the opportunity to cast two spells during the course of the game. There are three magic spell cards, you select one at random, but hold this doesn’t necessarily mean things will improve things for you. Each spell card has a white spell…and a black spell, and you really really don’t want the black spell. So, how do you make sure you get the white spell? Same way you decided if who plays first, which hand is it in. It’s pure 50/50 chance. White spells give you the option of rebuilding your walls, moving weapons, bringing back multiple fallen warriors to life…..but  black spells can also destroy your crossbow, death of your warriors or even your leader, getting the guess right is crucial. 

As mentioned before, this is the Master Battle Set, but Tomy released a number of sets before and after this particular one. The line started in 1983, and the master battle set differed in that the catapult tower wasn’t part of the standard set, it was an add on you could buy. I’ve played this version, I picked up a copy years ago from a Blue Peter Bring and Buy sale (remember those?) but if completely honest, I can see why Tomy refined the Master Battle Set, the catapult tower really adds an element of danger and fun to the game, it’s like a bomb you know that’s going to go off at any moment. Released around 1984 was the Chariot Battle Set, the chariots were much like the crossbows in that you could fire from them. Additionally were the trojan horse battle set, battering ram set and battling giants set. These could be used in conjunction with the standard set to really build an enormous army, I can imagine games would last hours!

Released after Master Battle Set was the Dragon Battle Set and the Sea Battle Set. I had both of them, but unfortunately no longer own either. Both of them paled in comparison to the Master Battle Set. Put bluntly, the Sea Battle Set was terrible. Included were four ships, two for each army, that acted much like a crossbow….except that the projectile would invariably get stuck underneath and not fire out properly. There was a rule too regarding shields on the sides of the ship, they were just projectiles draped on little nubs and the slightest movement would send them falling off. I actually wrote to Tomy complaining about this as a kid, and surprisingly, they wrote back AND gave me a brand new set! That was unexpected of them and very decent of them, considering I was complaining about how poor one of their toys were. The Dragon Battle set wasn’t much better, the dragons acted like catapults except the projectiles would go anywhere but where you wanted them to, they’d also fall out of the dragon’s mouths before firing, they were incredibly irritating, awesome to look at, but that was about the strength of them. The fortifications were made of cardboard and compared with the plastic ones from the Master Battle Set, looked feeble and flimsy in comparison, a few good shots to them was enough to put creases and dents into them. Both of these sets now command an absurd amount of money on the second hand market. 

Nostalgia can quite easily play into how you perceive a game or how you review it but I can honestly say that this game is still absolutely amazing. I’ve introduced friends to this who have never even heard of it and they’ve said “woah, this is awesome!” Playing this now is just as much fun as it was when I bought it, games will generally last over an hour, and smashing up your friends castle and killing their soldiers just doesn’t get dull, it’s incredibly satisfying to land that one perfect shot on the castle door to send the spring loaded platform into action. This set is quite rare now, and commands a decent price with all it’s components. So, other than laying down some cash for a retro set, what can you do?

Well, the series was reworked again to Battleground in 2007, and these sets are plentiful. A lot of the original concepts remain with some interesting new weapons and scenery pieces too, there’s a number of expansion packs too to really make a massive battle! These are sets that I definitely intend to pick up in the future, but Crossbows and Catapults will always be special to me.

Watch my video review here! https://youtu.be/rG4JE2bXMq4

Welcome to Down From The Attic where I go up into my attic, rummage around and find something fun, interesting or cool to show you. 

The Incredible Crash Dummies were some of the best toys that I ever owned, hence why I held onto them. The line of toys were first introduced by Tyco in 1990, with the idea that it would help to promote road safety and encourage children to buckle their seat belts, and reading into this, the toys were launched with input from the America Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I remember seeing adverts on the TV at the time with Slick and Spin driving wildly, eyes off the road, giving a thumbs up to the camera and saying “don’t be a dummy, buckle your seat belt!” “and leave the crashing to us”. Well, I might have buckled my seat belt, but I, and any fortunate kids who owned these fantastic toys, certainly didn’t leave the crashing to them…

It was my 6th birthday, and I remember going to the Toys R Us and picking out the crash cab the weekend before my birthday. The bright day glow orange box just leaped off the shelf and looking at the art work and pictures I was instantly entranced. “A car that you can smash up and put back together?!” My tiny mind was blown away by this. My birthday landed on a school day and I was so excited that to get home and get that thing out of the box that I made myself sick to get out of school, yes, Mrs McGrath if you’re watching, I did that on purpose.

The toys themselves are unlike any other I’ve seen, they’re designed to break, to fall apart and pop apart. Most of the figures have one or two buttons on their chests, the one button ones would have some comic effect, like Spare Tyre who’s eyes bug out of his head. The two button dummies, these were by far my favourite as pushing these two buttons would result in the limbs and head flying off. Inside the torso are two springs that hold clips in tension, and the pegs on the neck, shoulders and hips of the dummies appendages would click in. 

Unfortunately I no longer have the crash cab, but it was a recolour of one of the standard crash cars. These again were designed to break, the bonnet would crumple, the wheel pop off, the windshield flies out, the whole roof can come loose too! The interior of the car has some great play features too. As mentioned before, the all important seat belts. Unfortunately, 27 years hasn’t been kind on the rubber and these can get brittle. The fasteners can also get broken too being as thin as they are. Intact belts really do make a difference to crash, the dummies generally come out of the experience unscathed. A working airbag is included too though it is pot luck if it forces the steering wheel cap off. Being a passenger in this car would be awful as the passenger seat is spring loaded, that’s right, it throws the dummy right through the windshield! Put your dummies in the car, seatbelt on?….off, they’re dummies, they can handle it.

The beauty of these toys is that no two crashes are ever going to be alike, car parts and body parts are going to be thrown all over and to clean up, just click everything back in place and viola, good as new.

The Incredible crash dummies line didn’t just stop with the one car, they had a massive range of vehicles. My personal favourite was the F1 race car, like the crash cars the wheels would pop off but it was spring loaded to hinge in half, looking like it’s been bent, the steering wheel was also spring loaded to slam into the dummies chest buttons in an explosion of limbs and body parts, fantastic stuff!

The bike was also a favourite, the side car was assembled in a clam shell way and would detach from the bike at the point of impact. Spring loaded seats again would fling the driver from his perch, a lot of times leaving his arms holding onto the handle bars, I used to find this particularly amusing. 

Bull’s Truck has an interesting feature in that after travelling a certain distance or speed, the rear axel, which is again spring loaded, unlatches itself sending the car hurtling and tumbling through the air. 

The crash plane had a cargo bay in the bottom that could fit a dummy in, with a non working parachute pack, and you could drop them to their doom. When crashed, the engine retracts, the yolk stick crushes into the body buttons and the wings fall off. This toy definitely saw the most abuse as a kid, I know at least once I threw it out of my bedroom window to see it smash on the patio below. 

A few vehicles that came out that I have lost over the years or never owned were the crash lawmower, the engine would pop out and the seat spring forward, this was definitely one of my least used sets. The dune buggy didn’t have any real crash functions to it and to me, as a kid, that didn’t interest me. I wanted to see wheels and doors flying off everywhere! There was also the baby buggy which again didn’t have any crash features and was really the only way of getting the crash baby. I doubt now that this would be approved, a toy where you put a baby in car and crash it. There was also the damage dog and hub cat (got to love that pun), crash animals that would flatten when hit. The icing on the cake? Tire tread marks over the back. I miss the 90s….

In addition to the vehicles, there were a number of non vehicular sets that came out. The first was the crash test centre which I would’ve absolutely loved to have owned as a kid. It featured a wall that could be crashed through as well as a spring loaded seat that would slam the dummy against a number of interchangeable accessories. 

Junkman was the nemesis of the crash dummies and junkbot’s crash cannon was another set that I owned, pop a dummy in the cannon, angle the barrel, pull the string and….no, yank the string hard, there we go. This was another weak set in my mind, and I didn’t care too much for the Junkman and the Junkbots, they didn’t fall apart like dummies, they were good figures sure, really inventive and used great use of car parts to shape them but they felt counter productive to the whole dummy and crash idea. 

I can’t really mention the crash dummy line without mentioning the TV special. I did some research for this episode, and from what I can find, it’s one of the first full length 3D animated features. The short came free with a crash dummy figure, on a VHS tape and let me tell you, I wore that tape out the number of times I watched it. It blew my mind to see something like that back then and surprisingly it holds up fairly well. Sure you could cynically view it as one big long toy commercial but it’s still humorous and it’s worth checking out to see the infancy of 3D animation. It did a lot to introduce new characters and vehicles to the franchise and flesh out the personalities of the figures, which to be fair, all look alike facially and are pretty interchangeable. 

The toys are not without their faults. A common and disheartening fault was for these white plastic pegs that hold the limbs to the torso to break from….lets say, less then gentle play. When crashing is the name of the game, to have a figure break and not be repairable was so disappointing, you can use bluetak to hold it in place, but it’s not the same. Another thing is springs becoming misaligned in the vehicles and features not working like they should but these occurrences are rare and easily fixed. 

Put simply, these toys are….incredible. There’s really been nothing like them before or since and I hope one day that they get remade. Despite being 25 years old, they're still hardy toys, and work just as well as they did when new. The fact you’re getting a different crash each and every time keeps it and interesting, and above anything else fun. I’m 32 and I can say that I had fun playing with these again. They bring back memories of scuffing skirting boards my dad had just painted, sending a car careening down the stairs just to see what happens. Vintage ones such as these are getting pricier and pricier on the second hand market, especially with the boxes. If you have any still, dust them off and get them crashed.