Culdcept
- July 18, 2003 00:00 AM PST
Yu-Gi-Oh-opoly. Quite a concept.
A fairly popular series dating back to the Sega Saturn days, Culdcept is an odd little board game/RPG hybrid that's even odder in the way it's been addicting Japanese players for the past half-decade. To put it succinctly, it's a combination of Yu-Gi-Oh and Monopoly: With your deck of 50 cards in hand, you and up to three opponents battle for territory on a set of twisty game maps. Whoever reaches the Mana (money, basically) goal first wins. You claim a square by placing a card on it; if someone else lands on that card, he can either pay the Mana toll or try to fight for control of the square with one of his own cards. Win or lose, you receive a bunch of new cards to improve your deck with after the game ends.It sounds complicated, but it's really not�the preview version went out of its way to be simple for beginners, and the story mode gradually introduced game strategy without being the slightest bit confusing. If Yu-Gi-Oh is a little too dorky and antisocial for your friends, then it might be worth gathering them around the TV for this game instead come fall. (Oh�and if you've ever played Top Shop�that game was a ripoff of Culdcept. That should get you excited, eh?)
