News: Frag Reprint

Steve Jackson Games in partnership with Warehouse 23 have just announced the reprint of Frag! They are taking pre orders now!

Frag being the “shoot em up” computer game that you do not need a computer for. Which for me is a great thing because I am so out of date on my first person shoot em up games on console.

That being said, this game is still ridiculously fast for a board game. I was fortunate enough to be able to play the original game a few times. The first set, originally released in 2001, very much lived up to playing like the video games of the time. The arena is small and with up to 6 players running around it, there was little space to hide (if any). Quite simply the most “Frags” took the win.

Initially I struggled with this concept on a board game. The strategy felt limited and that messed with my head as I didn’t want to get killed. That’s the beauty of this game though, if you get taken out, you’re not out the game, you simply respawn as you would in a video game and go again. It takes a mindset shift and you need to accept the losses along the way in this one.

Everyone starts off with a very basic weapon and there is the opportunity to pick up better kit in play. You would think this a good strategy but invariably you are never around long enough to reap huge benefits of having the upgraded kit, someone has taken you out again. However, kit is dropped and so opportunities are there to pick up the lost kit, it’s intense.

The arena is a simple board divided into squares. You have spawn points, walls for cover, the acid pools as well as assorted weapon collection points to pick up better kit, or replace wounds. And it really is an arena, designed specifically to create a kill zone.