There are many ways to improve the look or function of a game. As an example, I prefer to have some sort of large object to indicate "first player" rather than the card that many games use. Usually these upgrades are purely functional but every so often you'll find something that fits the theme perfectly as well. I've listed a few of these such finds below...
 Kill
Dr. Lucky - Since you need to supply your own pawns to this game
anyway, it makes sense to use appropriate pieces doesn't it? I think
that the pawns from Midnight Party fit the bill very nicely. I
haven't played Clue in a number of years but if I ever dig out the old
classic it's a pretty sure bet that I'll replace the generic pawns with
these as well. |
 Merchant
of Venus - The generic pawns that come with the game are simply no
good and so I replaced them with the spaceships from an old copy of Wide World.
(Before you buy that old thrift store copy though, make sure that it has
the pieces you want. Some versions had boring old plastic planes. The
metal ones pictures here are also available in Parker Brothers' Conquest.) I think
that the retro style matches the tongue in cheek theme of the game very
nicely. As an added bonus they even have superior function-ability—you
can point your ship in the direction of travel as required by the rules. |
 Vom
Kap Bis Kairo - While I appreciate the nice compact size of the game
(it's just a deck of cards), I didn't like having to move the trains. It
would be much nicer if they were actual wooden trains rather than just
cards. Fortunately, these are readily available at many craft shops. A
quick coat of paint and you're all set. The ones that I bought were a little thin (1/4") and so I had to glue two of
them together. They're very cheap so this is hardly a problem. I also
used another of these trains to replace the "first player
marker" in Santa Fe Rails. The original is small and looks
more like a black blob than a train. |
| Give Me The Brain - This one seems a natural. You need some item that the players must pass around to show which zombie currently holds the only brain at Friedey's fast food restaurant. It seems only natural that you use an actual brain then doesn't it? Well, maybe not an actual brain but a foam one at least. These are pretty common promotional items (go to almost any trade convention and you're likely to be given several). |
 The Great Brain Robbery
- Ok, so you got a large foam brain for playing Give Me The Brain, but
what about this "sequel" game? You need lots of little tiny
brains. Plastics For Games has just the thing—tiny little brains in a
variety of colours. |
 Swashbuckler -
I'm actually quite pleased with the look of this Yaquinto game from the
early 1980's. The empty tavern is simple but very nicely done. The
furniture counters are plain but still work quite well I think. I really
didn't like the pirate counters though. The overhead shots looked more
like coloured blobs than dastardly villains. I also found it a little
awkward to use them since you were constantly moving them around. An
easy solution is to use Steve Jackson Games' Cardboard Heroes.
Originally released in small batches, you can now purchase the entire
set of fantasy figures in one package. There are about a dozen or so
that are appropriate for a swashbuckling setting. Using colour coded
bases improves them even more. I originally planned on using metal
miniatures but I found it difficult to get any that were "just
right". Most tended to be too large for use in the 3/4"
squares and the bases made the figures "facing" a little
ambiguous. Even if you don't own Swashbuckler this idea can come
in handy in plenty of other games. The zombie characters can be used in
The Great Brain Robbery. Even without the Cardboard Heroes, the
plastic stands make things much easier to move things around in my
experience. Deluxe Ogre (the 1985 version) included these and I
found it to be a tremendous improvement over the original flat counters.
I try to retrofit these items to any games possible although sometimes
it doesn't work all that well. I'm hoping that the figures in Kampf
der Gladiators will be the right size, I'm not real fond of the
plastic "sleds". |
- Greg Aleknevicus
