Toc Toc Woodman - A Dexterity Game Review

Mayday Games is best known for it's line of card sleeves for the hobby game market, but has recently jumped into the game publishing market with a nice selection of original and reprinted games. One of these games is a quirky Korean import called Toc Toc Woodman, designed by Justin Oh. Toc Toc Woodman is a dexterity game that tasks players with using a plastic axe to chop the bark from a large plastic tree without causing the tree to collapse. On the surface, it may sound similar to other popular dexterity games like Jenga, but make no mistakes, this Woodman has a whimsical style like no other.

Components:

The components in Toc Toc Woodman are made from a sturdy, lightweight, molded plastic that is built to withstand the repeated hits from the small plastic axe used during gameplay. Included in the game is a small plastic base upon which the rest of the pieces are stacked to form "slices" in the trunk of a small tree. Each slice has a central, lightly colored "core" with four brown pieces of "bark" that slide into it. Although quite simple in construction, it is surprising the way these components interact with each other to create a structure that is both strong and precarious at the same time.

Gameplay:

Toc Toc Woodman's rules are easily described in just a few sentences. In fact, although printed rules are included, a player can simply read the large lettering on the back of the box, and know everything he needs to play. During the game, players take turns hitting the segmented tree trunk with a plastic axe, trying to knock the bark off of the center core. While this may sound simple, it is usually easier said than done; as players hit the tree, the different stacked segments will be pushed around, causing the pieces of tree trunk to shift their balance. If a player is skillful, he will only knock the brown bark off of the tree, but a misjudged strike can cause one of the center cores to fall - or worse, the entire tree to collapse. For every piece of bark knocked off, the player scores a point, but, if one of the core pieces is knocked down, the player loses 5 points.  Each player must take two hits before the next player gets a chance to wield the axe. When all of the bark has been knocked from the tree, the player with the most points wins. More times than not, however, the game actually ends when the entire tree comes crashing down due to a misjudged chop - which can be very cathartic for the other players when it's the lead player doing the chopping.

That's really all there is to the game. It plays very quickly, and often times, the setup takes longer than the game itself. There are a couple of gameplay variants printed in the manual, and while these add some variety, there is an enjoyable simplicity in the basic game that I prefer.

Conclusion:

Even with the short play time and simple rules, there is a lot of fun to be had in this quirky game. The tension of the barely-balanced tree elicits gasps around my table, and giddy cackling from the children when one of their siblings, or, heaven forbid, one of their parents has caused the entire structure to collapse. In fact, this is one of those elusive games that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike, and more importantly - together. The nature of tapping the plastic trunk with a small "toc, toc" doesn't require the same extended control of small motor skills that a game like Jenga does, which is a great equalizer when it comes to younger folk.  Players only need to decide where to hit and how hard, which actually makes Toc Toc Woodman as much of a press-your-luck type game as it is a dexterity game. Hitting the tree hard can knock a lot of bark off, but there is a high probability that disaster will strike. On the other hand, a player who is too timid with his strength can come away empty handed. When many games I play with my kids can be mind-numbingly boring in their simplicity, it's refreshing that Woodman is able to take very basic rules and deliver something that is actually fun.

Although I have had great success playing Toc Toc with my children, it's important to note that it isn't just a kids game. The fun of being a miniature lumberjack is universal, so even when there are no kids in sight, Toc Toc is still a great experience with the right crowd. Toc Toc Woodman isn't going to be winning any awards for deep strategy, but as a quick social game to play with family or friends, it works exceedingly well. Where children love the simple rules and the inherent destruction of watching the tree collapse, adults will love the quirky theme... and the inherent destruction of watching the tree collapse.

The only negative thing I really have to say about Woodman, is that the 45 seconds it takes to set the game up can sometimes seem disproportionately long; especially when the game can take as little as 2 minutes to play. But then again, it ONLY takes 45 seconds to set up, which is arguably faster than any other game in my collection.

When deciding if you should purchase Toc Toc Woodman, there are a couple of angles to consider: For adult gamers, Toc Toc is firmly entrenched in the silly-fun filler game category, and will find success in a lively game group that enjoys the occasional light game... and perhaps the occasional cocktail. For parents with young children, though, Toc Toc Woodman makes for a great opportunity to bring the family to the table, and offers a chance to truly enjoy the smiles and laughter that gaming with kids delivers - and for me, this is where Toc Toc Woodman really shines.

Eaten by Zombies - A Review.

Kickstarter.com has been making waves in board game development lately. Its no-risk preorder model allows indie designers and larger publishers alike to take more risks when releasing games. When a designer has a project that he wants to fund, but doesn’t have the money up front to print the game, or fears that the game may not have a large enough audience, he can pitch his project on kickstarter.com.  Potential buyers can “invest” in this idea by pledging money to the project, and in return will receive a copy of the game when it is printed. Most kickstarter projects offer some nifty goodies that are exclusive to the kickstarter campaign.  If the project does not earn enough money to fund it, the investors are not obligated to pay anything. This is great for both the game publishers, and the consumers; the publishers don’t end up with a bunch of unsold stock in their warehouses, and the consumer doesn’t lose money if a game isn’t printed.

One of the many publishers to begin embracing kickstarter as a means of offering game preorders is Mayday Games. Until now, Mayday Games has mostly been known for manufacturing card sleeves for hobby and euro games, but Mayday is entering the game publishing business with a bang this quarter with no fewer than three kickstarter projects, all of which are either already funded, or well on target to be funded. One of these titles is an interesting Zombie themed deck building game designed by Max Holliday, called Eaten By Zombies, of which I was fortunate enough to play an advanced copy.

In Eaten by Zombies, players work to defeat a zombie horde, by fighting, fleeing, and scavenging for items. Notice I didn’t say the players are working together to defeat the zombie horde; the game may seem to be somewhat cooperative at first glance, and there are ways to achieve a cooperative victory, but the easiest, and most prevalent way of winning involves being the last player alive. In order to stay alive, sometimes friendships have to be sacrificed. Eaten by Zombies turns the act of throwing other players under the bus into an art form. It’s more like throwing the other players under the bus, tying them to the bumper, backing over them a few times, and then dragging them for a few miles. You may think that this is one of those fabled "direct conflict" deck building games. No, it's not. Eaten by Zombies could only be categorized as a “Passive Aggressive deck-building game”. Players never really directly attack each other, but instead modify the environment to benefit themselves, and if someone gets eaten in the process, that’s just life.. or death.. or undeath. Imagine a zombie apocalypse let loose during a family reunion, and you get the drift.

Although there have been a slew of both zombie themed games and deck building games, Eaten by Zombies manages to tackle both with a great deal of originality. The art style in the game is wonderfully distinctive, with its fusion of 1950’s propaganda and zombie horror that manages to be both sinister and humorous at the same time. And, while Eaten by Zombies utilizes deck building mechanics, it only shares some passing similarity with others in the genre, focusing on hand management and deck un-building just as much as deck building; delivering mechanics and gameplay that are just as unique as it’s art style.

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