Talk:Landing Zone
Add topicYES! The Moon Shot tip-tree-to-launch is now a multigame mechanic! Woot!
Only bigger with more obstacles!
IGDC Judge Comments[edit source]
This game has the distinction of being the one of the only Icehouse games our very young children can play and enjoy. The adults also had fun for quite a while. It would be a great drinking game. Unfortunately, the necessity of finding pyramids lost under furniture after an energetic launch detracts somewhat from the total score.
Landing Zone is a solid game. I'm not crazy about dexterity games, but this is so much fun that I don't mind when my dexterity isn't up to my strategy. It definitely held to the design restriction: asteroid, wreckage and diamond (and also that high score wins). My preschooler had a great time playing (he neither noticed nor cared that he didn't get anywhere as near the diamonds as did the adults) so I shall definitely be playing this again. I thought (erroneously) when reading the rules that this merely ported horseshoes to pyramids. Landing Zone is much more. That the previous players' wreckage blocks the shot you're lining up adds a whole additional layer of strategy (and hilarity). This is now the most fun game I frequently lose. - DennisDuquette
Landing Zone: Fun idea, quick and easy. We had a couple of exciting moments.
Landing zone was silly and sort of fun. It had its moments. But don't we already have bocci, horseshoes, shuffleboard, and, for the indoor venue, tiddlywinks -- all of which fill variations on this niche, without losing pointy pyramids all over the floor?
Could use a little polish on the rules, but it's a fun little game. I'm a big fan of dexterity games, but unfortunately I probably won't be able to get too many other people to play this again.
Landing Zone - 8.5 Presentation (2 max): Well written, clear rules, with reasonably good visual aides. Fully wikified (in as much as IHG.org uses wiki functionality). Some niggling diction and spelling erros pervent a perfect score in this category. (1.5)
Use Of Terms (2 max): Asteroid used as an asteroid, again (not surprising), BUT it's a unique take on it, to say it's in pieces and one is more valueable. Yeah, becasue it's mostly diamond (kind of a toss-out use of the term). Wreckage used cleverly in both theme (ship pieces) AND in mechanics (they block other shots). ALMOST a perfect integration of all terms. (1.5)
Playability (3 max): I like dexterity games. I like the Moon Shot Mechanic. Other testers didn't so much like it, but folks bitch about sucking at Tiddley Winks, too, so that's moot (for me). SOME strategy to the game, but it's mostly "go for the diamoond chunk early." I like the optional rules (though Mulligan should be a main rule, but with some limiter--twice per game, maybe?). All-in-all a solid little game, great for demoing, and using the physicality of the 'mids in ways few other games do (mostly mini and dexterity games). Top score. (3)
Fun Factor (3 max): I dug it. My fellow testers can take points off THEIR scores. I can see breaking this out for any demo session, or to have a bit of fun while waiting for a turn in a slower game (Icehouse game or otherwise). Not an Instant Classic, but definitely Ready for prime Time. (2.5)
Landing Zone is a perfectly reasonable dexterity game. I'm not sure there's much accuracy to be had in flicking trees, but perhaps with more practice you could develop some skill. Again, not really my kind of game, but it's short and not totally trivial (unlike, say, Moonshot), so it gets a higher rating than the coop games.