This article originally appeared in Pyramid #19
Lunch Money
Published by Atlas Games
Written by Charlie Wiedman
Photography by Andrew Yates
$16.95The Atlas guys had an early version of this game at GenCon '95. It was simple, quick, but as far as things go it wasn't a major advance in game technology. There was no single compelling new mechanic driving people to play it to distraction, no new distribution scheme that would provide a new platform to support an entire industry.
But the cards . . . the cards were cool. I'd known about the game for some time, but playing it late at night after a busy day on the con floor, watching industry mavens pause from play to laugh over a caption or ooh over the beautiful photos, struck home for me just how unique a game Lunch Money would be. In an industry that was — even then — sick of cards and card games, this one got an awful lot of attention.
It's your basic fighting game, a brawl-fest between two or more people (more than four and it starts to get unwieldy). Like Atlas' previous card offering, Once Upon a Time Second Edition, these cards aren't collectible — you buy a box full of cards, you stack 'em in front of people, and watch them get down to the dirty business of beating the hell out of each other.
The game is supposed to simulate a bunch of kids rumbling on the playground, and recess bullies never had it so rough. The cards are a frenzy of jabs, kicks, blocks, and holds as each kid tries to shake lunch money out of the other brats. Mechanics-wise, it's practically . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: May 1, 1996
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