Pyramid Review
Kablamo: A Fast-Spinning Game Of Russian Roulette
Published by Gigantoskop
Designed by Christoffer Krämer & Jesper Moberg
Five Revolver boards, 20 Live Bullet tiles, 67 Action Bullet tiles, 13 High Velocity Bullet tiles, Ammunition Bag, & Rules folder; $30
My gaming group's favorite game is GDW's Red Empire: The Card Game of Soviet Power Politics. It is almost our default game, which lets us do the nasty on each as we work to denounce and purge members of rival factions within the Politburo. The aim being to politick our way into the position of President of the Soviet Union, and once there, try to survive more crisis than previous incumbents. Silly accents are of course, mandatory. Orbital Mind Control Laser receptors under very large hats (actually Ushankas) have proven to be a recurring motive when it comes to denouncing rivals. At the other end of the gaming scale and also at the other end of Soviet history is Kablamo: A Fast-Spinning Game Of Russian Roulette.
It comes from Gigantoskop, the Swedish publisher of the delightfully playable, yet titled in poor taste, Spank the Monkey. Where that game's title was potentially beyond the pale, it is this new game's subject matter that may be so. The situation is simple. The second and Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 has spelled the end of the good life for the Tsarist nobility. A year later and they are landless, enemies of the state, and likely to face a firing squad in the very near future. Which forlorn situation leaves . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: April 28, 2006
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