Pyramid Review
Venus Needs Men!
Published by Synelix Games
Created by John L. Velonis, artwork by Jeff Durham
20" by 20" playing board, 76 cards, 125 population chips, 30 spaceships, three 10-sided dice, rules sheet; $29.95 (USD)
"March, 1954: atomic tests by witless humans have destroyed the alien artifact which protected humanity from its hostile neighbors. Now, the races of the solar system are descending upon the Earth in droves. Their mission -- harvest humanity for their own needs. And with the destruction of the alien artifact, the only things that stand in their way are . . . each other!"
This is the setup for Venus Needs Men!: a strategic board game for two to six players that plays like someone watched too many grade-D flying saucer movies from the 1950's and turned them all into a game, with fun and hilarious results. While there are a few questions of power balance between the planets -- most notably Pluto and Earth -- my test-drives reveal the game to be challenging, amusing and very enjoyable.
The main goal of the game is to harvest (or save, in Earth's case) a majority of the Earth's population. Players can take on the role of Mars, Venus, Titan, Ganymede, Pluto, or Earth, each of whom have special abilities, as well as certain advantages and disadvantages. For example, Mars can use Mind Control to take over opposing players' ships, and use a Magneto Blaster to attack ships, pull them closer or push them away. Meanwhile, Venus . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: November 24, 2006
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