Rascals

Review

How many times have you been told since your youth that you’ve have been cheeky? I would presume quite a bit. After all, we all are human! What if you are becoming slightly too cheeky and end up as part of a game with other people just like yourself?  In this game you’ll take the role of a higher being controlling wooden figurines, participating in the game of Rascals!

Rascals is a VR turn-based strategy / board game developed and published by Ninja Whale Studios, where you take control of 5 wooden figurines in an interesting board game.



After going through a short and very good tutorial, you’ll be ready to face off one or two good AI opponents. The game offers a few modes of play, which will vary throughout the single player campaign. But before we go further, what and who are these Rascals? Well, they are wooden pieces with a head, body and two hands. Neither head nor hands are physically connected to the body, which is fun! They might be very cute in appearance, with their big, expressive eyes, but these little rascals are also good at sledging when needed during each of the matches.

The game is set in a space environment, which is very cool. In the middle of this setting, an uneven marble board will appear. On one end of the board you’ll have a starting square where all of your five Rascals, as well as your opponent’s five Rascals, are placed. Somewhere at the opposite end of the board, you’ll also find an end square.  In order to win the game, be the first to place three of your figurines in the end square, or to reach a certain number of points, which can vary from 5 to 25. There is also the Last Rascal Standing mode, thrown in the mix to make things even more exciting!   

You will start with 5 action points, which will represent your 5 Rascals.  Roll the dice to receive up to an additional 6 action points, which will give you a maximum of 11.  You can use your action points to move your rascals on the board.  Once you’ve moved one of your rascals from the starting square onto the board, you’ll lose an action point on your next turn, leaving you with four action points plus whatever you roll with the dice, and so on and so forth.  Pick a card from the card deck next to the board, and activate it with one of your rascals. What you need to remember is that each time you choose to do so, it will cost you one action point. You can hold up to four cards per control.

The cards shows either guns, bows, boulders, explosive bananas, giant falling fish, dynamite, pebbles or balloons. Mind you, you’ll need ammunition for both the guns and bows to be affective against your opponent. You’ll need an ammunition card (bullets and arrows) to use these two weapons against your enemies.  Activate one of these cards on a square where one of your rascals is stationed. Then you’ll become the rascal.  Pick up the object and aim towards the head of your enemy rascal; this will stun them for one to five turns (seconds are represented by the number of stars circling around their head after being hit).

It will take you from 5 to 30 minutes to win a game, which is pretty good, in my opinion.

Graphically, Rascals looks very good and the controls work well. I really enjoy the rascal comments here and there; they’re funny!  Gotta love a good sledge (just like in cricket, I’ve been told)!


Positives

+ Good graphics
+ Interesting and well-presented board game
+ Good AI opponents
+ Fun action cards
+ Achievements

Negatives

- A bit slow at times
- No trading cards

Review Summary

A well-presented board game in VR. Let’s get these Rascals!

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Zeepond Rating: 6/10

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