Button Men

Button Men is one of those rare birds: a game that looks extremely simpleminded on the surface but in reality demands cunning and foresight. A game of Button Men is a lot like a game of chess. The basic rules are simple, but the gameplay is both deep and complex.

The Rules

Each Button Men pack comes with two buttons, each of which has a picture of a Button Man and four numbers plus an X. Each number represents a die type the Button Man uses in the game. For example, a Button Man with values of 4, 4, 6, and 10 uses 2d4, 1d6, and 1d10 in the game. The X represents a swing die. A player may use any die with up to 20 sides to represent the swing die.

Once players have chosen their Button Men and their swing die, it's time to duke it out. The basic object of the game is to capture your opponent's dice while protecting your own. Each player rolls all of his dice. The player with the lowest overall roll goes first. Players capture dice by using the values they rolled to beat the numbers rolled by their opponent. Attacks take two forms: power attacks and skill attacks. With a power attack, the attacker uses one die to capture one of his opponent's dice. The die used to attack must have a value greater than the value rolled on the captured die. Skill attacks are a little tougher. The attacker must choose dice that sum up to the value on the die he wishes to capture.

Sounds simple, right? Basically, whoever rolls high wins.

Well, there's one catch: any die used to capture must be re-rolled. So, if I have a big fat 17 on my d20, I had better make sure the attack cripples my opponent, because I may roll a 1 on that 20 after the attack.

Players score points for capturing enemy dice and for having dice left at the end of the game. The game ends when one player loses all of his dice.

Thumbs Up!

I cannot recommend this game highly enough. Game play is fast, yet requires some serious mental gymnastics. There's nothing like agonizing over your next attack, furiously computing all of your opponent's possible attacks, what the current score is (and what it might become), and what the chance is that your attacking die is going to end up captured after its attack. The game is fast enough that you can get in a round or two when your GM takes a bathroom break and engaging enough that you may find yourself not wanting to get back to the RPG when he returns.

The Verdict

Hats off to Cheapass Games for a wonderful game. I'm looking forward to see where they take this gem.