Girl Genius: The Works

Girl Genius: The Works
-Deacon Kole-

I’m just going to come right out and say it. I miss the boobies.

I’m sure there are a few of you out there that are bamboozled as to why I just said that. Girl Genius: The Works, the new card game from Studio Foglio and James Ernest Games (yep&the Cheapass mastermind) is based almost entirely on an earlier collaboration between the two, namely Slag-Blah Entertainment’s Xxxenophile CCG. You may remember that Xxxenophile was the adults-only CCG released in 1996, and it featured gozongas a-plenty in addition to a very strategic and fun game mechanic. Now, instead of naked folk, we have Agatha Heterodyne, and there are some slight changes that make GG:TW a different game, for better or for worse. Your decision on whether or not to purchase Girl Genius may be best settled by taking a look beyond the lack of nudity to those differences.

The mechanics of the game are practically identical to Xxxenophile’s. 12 cards are played face down in a specific pattern to represent a big machine (a.k.a. The Works). The players manipulate the cards by flipping, spinning, and popping (removing from the board) to try to accumulate 100 points in their Score Pad. Each card has a point value that puts you closer to winning the game, and most cards have interesting abilities that affect the other cards on the board (and in your hand, deck, and score pad). It is these card abilities that forces each player to think strategically and WAY ahead of their peers. The constantly changing and kinetic board IS very reminiscent of a machine’s clockwork, and you’ll spend as much time trying to stick your opponent with cards they DON’T want as you will popping the ones that you DO want. Just like its predecessor, Girl Genius is an extremely amusing and challenging game that you and your friends will enjoy again and again.

The differences in play between the two are subtle, but notable. As mentioned earlier, Xxxenophile was a collectable card game. Girl Genius contains 108 cards and all players have access to each one of them. This isn’t to say there won’t be more GG:TW cards released in the future. In fact, I suspect there will be, assuming it is a decent seller (or else Dame Ædith’s Vampire-popping ability is pretty useless). Regardless, Girl Genius currently has less than half the available Xxxenophile cards (that is, if you can find the booster packs). Not only that, but Xxxenophile had a few wackier card abilities (stripping, anyone?) not included in GG:TW. Also, Girl Genius does not have Setting or Gizmo cards, so there is a little less to keep track of in a game. The most striking difference in gameplay, though, is that (obviously) Girl Genius cards are not played for keeps like their Xxxenophile counterparts. You may wonder what difference this makes, but those of us that have gambled with our prized cards understand the added dimension of strategy involved when you keep what you win.

This should go without saying by now, but Girl Genius has a very different look, too. Both games are based on the comic works of Phil Foglio, but that’s where the resemblances end. Agatha Heterodyne, the heroine of Girl Genius, exists in a world of “gaslight fantasy” (think bizarre contraptions, machines, and mad scientists in a Victorian setting). Xxxenophile is all about&weird nookie. The Girl Genius cards are very sharp-looking, and they’re more slickly produced than Slag-Blah’s earlier effort. I don’t know much about Studio Foglio’s coinciding Girl Genius comic book, but the game has definitely piqued my interest in steam-powered clanks, scientists and villains, racing dirigibles, and dopey-looking intelligent bears and cats. Anyone turned off by the name shouldn’t be; the game’s theme isn’t “girly” at all. Unlike Xxxenophile, Girl Genius is truly made for everyone.