Tuesday, April 15, 2014

IKUSA Board Game


So, today is TableTop Game Day. One of the sponsor is Wizard's Chest in Denver. I swung by there today. The second floor is full of Halloween costume. Hmmm. I wonder why they keep those year round? The first floor is a collection of anything that is of interest to "gamers". They actually have a magic trick demonstration table in the corner.

The demonstrator there is pretty friendly, and he showed me a clever trick with "turn over card" where he flipped cards with just a gentle shake of his hands. Pretty impressive stuff. We chat for a bit, where I confessed that I used to do magic tricks. I showed him a couple trick bits. Then he asked me why I stopped doing it. "No audience," I replied. Yup. The hanging curtain of magicians everywhere.

So, they have set up a lot of tables where people were playing games everywhere. Nothing that stirred up my interest, though. So, I wandered over the the board game section. Now, this is the section where premium board games are sold. One caught my eye in particular: "IKUSA".

The name is unfamiliar to me. It certainly is Japanese warfare. I flipped the box over and I saw a familiar map of "Samurai Swords". This board game was formerly known as "Shogun" until James Clavell novel came out and they ended up changing the name. Or was it the other way around? Anyway, it piqued my interest so much that I looked at the price. Then my eyes bugged out. I couldn't believe it! The price, as clearly stated on the upper right corner was the incredible amount of: $4.95!

Yup. You read that right. Just a shade under 5 dollars. Are you kidding me? The build was definitely of high quality. Normally, these kind of builds would cost north of $80. So, I flagged a staff member. After having him read the price, I offered $20 for it. Ha ha.

Of course, he doesn't have the authority to sell the box at the price, so the owner, or a person of authority that I assume was the owner, confirmed that although the game is on sale, it certainly isn't at $4.95! Normally, the game sells for $90 range. I asked him whether on sale means half-off. The final price was $67.98. Not cheap, but I think that's a fair price for the game and its excellent build quality.

He asked me whether I'm familiar with GameMaster series. I replied that I did not, but I am familiar with the Samurai Sword game. He then proceeded to point out all the difference between this Ikusa game and Samurai Sword game. It turns out that it's the exact same game, except much updated for the modern times. So, I think that's great service that he provides.

In any case, I have been thinking of the old game a lot lately. I was impressed with the great gameplay system. I'm kind of curious why the new game only have one ninja, but otherwise, I do have fond memory of the old game. Since I'm a sucker for sale, out comes the credit card, and I bring home this Ikusa game.

I noticed that this is Avalon Hill Games + Wizardry + Hasbron. Made in China.