Ghoulash
Ghoulash: The Last Game On Earth is a two-player game, it is not the Hungarian stew. In Ghoulash, you take the role of a character trapped in a scenario trying not to be eaten by ghouls and also trying to accomplish some other objective. The other player sets out obstacles to delay, harass or eat you. It is played on map sheet that comes in pre-printed or PDF format. Each player takes turns moving around the map. The other player provides information, such as if they run into an item or obstacle.
We tested six scenarios (two scenario packs) over a number of evenings. Each time we played, we found that you could develop strategies to win, but since the other opponent set the obstacles secretly we never felt the outcome of the game was known before we started. Ghoulash is a very replayable competitive game for two players. If you are looking for a two-player game to gobble up a half hour here or there you should check out Ghoulash. It’s apparently ‘The Last Game On Earth’ but not the last game you should buy.
Ghoulash: The Last Game on Earth is a two-player strategy game played with pre-printed scenarios or PDF downloads. I ran into Ghoulash because the makers of Ghoulash began following me on Twitter. Curious of the who the new follower was I clicked on their profile and traveled to their website. I watched a video and downloaded the demo. Those two things were enough for my wife to agree to give it a try. I play a lot of videogames with my wife and we have some board games but we were looking for something quick and simple to play on a rainy night.
Ghoulash seemed in contention to fill that role so we got a copy of Scenario Pack 1 (SP1) which contains three adventure scenarios: “A Taste of Ghoulash”, “Immunity”, and “Lights Out” and Scenario Part 2 (SP2) which contains three adventure scenarios: “Attack of the Baby Ghouls”, “C-4”, and “Gun Shy”. The scenario packs come printed on newsprint like a crossword puzzle book you’d pick up on a magazine rack. The pack contains enough maps for four games of each scenario and permission to photocopy for personal use (nice). The scenario page is broken into three sections: a map section (one for movement, one for obstacles; though we regularly mixed these up), a briefing that tells you about rules changes and what obstacles you have to throw at your opponent, and a section for health (both yours and your opponent’s ghouls).
The game of Ghoulash is played a bit like the old game of Battleship, in that you design the challenges your opponent faces and they are responsible for the challenges that you face. This caused my wife some problems initially because as she placed obstacles she would think, “he could probably use a first aid kit here” instead of “he could probably use a first aid kit here so I’m going to put a ghoul and rubble field here instead. Mhahahahahaha!” But to my dismay, she quickly got the hang of it. Players take turns moving about the board, avoiding obstacles and accomplishing scenario objectives. Players act as the other player’s game master, telling them what obstacles or items they encounter. Since the opponent randomly sets the obstacles, no two games of Ghoulash will be exactly alike.
Tammy’s favorite scenario was in pack 2 and was called “Attack of the Baby Ghouls”. In this scenario you must rescue three scientists from a horde (24) of baby ghouls. Not only do these vicious little monsters deal more damage than the adult ghouls, they are smaller and you can put up to six in a single square. Now they are easy to kill (having only two target areas) but you can lose a lot of health quickly if you are a poor weak spot guesser. I did very poorly at this map because I stacked lots of baby ghouls in one location and Tammy spread hers out. That way, I encountered more obstacles, and did not get as far around the map on each turn. I think I had covered maybe ½ of the map when she sauntered out the exit with her three scientists.
My favorite scenario was in pack 1 and was called “Lights Out”. In this scenario, all of the buildings are darkened and you cannot see any of the items. You have six flares, which can each light up one of the 12 rooms. When a room is lit, you can see any packages of food or first aid kits (but not ghouls and obstacles). I tended to surround my wife’s food packets with ghouls and obstacles, and I gambled by placing two food bundles in a single location. Thankfully, Tammy investigated that building much later in the game and I was able to escape with my food well before Tammy had found three of them.
Ghoulash provided a very enjoyable night of games. There wasn’t a single scenario in the six we tried that we felt we wouldn’t play again. Ghoulash will become a regular gaming diversion in our house and we picked up the five PDF web packs to add to the print scenarios we have now. If you are looking for a simple two-player strategy game to eat up a half hour this is an idea game that requires nothing more than a pen, a scenario and a competitive spirit.