Tabletop Spotlight: Lazer Ryderz
I hope you still have all your neon accessories from the 80’s because the Lazer Ryderz are on a nostalgia driven trip into Retro-land!
The 80’s are big right now and Lazer Ryderz is totally cashing in on that fact – but that’s not a bad thing! We’ve actually played a few games of it on our Twitch Channel on our Board Game Bonanza show and had a really good time. So now that it’s officially out in store our friends at Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy are just as pumped to show it off in all it’s throw-back glory:
Lazer Ryderz is basically the Light Cycles from Tron mixed with X-Wing’s style of movement…sort of. The core mechanic of the game involves players trying to race over and collect Prisms on the board. As players move, they leave behind a Lazer Trail – which can cause other players to crash. If you touch a Lazer Trail (even your own) you crash and must respawn back at your starting location. The basics of driving your Lazer Ryder are that you set you speed for the turn (it’s a 1-to-5 scale). If you want to make a turn, you have to roll over your speed to successfully complete the turn (or a D6) – otherwise you go straight. However, turning also runs the risk of causing you to spin-out. If you roll a 6, you’ll pull of the turn but your speed drops to one.
If you crash into a Lazer Trail, YOUR entire Lazer Trail is removed from the board. Also, the section you crashed into and all previous sections are ALSO removed. The only places you can “cross” are at the Prisms on the board – and just because you take one doesn’t mean it can’t be stolen later. The first player to score 3 Prisms wins!
Production wise, the boxes for the characters in the base game are designed to look like totally awesome 80’s VHS tapes. The color palette is straight out of my childhood arcade and the nostalgia bombs just don’t stop. That said, even if you aren’t a fan of the 80’s the game play is surprisingly satisfying and easy to learn. The movement is intuitive and rewarding. There is nothing quite like zooming past your friends and entrapping them in a Lazer Trail! The Core Set comes with rules and 4 Lazer Ryderz Characters to play, each has their own special ability (which you can opt not to play with). The game is designed for 2-4 players, but realistically, all you need is more sets and a way to keep the Lazer Trails separated per player.
Lazer Ryderz is a ton of fun and in stores now – so what are you waiting for? The light show is about to start!
Lazer Ryderz
In the deepest pockets of space, there exist Power Prizms, leftover artifacts from intergalactic beings of a bygone era. Activating three prizms allows Ryderz to charge up and pass through to new destinations in the galaxy. The portal only allows one Ryder to pass through before moving on to a new location, so speed is essential to meet your goal lest you be left in the space dust. But the faster you go, the harder it is to turn, and if you run into another player’s lazer, you’ll crash! Who will continue their quest, and who will be left behind?
AdvertisementIn Lazer Ryderz, take on the role of one of four Ryderz (the Galactic Waveryder, Lazer Shark, Super Sheriff, or Phantom Cosmonaut) as you race to capture three prizms. Unlike most games, Lazer Ryderz does not use a set board; instead, your table is the board! The size and shape of the table you play on can change the game dramatically as you use individual straight and curved lazer pieces to create your path to victory. Lazer Ryderz features simple and intuitive yet fast-paced gameplay that is easy to grasp. It’s all the best parts of press-your-luck, racing, and tabletop strategy mechanics without a set track or high learning curve.
This game is one BAD DUDE!
