Back in 2003, after reading a handful of reviews, I decided to purchase the Light Speed. The game premise was intriguing: Players play their spaceships on table, rotating the ship, then placing another. As the name implies, speed is of the essence; As is precision. Once the first player has placed their last ship then the others must stop immediately. Then comes the resolution:
Starting with the #1 ships, each of those ships fire their weapons, inflicting damage on the first ship in the line of fire; Possibly their own ship. Then the #2 ships fire, and so on. If a ship takes too much damage it is destroyed. If it is destroyed by friendly fire, the player loses points equal to its point value; Otherwise the person (or people) that destroyed it, gain points equal to it’s value. Only the killing shot(s) count.
The game is an interesting mix of speed play, spacial skills and table awareness. In theory, you could win if you didn’t place a single ship…Granted someone would need to destroy at least one of their own ships. In reality, the board is a chaotic mess. Ships that you were counting on destroying end up getting destroyed before your ship can fire; So you instead fire onto one of your own ships. Tension and drama as the narrative unfolds.
Did I mention the game is published by Cheap Ass Games, and costs $5.00. At the time I got it for $2.50, and it has easily far outstripped my expectations.