Transformers Stratego Review (Target Exclusive)

Price: $15 U.S.
Robovision Code for Target.com website: ALLSPARK
Released: June 2007

    Stratego is another classic board game that Hasbro had imprinted with the Transformers brand because of the new live action movie. Like you'd expect, the game plays pretty much like classic Stratego-- to a point. Each player's army is hidden from the other player, and the players take turns moving their pieces-- with higher-numbered pieces defeating lower-numbered pieces, for the most part-- until one player stumbles across the other player's flag-- the player whose flag is captured first loses. There are a few exceptions to the "higher number beats lower number" rule, however, just like in classic Stratego, with spies ("S" pieces) being the only pieces able to defeat No. 10 units, but the spies can be killed by anything else. Likewise, unless encountered by a Sector 7 Agent from either side (who has a number of "3", by the way), bombs, which are "Liquid Nitrogen Traps" in this game, destroy anyone who touches them, regardless of their power. Each piece can only move one space per turn, except for Sector 7 Scouts (who have a number of "2"), which can move as many spaces as they want in one direction-- of course, this also reveals to the opposite player what that piece is.
    Alright, now that the basic rules are out of the way, following are the pieces for each side, followed by their power number. First off, BOTH sides have these units:

Sector 7 Scout-- 2
Sector 7 Agent-- 3
Liquid Nitrogen Traps
Flag (with the faction's respective emblem on them)

The Autobots have the following pieces unique to their side:

Lennox-- 4
Epps-- 4
Sam-- 5
Mikaela-- 5
Maggie-- 6
Banchek-- 6
Fighter (Jet)-- 7
Autobot Jazz-- 7
Autobot Ratchet-- 8
Bumblebee-- 8
Ironhide-- 9
Optimus Prime-- 10
Allspark-- S

Likewise, the Decepticons have the following pieces unique to their side:

Decepticon Creature (the "Nokia-Bot" from the movie)-- 4
Sector 7 Dune Buggy-- 5
Decepticon Soldier-- 6
Bonecrusher-- 7
Brawl-- 7
Scorponok-- 7
Barricade-- 8
Blackout-- 8
Starscream-- 9
Megatron-- 10
Frenzy-- S

    There's a couple of minor power discrepancies (Barricade tougher than Brawl? Maggie tougher than Epps, a SOLDIER in the ARMY?), but otherwise their power numbers tend to line up fairly well with how they're represented in the movie. (Oh, and some of the generic units like "Fighter" for the Autobots are more than 1 in number, hence why it looks like there's a discrepancy in the power that each side has from the list above when there really isn't.)
    The game board itself is an aerial view of the Hoover Dam, one of the major locations in the movie-- though why this particular place was chosen is beyond me, since there was never an actual robot-on-robot BATTLE at the Hoover Dam, but I digress. The board design-wise is exactly the same as the classic Stratego board, but with large explosions taking the place of lakes as "impassible terrain". The board design itself looks very nice, with a lot of photorealistic detail making up the overhead image of the Hoover Dam under siege.
    Now, for most classic games updated with a current popular property, this would be as far as I'd expect Transformers Stratego to go as far as changing the game. I was pleasantly surprised to find out some new rules, which can actually significantly change game play. The tougher units on each side-- namely, the actual Transformers, plus Sam and the Fighter jets on the Autobot side-- have special abilities that they can use, and these abilities are far from trivial. For example, Bonecrusher is one of the Transformers who has a "Magnet" ability in robot mode, which means he can MAKE an enemy piece within two squares attack him. Another special ability is Sneak Attack, which means that the piece-- say, Scorponok-- can move through enemy pieces in a straight line as many spaces as they like until they hit an empty space, and then they pop up and can attack any adjacent unit. (This certainly makes sense for Scorponok, the Transformers' own "sand shark" in the movie.) There are five or six different special abilities, all distributed among the Transformers fairly evenly and in a way that takes into account each Transformers' power and alternate mode.
    Another cool twist is that using these special abilites takes risks. For the Transformers, each has a different special ability in vehicle mode and in robot mode. In vehicle mode, you briefly reveal the piece to the other player, than turn its face back towards you again and proceed with the attack. But when they're in robot mode, the piece must stay revealed to the opposing player at all times-- after all, a Transformer can't hide when they're in robot mode, which of course makes perfect sense! (A few unique pieces, such as Scorponok and Sam, can't transform, and when they use their special abilities they're for all intents and purposes in "vehicle" mode.) Beyond being described in detail on a little piece of paper each player gets, the titles of the special abilties are under the icons of the Transformers on the gameboard, so you don't forget which Transformers have which special abilities. Needless to say, all these special abilities, and the risks taken when using them since you reveal those pieces to your opponent, add a whole new twist to the game while still definitely playing like Stratego. The only small caveat I have regarding the special abilities is that the Decepticons have an ever-so-slight advantage over the Autobots in the abilties department-- namely, they have one more Transformer with two modes (and thus two different special powers) than the Autobots do, although both sides have seven different units that have special powers overall, so this slight discrepancy will make the difference in very very few, if any, games.

    Overall, Transformers Stratego is the perfect way to use a license on a classic game-- the "feel" of Stratego is still definitely there, but some new rules have been implemented that bring the game to a whole new level of play and strategy. Plus, it's the cheapest of the board games, being only half the price of the other Transformers Movie board games. Put all of this together and it defintiely makes Transformers Stratego my most-recommended out of the various board games to hit alongside the Transformers Movie craze this summer. Go buy it!

Fun: 20/20
Creativity: 10/10
Board/Game Pieces Design: 17/20
Extra/Modified Rules: 20/20
Game Balancing: 14/15
Depth: 13/15

Overall Rating: 94/100 ...Wow.
 

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