Kanomi Plays: En Garde, Turn-Based Fencing Strategy Based On Officially Licensed Board Game

Kanomi Pikajuna Reviews Second Life's Most Promising Games

• Title: En Garde!
• Released: September 30, 2007
• Genre: Turn-based strategy
• Age Category: PG
• Summary: Two players line up and square off in a duel of wits
• Price: Variable
• Estimated Play Time: 10-20 minutes per match; 1 hour or so per tournament
• Where to Play: Various
• Developer: Playprocyon
• In-World Store [SLurl at this link]
• Web Resources:
• Tournament Schedule
• YouTube Tutorial

I'm always looking for an excuse to wear a puffy pirate shirt, so when putting together a list of games to review for this column, the fencing game En Garde was near the top of my list.

En Garde is one of those beautifully designed, delicately balanced strategy games that make the world go round. Now I know a lot of you will read "strategy game", picture a chess club arguing about D&D, and start to edge away nervously, but the truth is En Garde is reasonably easy to pick up and play.

Better yet, there's a video tutorial available for those of us that despair of reading the long, complicated note cards that purport to explain so much of our Second Lives. That video is better than I am at explaining how to play the game, nonetheless that's my job, and so let me give it a try:

The heart of the experience is a deck of 25 cards, five cards for each number one through five. Each duelist is dealt five cards at the start, and then plays them in a few simple combinations to move forward and 'touch' the other opponent. And yes I know there are many SL groups devoted to that, but we're talking about fencing here. Five touches in a duel wins the match, and when involved in multiplayer tournaments, advances you to the next round.

Players start on opposite ends of a long row of squares called a fencing piste. To move along the board, you simply play a card, choosing to advance or retreat, by the number on your card. A touch is scored when you are able to advance onto your opponent -- and they are unable to parry you with a card with the same number.

The subtlety and nuance comes in when you consider that using a pair of cards with the same number is a double-strength attack (much harder to parry) and that you can also link two cards to bridge a greater distance in something called a lunge-thrust, greatly increasing your range, but also easier to avoid, you're your opponent can either parry or retreat, if they don't have a matching card.

On such simple foundations though is built an edifice of strategy, feinting, double-strength lunge-thrusts, and deceit. The fencing motif is no accident.

There's a reason why En Garde is such a well-designed game, too: the original boardgame was created back in 1994 by Dr. Reiner Knizia, a famed German game designer, and published by Abacus Spiele. So this is a commercial caliber, play-tested, thoroughly seasoned game design, even if it is now out of print.

The Second Life implementation by Rifkin Habsburg is likewise polished and professional. And like a lot of games that move from your mom's closet to the Internet, it gains a lot in the translation: no fumbling around with cards or lost pieces, yet gaining in a much larger pool of opponents, as opposed to beating up your younger brother again and again.

Procyon Games offers En Garde at two levels: 2k for a personal license and 3k for a commercial set that lets you have prize pools, buy-ins, and tourneys. The latter is key for those who just want to try the game - you need to find a licensee who is organizing tournaments and groups around the game. There is a good amount.

So the Second Life version boasts a hearty community, a thriving tournament scene, and some excellent Internet resources that enhance what is already a wonderful gaming experience. There are Player Rankings, a list of Recently Played Games, and most important of all an Internet list of upcoming tournaments held each weekend, with every other tournament open to amateurs.

The best way to get involved is watch the tutorial, play around with the sample game on the Procyon Games lot, then head on over to one of the open-to-amateur tournaments. You will be pleasantly surprised.

One final note: When I first this was based on a real world boardgame, I was worried. After all, so many SL folks complain about copying in-world, but have a bit of a double standard when it comes to creative borrowing from First Life.

I asked Rifkin Habsburg about this, and he wrote back right away to tell me that he has in fact licensed the game for use in Second Life from Dr. Knizia himself -- something which is possible in Europe, because there, unlike North America, individual boardgame designers usually retain ownership of their work.

He goes on: "For all the games I sell, I am in contact with each game's designer(s) and have permission to produce the game. One of the reasons I make games in Second Life is because I believe there are many games out there by designers like Knizia that are fun and enjoyable and just need to be introduced to a larger audience."

I couldn't agree more. Now hand over your lupins.

Strengths: Excellent game design, trouble-free implementation, thriving community with lots of resources

Weaknesses: Can be a little slow-moving in a tournament waiting for your next round; design tends to favor the logic.

Helpful Hints: It's important to pay attention to the amount of cards left, because the autoplay round at the end of the match can be the gamebreaker. It's also a good idea to count cards so you have at least an idea what your opponent will be holding near the end of the match. This can be done by scribbling out a 5x5 grid of numbers on a piece of scrap paper and marking them off as they are played -- much easier than normal card counting.

Rating: **** out of five

Kanomi Pikajuna is the author of Tiny Dancing, a Second Life blog primarily devoted to satire and unicorn pictures... lots and lots of unicorn pictures. If you have any suggestions for a future game for her to review (or where she can find more unicorn pictures), please write to kanomi.pikajuna [AT] gmail [DoT] com.

Comments

[Valiant Westland]

OK... Up until today, I've avoided most of the games in SL, with the exception of Castle Wars at Muse Isle. ps. Ready for a rematch JenzZa?

I am definitely going to check this out! Heck, I might even need to invest in a swashbuckling Alt or get a Prince Valiant outfit, complete with broadsword!

This is the type of application that will make SL "stickier" for users, something LL truly needs, given their 80+% churn rate. It will be interesting to see how successful it is over time.

[Random Merryman]

You might want to read Hotspur O'Toole on the subject of counting - with input from Rifkin Habsburg himself in the comments.
http://hiberniaskids.blogspot.com/2009/03/should-there-be-en-garde-league-for.html

[kanomi]

Thanks both of you for the comments and Random for the link. That's a very interesting discussion of the card-counting in the game. I am sure it's not quite as possible in the irl boardgame...which is something to be considered when porting to SL.

I would say this: I didn't mean to imply it was necessary, and I won my first two matches without having to do that (without even knowing it was possible).

But I think it's something players need to be aware of as an additional tool when they advance to competitive play. Because it's going to happen and it's an aid.

[Aries Oh]

En Garde is not only a fun, card-based, strategy game - it can also be great fun socially. Even if you are pointing sharp objects at eachother, the term "friendlies" is really good for the non-competition games.

I think the timed games should be mentioned too. The game has options for playing games with limited time for each player each round. (60, 90 or 120 seconds.)

Even if United En Garde is a great series of tournaments, I would like to add that there are a number of local tournaments run on a less regular basis, as well as the http://engardecl.wordpress.com>En Garde Champions League which is for individual players, but also has a team competition embedded.

En Garde!

[Nonsmokergirl Tulip]

One thing I like about En Garde is how 'Personal' the game is for it's players. You can make your own weapons. One player I know uses a tennis racket for her weapon...and when she fights you can hear Monica Seles grunting in exertion in the background. This is a serious game that allows for lots of silliness too :)

[Hotspur O'Toole]

I don't mean to nitpick, but the Slugfest game you have pictured here isn't the game that En Garde is based on. This is a decent representation of the oldest version of En Garde:

http://freespace.virgin.net/chris.lawson/rk/engarde/engarde.jpg

The MOST current version is published by Ferti in Europe, the box cover is here:

http://timewellspent.org/grfx/game_2379/En-Garde_f_2379.jpg

Just an FYI,

Hotspur