Like most gamers of a certain age, I have a large, guilty box full of HeroClix* figures stashed in the back of my game room. I hadn’t played the game in half a decade, but stood firm in my belief that I would play it again someday. Oh yes, I would play it again.
Over the weekend, that day finally arrived. My opponents were my daughters, Thing 1 and Thing 2, ages 8 and 5. Since neither of them is a hard-core gamer (I know, I know, I’m working on it), we played by a set of stripped-down rules which ignores all the super powers and focuses on the numbers. The game was a great success and (not coincidentally) Thing 1 came out the far side with a few hours’ math practice under her belt.
For the sake of gamer parents, I’m passing along these stripped-down rules so you too can dig out your sad, ignored clicky-games and add a little gaming joy to your kids’ lives.
Clix for Kids
- Build armies. Grab some figs. Ignore point values for now. Make sure all players have the same number of figures.
- Roll for initiative. Each player rolls 2d6; highest roller goes first. In subsequent rounds, first player rotates clockwise. (It keeps it fair. For some reason, kids are keen on keeping it fair. I blame the schools.)
- On your turn, activate a figure. When you activate a figure, move it a number of spaces up to its Speed, then make an attack.
- Attacking is the same as normal HeroClix: Check for range, then add 2d6 to the attacker’s Attack value. If it meets or beats the defender’s Defense value, do a number of clicks of damage equal to the attacker’s Damage value.
- Terrain matters. Blocking terrain blocks movement (except for flyers) and line of sight (thus the name). Hindering terrain stops a non-flying figure that moves into it.
- After activating a figure, mark it with a token. Your turn is over. You can’t activate a figure that has a token on it. (If it’s your turn and all your figures have tokens, you must pass.)
- End the round. If all the figures have tokens, remove them, rotate first player, and start again.
Pretty simple, eh? Even a five year-old can play it (though she might need help with the math).
Once Things 1 and 2 got the hang of it, I added a few “advanced” rules:
- Crits: Rolling snake-eyes gives you a click of damage; rolling box cars inflicts an extra click.
- Carrying: Flying figures can “taxi” an adjacent friendly figure, but doing so activates both figures.
- Point Values: Ah, more math! Build 300 point teams! Score points at the end based on the point values of the enemies you knocked out!
I’m also experimenting with a campaign system. It’s an experiment in that I said, “Hey, let’s do this!” and my daughter didn’t seem that excited about it… but SpongeBob was on, and she was distracted. Anyway, here’s the crazy (and math-intensive) campaign system:
- Growing the Team: For each point of enemy you knock out in a game, you get to add a point to the value of your team in the next game. For example, if I’m playing with a 200-point team and knock out 150 points worth of figures, then I get to make a 350-point team the next time we play. (Yes, this could get out of control very quickly, but yes, it would be fun getting there.)
- Outfitting the Headquarters: For each point of enemy you knock out in a game, you get $10 virtual money to spend on stuff for your HQ. Furniture, computers, vehicles — whatever the player wants to add to his HQ, if he can find a real-life price for it (check out those ads in the Sunday paper!), he can spend his virtual money on it. (Ideally, this aspect of the campaign would also entail drawing up a map of your headquarters and deciding where you’ll put all this cool stuff you’re buying.) Unfortunately for me, the top ad in the Sunday paper was from the grocery store, so my players spent $1000 on grapes and strawberries.
Over all, I was pleased with how quickly the girls picked up the game, and how much they didn’t hate doing the math.
Even more important, I felt justified for hanging onto these colorful bits of gaming guilt through seven years and two moves. “See?” I told myself. “It’s not just being played again; it’s also educational.”
* Never heard of Heroclix? It’s a tabletop miniatures battle game in which player pit teams of superheroes (Spiderman, Batman, etc.) against each other Here’s a link.
