Playing Gods

Web: http://www.playinggods.com

Board Game

“The earthly and divine realms meet in Playing Gods. Whether wreaking disasters of biblical proportions on innocent populations or bestowing providence and goodwill, the gods have ever made sport of humans. Though imbued with amazing powers, the gods are jealous. (It's no coincidence that the very first of the Ten Commandments is "You shall have no other gods before me.") Other gods, with their silly miracles and ridiculous beliefs, diminish the glory and importance of the one true god-or so each of them believes!”

“Enact the religious struggles ripped from today's headlines with Moses, Jesus, and others, or step back in time to don the mantle of the Norse ruler Odin, the Roman god Mars, the Celtic warrior Morrigan, or Kali the Hindu god. Wiccans can battle Scientologists and ancient Mayan gods for control over the world... the only limit is your imagination. Unleash floods and plagues on each other's followers, while protecting your own flock. The god with the best strategy, skill, and luck shall rule the world...”

Playing Gods is a satirical board game of divine domination. Two to five players each play a different god and compete with each other to take over the world. This is done by increasing your believers, converting the followers of other gods or smiting them with Acts of God. It is very fun to play, has a great sense of humour and has an open-ended structure that encourages player creativity. For example, players may choose to be a figurehead of one of the five main religions, or they may choose to create their own gods – or even be their own god! In the Expansion Pack, artistic and creative players may even write and design their own cards.

The game itself is beautifully manufactured with some of the nicest pawns I have ever seen in the board game. They are very high quality and certainly better than those in mass market products. However, if you want to go a step further, there are official Playing Gods Limited Edition Idols which are sold separately. These Limited Edition Idols are made in the USA and come hand-cast in hard resin. They are nearly three inches tall and highly detailed. Because they are cast and finished by hand, they are more expensive to produce than the injection-molded deluxe pawns and will only have a limited production run. They are suitable for painting or just putting on your desk to watch the world's gods fight it out. They are quite stunning and in somewhere between pawns for use in the game and RPG figures, paint them, display them or use them. The raging Jesus with a Cross and the Kali figure as especially impressive.

Playing Gods is also very simple to play. The superbly produced colour board is a simplified map of the Earth, with five continents each containing four regions. (Much like the primitive model of the world which was held to be true by various world religions prior to modern science). Colored chips representing sects are placed on those regions. Circling around the globe is an outer ring where the gods move around the board, gathering power through Wrath and Conversion cards. Wrath cards (also ominously called "kill cards") are used to bring down Acts of Gods and natural disasters, while the Conversion cards are used to convert other gods' followers to your beliefs. The game ends when one god has either killed or converted all other gods' sects, or has spread followers to occupy more than the eleven regions which occupy half the world.

Playing Gods has a lot going for it. It is superbly made, offers a high quality board and pawns, has great game play and comes with a smart, cynical and satirical tone. The Wrath and Conversion cards are amusing but also make you think about the inherent violence in religion and superstition. At the same time it doesn’t just poke fun at the major religions, there are stickers for making tokens to use of you want to play as anything from Scientology to Pastafarianism, and anything in between, so everyone can get a serve !