by Zachary Grant, 16 November 2023 ~ #UnboxingDay
Amazingly, I have a modern, up-to-date, current game that does not require us to use the Armchair Dragoons Wayback Machine. Well, to be more precise, I have the 1st printing of the 2nd edition of Groo the Game by Steve Jackson Games, released ahead of schedule via Kickstarter. The 2nd edition is a combination of the original Groo: The Game (1997) and its expansion, Groo: The Game – Expansion Set (1997) published by Archangel Studios.
Wait, what did you just ask? Who is Groo? Where have you been for the past 41 years?!!?! Groo the Wanderer is a creation of Sergio Aragones and published as a comic. Groo is genuinely a good-hearted soul, and yet, chaos and mayhem always seem to follow Groo and mess up anything in which he’s involved. Groo is a warrior who wields two katanas when fighting and usually joins combat with the battle cry of, “Now Groo does what Groo does best!” Groo’s trusty companion is Rufferto the dog. They get into all sorts of hijinxs together.
In the game, the players are town leaders trying to build up their town while avoiding destruction from the other players as well as the well intentioned and accident prone Groo. Let’s take a look.
Game Box
The game comes in a tuck box with a classic pose of Groo and Rufferto on the front. What more is there to describe? The box is sturdy and well made. The back of the box has a good description of the game and some nice color pictures of the game components.
click images to enlarge
Inside the box
Here’s a picture of everything in the box:
Now let’s look at the items individually.
First we have a fancy dice bag for the 7 dice used in the game.
Next we have the dice and a sticker sheet. The sticker sheet was part of the Kickstarter for those who wanted to get the stl file to print their own dice. They can also act as replacement stickers if any fall off, or if they try to run away so as not to be around when Groo shows up.
The dice are fine. Some folks were not happy about the dice having stickers and others didn’t seem to care. They work, so that’s what counts, right?
The rules are contained on a folded sheet of paper approximately 11” x 17”. As you can tell from my lackluster photos, there is a shiny finish on the paper, which is fine. They are easy to read and even Groo can understand them.
Finally, we have the cards used in the game.
There are 116 standard sized playing cards. The artwork is wonderful and everything is based on the world of Groo the Wanderer. If you are familiar with the comic, you’ll recognize the characters and objects. If you are not acquainted with Groo, that shouldn’t detract from enjoying the game one iota. Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to track down a few of the comics to learn more about Groo and his loyal dog Rufferto.
Thanks for joining this month’s #UnboxingDay with the Armchair Dragoons and we hope you enjoyed a look under our hoods! You can always leave us your feedback in our #UnboxingDay thread, or in the comment area on this article, below.
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The Armchair Dragoons with glee,
Unbox games for all to see.
With dice and cardboard so neat,
They strategize, can’t be beat,
In their world of tabletop glee!
