Chainsaw Warrior
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Designers | Stephen Hand |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Games Workshop |
| Players | 1 |
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 1 to 2 hours |
| Chance | High |
Chainsaw Warrior is a single-player board game designed by Stephen Hand and published by Games Workshop in 1987. A video game based on the board game was released for mobile and desktop platforms.
The player has sixty minutes to navigate a labyrinth composed of an abandoned urban slum in New York, represented by two decks of cards, locate the entity Darkness attempting to destroy the city and kill it. The slum contains hazards, zombies, mutants and other creatures affected by Darkness, who will attempt to kill the player or slow him down. Failure to kill Darkness, either by running out of time, dying of injuries, or succumbing to zombie venom/radiation poisoning, results in a loss for the player.
The player has several attributes randomised by die roll at the start of the game, which affect hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, ability to take damage and reaction time. There are also separate tracks to record the effects of zombie venom and radiation damage.
At the start of the game, the player is equipped with a random assortment of weapons and items (which can include the eponymous chainsaw) and a critical item called the Laser Lance, which is the only weapon capable of destroying Darkness. Loss of the Laser Lance or running out of its ammunition requires the player to leave the slums for a replacement, suffering a time penalty.
White Dwarf published a number of variant rules (such as being able to gain additional equipment before entering the slums in return for an expenditure of time) and additional weapon and equipment cards.
The gameplay is a stylised version of solitaire in that the deck of cards is randomised, but certain items of equipment are required to defeat creatures found later in the game.
An online version of the game was coded and designed by Peter Duncanson in 1999. In May 2008, Games Workshop announced it was no longer supporting the site, and it was closed.
Reception
Jervis Johnson reviewed Chainsaw Warrior for White Dwarf #88, and stated that "Ultimately, Chainsaw Warrior is an easy game to play – and a difficult game to win. Above all, it's a lot of fun!"[1]
W. Peter Miller reviewed Chainsaw Warrior for Different Worlds magazine and stated that "If you can win this game without cheating you are doing well. Games Workshop recommends this game for ages 14 and over. This is due to the violent nature of the game more than any inherent complexity or difficulty. Chainsaw Warrior is heartily recommended to anyone looking for a fun, challenging bit of solo gaming."[2]
In 2013, while reviewing the video game adaptation, Matt Thrower of Gamezebo remarked on the board game: "The original was cumbersome and time-consuming to set up and play, and gave you relatively little reward for all that effort. Mechanically, it communicated little sense of its action-packed premise and had virtually no strategy or decision-making, with almost everything being resolved by a dice roll."[3]
