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“Two men enter; one man leave.” They kept chanting that as I entered the restaurant. Why? I wasn’t sure. I was just there to pick up my order of egg rolls and chowmein. Maybe it was wrestling night on television. It was when my eyes came across my nemesis that I knew what they meant. There would be a fight, and it had nothing to do with men in Spandex.
Edfoo Yung was his name. We’ve fought before – I’d win some, he’d win some. We were pretty evenly matched, Edfoo and I. However, with further training and competition, we were no longer novices at Cookie Fu. Along the way, we had both become Jr. Masters in the craft of the Fu. This would be messy.
Grabbing a fortune cookie off of the cash register’s bounced-check-laden countertop, I crushed the cookie with one hand while keeping eye contact with Edfoo. He didn’t flinch. I was in for a fight. With my open hand I removed my fortune; with the other I ate the tasty treat.
Breaking eye contact for only a moment, I checked my fortune of the day. It read ‘You are pleasing to be around.’ “What the hell is that? That’s no fortune! What kind of crap was that? Pleasing to be around?! Jeez – tell me something that I didn’t know!”
My blood began to boil. Far too many times I’d gotten crappy “fortunes” such as this – I always did at the ‘Dim Sum Diner.’ Why do I keep coming back to this place? Needless to say, I was angry.
Turning my attention back to Edfoo, I could tell that he knew that I was ready for a fight. Was that a bead of sweat running down the side of his face? Ah yes, this would be a fight to remember. My Fu is strong this day...
Dice. We know ‘em. We love
‘em! However, when it comes to games that solely rely on dice, it’s either
hit or miss, and none of them have achieved the success that collectible
card games have. Oh sure, some would argue that Dragon Dice was the
“Magic” of the dicing world, but you’d also have to admit that it’s only
received a “cult” status in the world of gaming. (Should I be using the
word “cult” in a game review? Oh well – too late.) Don’t get me wrong – I
haven’t met a dice game that I didn’t like. However, without proper player
support, collectible games fade away quickly, and most die outright.
Let’s see how a few Dice Games fared over the years:
• Dragon Dice: A great game that is still alive and kicking, but lacking in player & company support.
• Dicemaster: Another great game, but died right away due to a high price point and I.C.E.’s internal woes.
• Chaos Progenitus: Came out of nowhere from the same designer of Dragon Dice. One expansion and then the grave. Well, it’s only “mostly” dead – there are still groups out there that play and even love this game. Currently, it’s being revived under a new guise: Demon Dice.
There are some other games,
but I won’t go into that much detail. Let’s just say that there were some
cool ones, but none that lasted.
So, we’ve established that dice-specific games don’t necessarily fare
well. Does that make them impossible to market to gamers if you are
looking to the king of dice games, or rather make them a challenge that
some game designers relish? Any way you look at it, it’s an uphill battle.
Here comes the Fu...
Along those lines comes a new game, Cookie Fu. Admittedly, when I first
came across this one in its unique packaging, I had to laugh. See, Cookie
Fu is packaged in these “Chinese takeout” boxes, little metal handle and
all. Was it a cheesy gimmick that’s only goal was to separate me from my
hard-earned cash, or was it ingenious? I had to find out.
I didn’t wait to leave the store to see what was inside of the starter
pack. Opening the pack, there were 4 Fu dice, one Fortune die, a set of
rules, and a fortune cookie! Cool. But this wasn’t a normal fortune
cookie. Nope, instead of a fortune, there was a cool Cookie Fu move! Ok,
so far things were looking good.
On to the dice. I checked out the 4 Fu dice, but they looked all the same!
What the heck is going on here?! Ok, later when I had time to actually
look at the dice, I noticed that they were indeed different. The commons
had 6 differing faces; the “Learned” had 4 differing icons, and 2 that
were identical to each other. Master and Grand Master dice had 3 differing
icons, and 3 that were identical. Well, I didn’t get a Grand Master in
that pack, but more on those later.
Rules – ah yes, the rules. The rules sheet (not a book...) is actually
laid out like a takeout menu from an Asian restaurant! The details are
presented pretty well, but with space constraints, it lacks a little bit.
More detail on play could have been given, and the play example that it
contained should have gone a few more rounds and introduced more elements
of the game.
Ok, so far everything looked pretty interesting. I still had some concerns
on the cost of a starter ($8.95) and all that was included in it. This had
better be one good game for that kind of money! I had my reviewer cap on
already, and I hadn’t even left the premises yet!
Is the Fu strong?
Cookie Fu is played over a series of rounds until only one person is left
standing. See, you and your opponent are, well, you and your opponent, but
your knowledge in the art of Fu is represented by the dice and the Fu
moves.
To start, you “create” your Fu fighter. To do this you either start at the
“Novice” level (necessary if you are starting a new fighter at a Dojo –
or, a store that hosts Cookie Fu games/tournaments if you prefer.). If you
are playing a “just for kicks” type of game (pun intended) then you can
choose any level that you and your opponent desire. Actually, the dice
will help you determine that as well, especially if you only have a
limited supply in your collection.
Let’s say you are starting at a Dojo. Well, to do this you’ll need 3
commons and you’ll need to choose 3 Fu moves: One basic move, one
Expert-level move, and one Master move. Moves are available in the rules
sheet – 5 moves per level, or in the cookies that you get in each starter
and booster pack. Note that any move that you get in a cookie will not
come from the moves that are listed in the rules! These ‘cookie’ movies
are unique to the cookies only.
Once everything is set, players set up a shield of some sort (NOT
INCLUDED!) to hide their die rolls from their opponent(s). I found that
the rules menu can work if you have nothing else available. There were
some shields that were made and handed out at one of the big cons (GenCon,
I think) but those are hard to find, and good luck getting someone to part
with theirs!
Behind your shield, you will roll your dice. First, take your ‘fortune’
die and match it up to your opponent. The fortune die is basically
rock/paper/scissors in die form. A whole cookie is better than a crushed
cookie, a fortune cookie is better than a whole cookie, and a crushed
cookie crushes fortune cookies. If you are playing with more than one
opponent (yes, you can play Cookie Fu multi-player), you forgo the fortune
die and use a 6-sided die instead to determine initiative.
The winner of initiative then plays an attack from their available dice
behind their screen. You have to use the faces that were rolled for this
round until either all dice were used or you have no dice that are useable
for this round. Note: Don’t play this game with people who like to cheat!
The screen, while absolutely necessary and vital to the game offers
players a chance to cheat. Now, I know that it’s just a game and that
cheating is childish, but there are people out there that will cheat in
order to feel good about winning, even if it’s only for a short period of
time and reality sets in and they realize that their lives are meaningless
if they have to cheat in order to feel good. Sorry, I’ll get off of my
soap-box now...
Here is an example of play:
I rolled my 3 commons and got a kick, a block, and a Chi. I have the initiative, so I send a kick his way, along with some poor “B” movie-type dialog. My opponent does not have a grab necessary to block the kick, so he takes one point of damage (10 points is the health at ‘Novice’ level). My opponent then can react to my attack, and does with a strike and his own brand of “B” movie dialog. Since I have a block available, I laugh in his face and play my block.
On my next play, I have only one die left – my Chi die. Now, I could use this for so many things, or I could pass in an attempt to use it to heal from any attack that my opponent will throw at me with his 2 remaining dice, or save it for next round. I can’t use it to heal 1 point of damage, since I haven’t taken any yet.
Not wanting to stop his hurting, I throw a “Chi Blast” his way. Chi Blast can only be blocked by a “Chi Block”, and for your opponent to do this, he/she needs to spend one Chi point from their die pool. The smile on his face gives me an indication that I may have played this one poorly. He takes the hit, taking him down to 8.
He retaliates by showing me a Chi icon of his own and announces a “350 Degree Kick” – his one “basic Fu” move. Dang it! My plot to take out any of his Chi failed miserably. Since I’ve played all 3 of my dice already, I am wide open to attacks. With the 350 Degree Kick, my opponent throws a kick at me. If I am unable to block it (and I cannot in this case) another kick comes around for another point of damage. Great, now I am down to 8 as well for an 8 to 8 tie. I should have just saved my Chi point instead of using the Chi Blast attack! Oh well...
I pass on my turn since I don’t have any dice available, and wait for the pain. See, my opponent has only played 2 of his 3 dice against me. Here it comes. Well, with a resigned sigh, he pulls out his last die and reveals a block – a useless die! I dodged a bullet this round. We gather up our dice and re-roll them behind our die shields to begin the next round. Lather, rinse, and repeat until only one person is left standing.
As you can see from this example, the game plays pretty quickly and there is very little “idle” time. Sure, when you add more dice to the game, there is more time spent contemplating your strategy with what you’ve rolled but things still move along pretty well. This is a huge edge for Cookie Fu over many of the collectible games out there.
Take that Jackie Chan!
Cookie Fu is a very tongue-in-cheek type of game, but not to the point of
being stupid. The names of the moves lend to its “kitschy” appeal. Moves
names like “Light Crispy Strike”, “Tasty Snack Toss”, and my favorite
“That Wasn’t Chicken! Hurl” make the game that much more enjoyable,
without being lame in their attempt at entertaining.
I have to admit; once I played this game I was hooked. I wanted more dice,
and I wanted more cookies – for the moves, you see – not for the tasty
treat. One really nice thing about Cookie Fu is that the base set die
count is pretty small – only 17 dice in the set, and 18 Cookie moves!
Compare this with the 100’s of cards or mini’s in your favorite
collectible games! Well, there is one problem, though...
Issues, and More Issues...And More Good Stuff!
One issue that I have is that the Grand Master dice and Cookie Moves are
EXTREMELY difficult to get your hands on. They are only available in
boosters (not a problem) and are listed as a “1 in 12 chance” of receiving
one of these coveted goodies. Well, that means if you buy 12 boosters at
$5.95 each (retail) that you *may* get ONE of these special dice or moves.
There are 5 Grand Master dice and 5 moves. Do the math on this one, and
you’ll see that it takes some serious cash to complete a set without
trading. Ouch.
Another problem that I have with Cookie Fu is that the Grand Master dice
and the Master dice are virtually impossible to tell apart without the aid
of a black light or charging the dice before-hand in extreme light then
playing in the dark. See, the Grand Master dice glow in the dark, but
other than that look identical to the Master dice. There is a little bit
of a “glazed” look to the GM dice, but for most people it’s hard to tell,
and could get some arguments going at the game table. Oh – did I forget to
mention that the GM dice, once used, can be re-rolled once per round? So
as you can see, they are very powerful if you can tell what your GM dice
are when rolled with your Master dice.
As far as errata and such,
there is only one issue with Cookie Fu, and this has already been
addressed. One move, the 'Ancient Golden Throw' was a very powerful basic
Fu move. I won't go into the details on how broken it was, but it has been
errata'd and this information can be found
here.
The dice themselves are done VERY well. These are not your
standard-variety type of dice. These dice are screen printed or something
like that, but not on the face of the die! This die production style was
introduced in the game Rolled Bones
from D’Ice. Since the dice were produced in this manner where the
screening isn’t on the face of the die like the die game ‘Throwing
Stones’, you don’t have to worry about the icons rubbing off. Plus,
they are colorful as well. Can’t do that so much with “stamped” dice.
In closing, here are the bad and the good about the game:
Bad: Price point for people who want to get all of the dice and complete a
set. Cost to compete at higher levels.
Good: Everything else! Cookie Fu rocks!
The Future of the Fu...
It’s been announced that the next incarnation of the base set will not
have the glow in the dark GM dice, as they will be a different color so
that they are easy to see without the aid of special lighting. This is a
very smart move on Blue Kabuto’s part. Cookie Fu is also expanding! “Death
by Dim Sum” is the first expansion slotted for Cookie Fu. Death by Dim Sum
will introduce weapons such as samurai swords and throwing stars to the
Cookie Fu experience. This is going to be a huge boost for the game, if
you ask me.
The next planned expansion, Gun Fu, will add firearms to the game for
those people who want some gunpowder in their Cookie Fu games. This adds
another element that people who like certain styles of Kung Fu movies
crave. Not sure if guns would find their way into my Cookie Fu sessions,
but I can’t say for sure at this point. I would to at least try it out to
be sure. I prefer the old-school combat styles over modern weaponry...
To Buy or Not to Buy...
Cookie Fu is a great game that needs more exposure. When it was released,
Wizards of the Coast had exclusive rights to sell the game at their
stores, and very little of the product found its way into other game
shops. It is hard to find, and as a result the player-base is rather small
at this point. Blue Kabuto is working with a game company (nothing has
been released officially on this, so no names can be mentioned) and if
everything goes well, Cookie Fu will find it’s way onto store shelves all
over the world and the expansions can start rolling out into our eager
hands.
I really wanted to give Cookie Fu a 5 on the NGG rating scale, but due to
the high price point and difficulty in getting the GM moves and GM dice
and the whole “glow in the dark” issue, I have to take it down to a 4.75.
Yes, it is that good of a game. I ran demos of this game at a local game
convention, and everyone but one player loved it and bought it. (Note: I
was selling from my personal stash at the NGG booth – I am not a retailer
and neither I nor the NGG plan on selling Cookie Fu on a retail basis.
Don’t contact me on my personal stash, either – I’ve almost run dry on my
extras after that con.)
It should be noted that the one player I mentioned from the convention
kept coming back for demo after demo, though. I think I played him a total
of 5 or 6 times throughout the 2 days that I ran the demos. His concern
was that he’d have no one to play with in his area, so he declined to
purchase, even though he enjoyed the game.
In closing, I would have to say that Cookie Fu is my utmost favorite
collectible game, and that’s saying a lot. I have copies of almost
every CCG (collectible card games) out there, and plenty of CMG’s
(collectible miniatures games), CDG’s (collectible dice games) and CTG’s
(collectible token games) in my collection as well. If you like
collectible games or heck, even games in general, you need to try Cookie
Fu. If you don’t like light-strategy games with a good amount of random
elements (remember, these are dice we’re talking about) then Cookie Fu may
not be for you though.
Buy it, try it, and work on your best B-Movie slams to use against your
opponent. You’ll need ‘em...