by: Michael Barnes

For this month’s Cracked LCD Countdown, I’ve decided to steer away from controversy and instead highlight some games that I have played recently that are very low-profile and under-the-radar. But they shouldn’t be, because most of them are great games that are unique, compelling, and forward thinking. In many ways the games of John Clowdus, who self-publishes his work under the name Small Box Games , are more in tune with the simple, singular games of Sid Sackson than they are with current American and European design trends. Some of them are really quite avant-garde and even a little experimental; the good news is that every single one of them is a card game that sells via his website for $12.99 so they’re inexpensive to check out.

When I contacted Mr. Clowdus to let him know that I was interested in covering his games for this column, I was surprised to learn that he lived only about 30 minutes away from my home in Decatur, Georgia. I met him, and not only did he hand over the review copies in person, but I also had an opportunity to talk with him at length about his ideas, concepts, and design goals. It’s very interesting that unlike so many fledgling designers of these kinds of tabletop games, Mr. Clowdus isn’t pursuing whatever the popular mechanics of the day are. He’s more influenced by MAGIC: THE GATHERING than the past ten years of European games (most of which he’s never played) and his “keep it simple” attitude and dedication to marketing inexpensive, compact games flies in the face of the plastic-and-cardboard overload that has forced American design into a corner where rising costs and mechanical bloat is foreclosing on innovation.

There are a few constants that you can expect from a Small Box Game. These are all single box games with one page of rules. They are professionally printed. Everything you need to play is in the box so there is no need for counters, dice, or other gaming accessories. Playing through these ten games, I can definitely see certain design trends and concepts developing between titles but each I think stands on its own and as a body of work. I’m quite impressed with what Mr. Clowdus has quietly accomplished printing small quantities at a time, shrink-wrapping them at his house, and operating as a small, self-funded business.

There are only two games that I wouldn’t recommend to most gamers out of these ten, and I think that’s a damn good track record. Even the one game I didn’t care for at all and the strictly-for-kids games were at least interesting to play through once or even twice. Note that these games are printed strictly to order, so if any strike your fancy you’ll need to preorder them and wait for the next print run. At thirteen bucks a piece, I think it’d be hard not to pick up a couple if you’re in the market for smart, original card games.

So, on with it Barnes! I give you the ten games of Small Box Games’ “Pure Card” line.

1. IRONDALE and IRONDALE EXPANDS

IRONDALE was the first game I played out of the Small Box Games line, and although I enjoyed it, I found that it wasn’t really until the third game that I realized exactly how much I loved it. It is sort of a tile-laying game in disguise, but those looking for a CARCASSONNE card game need to move right on along as IRONDALE is deceptively complex, and its combination of spatial placement and special card abilities makes for a very compelling game. Players are tasked with building the titular city by playing cards from their hand, each representing a different building with a special action. The first build a player makes can be anywhere in the display as long as it is adjacent to an existing building, but the second card must be played adjacent to the first. Interestingly, each building's ability not only activates as the card is initially played, but also when a building is placed next to it. So it becomes possible to combine effects with the cards in hand and those previously played by all players. There is also another scoring opportunity in the form of “master plans”- each card has two building type icons, and if a player builds those two types of buildings that card can be exchanged for points, extra card draws, or a combination thereof.

It can be a little bewildering at first, sorting out which card effects do what and what combinations are going to provide the best outcomes. But as players become familiar with the cards and see how effects can be chained, the game becomes surprisingly deep. There is also an expansion, IRONDALE EXPANDS that has a number of variants, additional buildings, and alternate rules. As much as I enjoyed the base game, I think the expansion is a must as it adds substantial and meaningful content without cluttering up the main rules. That being said, the base game stands alone as an excellent title.