Lincoln and I are of the generation in between the Baby Boomers and Generation X, which means several things.

First and foremost, it means that our generation doesn't really have a name to call ourselves. We're not old enough to have that annoying hippie disdain for Cheap Trick; neither are we so modern that we can look on them with irony. We just think they're good.

But I digress. Another era we straddle is the time between board games and the advent of the video game. I can remember when every house had, usually in the hall closet, or in the rec room if you were lucky enough to have one, a stack of games, usually received as Christmas or birthday gifts.

The best thing about board games, of course, was that the entire family could play. Mom and Dad could gather up all the kids and you could sit down to a nice game of Monopoly, or a exciting game ofAggravation, or a insanely infuriating game of Risk, if you played against certain older brothers of mine who shall go nameless here. I myself had a fondness for a Parker Brothers game called Careers, which was all about setting life goals and then traveling around the board trying to attain them.

These days, I'm reading that board games are making a bit of a comeback, as a cheap alternative to family evenings out. I certainly approve of this.

My own personal favorite at the moment, and one that Lincoln and I enjoy playing a great deal, is a game called RoboRally. The game has been published by quite a few companies, including TSR and Avalon Hill, and is currently being published by Wizards of the Coast. We have one of the earlier versions, which has little metal robot figures designed by Stax Bros Saint Phil Foglio, about whom more at another time.

The premise of RoboRally is simple. You are a bored supercomputer running a factory. Very bored. So you get together with up to seven other supercomputers, pick a factory robot drone, and race it around through the factory, which is presumably not making anything at the moment.

But it's a little more complicated than that.

For one thing, the factory floors (eight separate boards, each a different design, and more are available) are loaded with all sorts of things designed to stomp on, push, mangle, slide, zap, or otherwise damage your robot. If you put a foot (or tread, or wheel, or pod) wrong, your little guy will take the hit.

For another thing, your robot is dumber than Ralph Wiggum with a head injury. You are dealt several movement cards each round, but you can only use seven of them each turn. It's up to you to program the mechanical moron to turn, go, stop, turn again, and so forth in order to get to the next goal before your opponents.

Who are also trying to head for the same flag as you, so they're pushing you, you're pushing them, and lasers (did we mention the lasers?) go flying everywhere.

To be honest, this really isn't a game for everyone. The rules are a bit complex, especially when you start getting into modifications for your robots and movement issues. The bags of annoying little square cardboard markers serve to remind you that the game was once published by Avalon Hill, and the plethora of vaguely written cards remind you that it's currently done by the same people who brought you Magic: The Gathering.

You also have to be able to think several moves ahead. Trying to lay out your movement card in the right order often results in what the designers call the “chair dance,” when you twist and turn in your chair as you try to sort out the sequence your retarded little automaton must follow.

But Lincoln and I are capable of dealing with this. For one thing, we both played a lot of role-playing stuff in high school, and then we played lots of collectible card games later on, so we're used to complicated rules. We're capable of dealing with these rules, or ignoring them, as necessary. In our case, the arguments are sometimes the best part.

You can use as many boards as you like or as few. Lincoln and I generally play between two and four boards, depending on how much time we have and how much space is open on the dining room table. The best way, we've found, is to stack up a bunch of new CDs on the edge of the table, crack open a case of Sessions Lager stubbies, and go for it.

If you're interested, you can check out the official RoboRally site here.

Mustafa Stax