 | DeflexionMarch 14th, 2006 |
My copy of Deflexion arrived yerterday, and I managed one game with my daughter before we left for Fry’s to replace a dead case fan in my machine that was causing overheating issues.
So, computer is now fixed, which means I can post about the boardgame. 
Deflexion has a lot in common with those shareware and web games like Reflections and Aargon. Like these, it uses lasers and mirrors. The difference is that the lasers and mirrors are real.
It’s a two player game; you take turns rotating pieces 90 degrees or moving them one square. You have one-sided mirrors, two-sided mirrors, and blocks that don’t have mirrors. You also have a Pharaoh. After each turn, you must fire your laser; any piece that stops the laser beam (as opposed to reflecting it) is removed from the board. Should your Pharaoh get hit, you lose.
The one game I played was interesting; it’s easy to lose sight of what possible paths your opponent might set up, whilst you pay attention to your own strategy. After all, a simple rotation or moving a piece over one square can result in a vastly different path for the laser, and all pieces can move to all eight adjacent squares.
I’ll have to play a bunch more to see how deep the play can get, but it was definitely fun and challenging. The only limiting factor I can see right off the bat is that a fixed set of starting positions means that opening moves are likely to be very similar in every match. The designers seem to have tried to compensate for this by providing a few alternate starting configurations, and they seem to be releasing more on their website.
I may try out a “house rule” set that allows players to take turns placing the pieces on the board for the initial config. I can picture this resulting in games getting resolved before the first move is made, though…
Anyway, the price is a bit steep for a board game (no doubt because of the lasers) and I wouldn’t want it out in a house with very young children (since the mirrors might break if thrown or chewed, and the lasers can damage your eyes), but it’s worth checking out.
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