PLAYED
FREAKZ!
Mutants Unleashed
Designer: Osprey | Publisher: Michael “Wheels” Whelen
Wargaming as a genre can be really inaccessible for many potential players. The need for miniatures, the dense sets of rules, the never-ending expansion of alternative materials that add to the complex world; it’s all just too much for some. Not to mention, it can be pretty expensive. Massive brands like Games Workshop have a loyal audience, but for first-time players, myself included once upon a time, it feels like there’s just too big a hill to climb. But that’s where FREAKZ! comes in. Where other titles may lay down roadblocks which might mean a player is pushed away from the potential hobby, FREAKZ! instead builds bridges.
The very premise behind FREAKZ!, at least from a mechanical sense and from my perspective playing the title, was that it boasts fast action, with easy rules and a welcoming attitude towards presenting those systems. The synopsis alone promises that players can build squads by drawing cards from a standard deck, and that’s just the start of the streamlined approach to building a wargame with unpredictability and character.