Amoeba Wars

Welcome to the first text version of the Unexplored Games youtube channel, your go-to for lesser-known and unique board games! Today we’re diving into Amoeba Wars, a vintage gem published by Avalon Hill in 1981; you can find my video about it here.

If you were interested in this game (or others like it), please visit our home page to see all our games and accessories for sale.

Unpacking Amobea Wars

BoardGameGeek classifies Amoeba Wars as a 4X game, which stands for:

- eXplore
- eXpand
- eXploit
- eXterminate

However, if we scrutinize the gameplay, there’s really no exploration involved and the exploitation aspect is limited to gaining production points from specific hexes on the map. The primary focus of the game is more about strategic combat and territorial control (expand and exterminate).

In my opinion, Amoeba Wars best described as a light-weight, low-overhead hex-and-counter war game, which is perfect to set up and play in a couple of hours, giving the satisfaction of a more substantial game without the heavy time commitment.

Essence of the Game

 

The central objective in Amoeba Wars is either to eliminate all other players or be the first to control Saestor, the central system on the board. The titular amoeba surrounds Saestor, providing extra defense as ships move inward. If you lose a battle against the amoeba, your fleet gets reduced by two ships instead of the usual one when attacking an empty system.

The small map and centrality of Saestor ensures that all players are constantly interacting with each other, often leading to interaction and combat within the first few turns.

One glaring downside is the existence of player elimination, which becomes more problematic as the player count increases; I generally stick to two-player games or manage solo play to avoid this.

Turn Summary

(Keep in mind that this is a rules overview and not meant as a rules explanation, I'm glossing over a few things, but this should give you a good idea of how the game is played.)

Each turn in Amoeba Wars consists of three stages:

1. Play a Card

Each player begins by choosing a card from their hand. The player with the highest numbered card goes first, using their card and all cards with a lower value.

These cards can introduce new ships or trigger attacks from the amoeba or a doomsday machine. It's essential to strategize when choosing a card to play, keeping in mind that other players might also use these cards.

2. Produce and Place Ships

Players sum the production numbers from the systems they control and buy ships based on that number. The ships must be deployed in systems connected to one of your home systems.

3. Attack

 

There are two types of attacks:
1. Attacking systems without ships:
- Sum the number of attacking ships (max 5) and planets in the target system.
- Roll attack/defense dice and compare the results.
- If the attack roll is higher or tied, the attacker gains the system.
- If the defense roll is higher, the attacker loses one ship (or two if facing the amoeba).

2. Attacking systems with ships (including Doomsday Machine):
- Engages ship-on-ship combat where the attacker and defender each add a die roll to their ship’s power.

Battles have a Risk-like vibe: fast, somewhat random, but usually tipping in favor of the stronger force, although dice rolls can give a surprising result.

Thoughts and Conclusion

Overall, Amoeba Wars is an engaging game that delivers a satisfying mix of strategy, combat, and quick play. I find the retro aesthetic quite charming, even if the color scheme—particularly the close resemblance between orange and yellow systems—can cause some confusion.

The game DOES have its flaws (player elimination, Risk-like randomness, etc), but the low rules overhead and quick playtime that belies its strategic depth, makes this something that I'll come back to time and time again.

Thanks for joining me in this exploration of Amoeba Wars. Stay tuned for more lesser-known board game reviews here or on the Unexplored Games youtube channel! and if you were interested in this game (or others like it), please visit our home page to see all our games and accessories for sale.