OGRE
Since the subject of this post is "Ogre" it could be about several things - one of the monsters your character can encounter in many fantasy games, something about Shrek, the big jock from Revenge of the Nerds that goes by that nick name, a super villain from the Champions universe, or any of several other options. Well, this post is not about any of the things I have named. This post is about the old war game, OGRE, designed by Steve Jackson.
OGRE was one of my two favorite non-rpg games; both were designed by Steve Jackson. I have enjoyed several of his designs over the years. I can not honestly say that I remember much about the rules of the game - it's been about 20 years since I played - but I do remember how much fun we all had playing OGRE. It was one of our go to games and was played pretty steadily in our group.
So, what is so great about the OGRE game? OGRE has a simple premise for play. One player controls the OGRE - an almost unstoppable war machine - that is intent on destroying the headquarters of the othe player. The second player has an assortment of various units at his disposal to stop the OGRE and defend his headquarters.
There is an immense replay value associated with OGRE due to the selection of units available. If you take a look at the picture to the left, you will note that the price is $2.95. This was probably from 1977 or within a year or two but the point is that OGRE was relatively cheap in all of its' microgame or pocket box versions. There have been other versions available over the years and I owned several of them; I never did buy OGRE Miniatures but I would have liked to have owned the game. I hear through the grapevine that SJG has a kickstarter under progress for an updated version expected to be released in November of 2012. I have also heard that it is estimated that the price may be $100! That is quite a big difference from the price of the sets I bought over the years. Who am I kidding? I've started putting money back now.
The only OGRE that I know is from The Shrek... They are really cute actually (in the movie)... Nice post... Hopping through A-Z Challenge...
ReplyDeleteShrek is cool! I' ll swing by your blog sometime today...
DeleteSo now I'm dying to know -- what was the second of your two favorite non-rpg games?
ReplyDeleteCheck out my post I is for Illuminati. It's good in a 2 player game but the game really shines with a group - the bigger, the better.
DeleteI toy with making a top ten game list, but half the entries would be Steve Jackson designs.... (Illuminati, CAR WARS, Wizard, Melee, Ogre, G.E.V., GURPS Basic Set, GURPS Fantasy, GURPS Space....)
ReplyDeleteA note about the Kickstarter. If you buy it now, you'll get some exclusive counter sheets... and... if the numbers go high enough... you'll help make the game better for *everyone*. (At $200,000, for instance, the 2 double-sided maps become four single sided maps... so everyone will be able to have gigantic hex maps!)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847271320/ogre-designers-edition
I'm going to go do my part then!
DeleteIt sounds like you lived the 80's of my dreams... Of course, I was a kid then (born in '81), but I still vividly remember how the fantasy products of those days fired my imagination. Hooked for life!
ReplyDeleteCool! Yeah, there is something about the fantasy products from that time that are just attention grabbing!
DeleteWow great post. I have not thought about ORGE in so long I can not remember. I wish I still had my game lol.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both. I lost mine through the ravages of time and moving over the years...
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