Reviewed by: J.P. Trostle, Issue 3.2, Spring 1995
When Decipher, Inc jumped on the collectable card game bandwagon with their Star Trek card game, they had an edge over anyone else who might have had the same idea: they already had a licensing deal with Paramount. For several years, Decipher has produced the role-playing "How To Host A Mystery" with a Star Trek: The Next Generation theme, as well as board games that tied into the Gene Roddenberry's 24th century. This past Christmas I received the board game A Klingon Challenge from (of all people) my new mother-in-law. Like Decipher's other Star Trek products, this "Interactive VCR Board Game" accents style over substance, but unlike their Customizable Card Game (see accompanying review), I have no complaints about A Klingon Challenge. It was created to be a game of face-paced, mindless fun and, boy, does it deliver!
Designed for 3-6 people, each player represents a maintenance crew member who is working on the Enterprise's malfunctioning computer while it is docked at Starbase 74. Thinking no one is aboard, Kavok, a renegade klingon (played by Robert O'Reilly-who also played Gowron, leader of the High Council on The Next Generation) highjacks the starship. He can no longer stand the peace treaty with the Federation and plans on using the Enterprise to start a glorious war. You and your fellow crew members, trapped on board the Enterprise, are the only ones who can stop him. And you only have an hour to do so.
To regain control of the ship, you must move around the gameboard-a track in the shape of the Starship Enterprise-visiting various rooms and corridors to collect computer access cards, isolinear chips for your tricorder, and a phaser. Once you have all of these, you can attempt to reach the bridge via a Jefferies Tube and stun Kavok, thereby saving the day. The game itself is a no-brainer "roll the dice, move your mice" affair. The fun comes from the bells and whistles Decipher provides. There is a sheet of Communicator Pin stickers that every player must wear, and everyone gets a color-coded tricorder to carry with them. The tricorder is a clever 3-D piece of cardboard which allows you to put the 5 isolinear chips you need in slots along the side.
The piece that makes the whole kit worthwhile is the hour-long VCR tape that is central to the game. On it you will see Kavok steal the Enterprise from Starbase 74. You will see him discover you and your crewmates, and the challenge he issues you to stop him. Then the game begins, as a clock in the corner of the screen counts down the hour until you reach the Klingon Homeworld and the war begins. Every few minutes, Kavok pops up on the screen and shouts "You! The one who is moving! I have detected you!" At this, the person who's turn it is must slap his or her communicator and respond, "Yes Captain Kavok!" (To encourage "cooperation" with the video image, if the player refuses to embarrass themselves by hitting an imaginary communicator, the first player to point out that they have failed to do so gets to take a computer access card from the uncooperating player. This helps keeps everyone in line!) Most of the time Kavok shouts something like: "You thought you were clever?! I have detected you and am dropping a stasis field around you!" (not to worry, due to the malfunctioning computer, no stasis field ever lasts more than a minute or two); however, every so often, he will reward a player for showing such "bravery as befitting a warrior." Robert O'Reilly has great fun with the role, shouting and growling and spitting out insults, just as a klingon should.
As a game, A Klingon Challenge is pretty dumb, but as a social event, played with a half-dozen good friends (preferably trekkers who can get into the spirit of the thing), it's a blast. Personally I would have never bought this game on my own (it is not cheap!), but if you have a rabid trekker for a relative or a friend, it makes a great gift.