A Game of Pure Skill

I was at a party this past weekend that could at times have been described as “raucous.” Of course, I don’t go for this whole “unstructured social interaction” thing, so I was jonesing for gaming, coming off from a back to back win in drinking team foosball.

Fortunately, I carry a game around with me that I bring along specifically for these situations. One of the hosts of the party suggested that I bring along some of the prototypes that I was working on along, and that’d we try them. Or maybe that we’d get a big Werewolf game together.

Well, after two kegs emptied and several bowls of vodka punch chugged, I made the decision that this wasn’t the proper environment for a playtest, and getting together 9 players for Werewolf would have proven more obnoxious than it’s worth. Plus, many players can’t handle being drunk while playing werewolf and make a lot of mistake. (I, on the other hand, am a very dangerous drunken Werewolf player.)

I turned to Bartoneus and said, “It’s Loopin’ Louie Time.”

Loopin’ Louie is battery powered tabletop game marketed to kids in the early 90’s. You may remember some of the commercials on tv that showed a cartoon Louie in his prop plane buzzing chickens off barn roofs.

The game, at its core, is simple: Louie moves around in a circle around the table. Each player has three chickens, and a paddle. Left to his own devices, Louie will knock over your chickens. However, the object of the game is to be the last person left with chickens. So you use your paddle to hit Louie into the air so that he avoids hitting your chickens.

But then, it gets a little trickier. Since you’re playing to win, you’re not content to just defend against Louie’s barnstorming. You use him to knock over other people’s chickens. The first important shot to master is a quick hop that hits the person’s chickens to your right so that they have no chance to defend themselves. Then you go on to learn the kinds of techniques to hit any of the other player’s chickens: a light tap for the person on your right, a medium but well timed shot for the person across from you, or a quick slam to send Louie looping all the way around to hit the person your left (arguably the hardest shot to master.)

What’s even better is the wide range of motion that Louie has. His base can loop in unexpected ways to allow you to aim for anyone. His tail can be hit to make him spin around, which can be a useful attack move or important defensive maneuver. He can sometimes end up upside down, where your chickens are safer, but at any time he could spin back around. More subtly, his pitch can be altered so that it’s harder to hit him. He can even be shot back up to the center, where he might dive bomb down at any time.

I was introduced to the game two years ago at my first Gathering. Yes, a bunch of serious gamers play this. Not only that, the only major tournament I know of is held there. To accommodate they developed “tournament play” where a couple games are played in a series. When you win a round, you start all subsequent rounds with one fewer chicken. Get rid of your last chicken by winning, you win the tournament match. Now, you have incentive to take certain other people out depending on their standing.

Obviously, I love the game, and have been training for the past year to improve my game since scoring a copy from a friend. The game has been a big hit to a number of groups that I’ve brought it to, from hardcore gamer to casual partygoer. (Still, however, it’s not ideal to play with all drunkards, as they can get frustrated when they think the ideal strategy is to slam the paddle as hard as possible and are confused when they start knocking their own chickens down.) Unfortunately, the game is a bit hard to get. It hasn’t been made in the states for over a decade. They still pop up on Ebay, generally going for $20-$30. Be careful though, there is a German reprint out there, but it’s smaller and isn’t quite as good as the original. Find the full size American edition if you’re going to buy it.

This is the tournament I’m most looking forward to this year, and the one I’m most nervous about. Obviously I do consistently well in the home games, but we’ll see how I do this year against the seasoned tournament veterans (who could also kick my ass in Caylus.) Wish me luck!

Here’s a poor quality video shot on my cell phone cam last year of a Loopin Louie’ Game, so you have some idea how it plays: