Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone

Ascending Empires has given my group epic hours of laughter, even though we are not exactly a dexterity-game group. I picked up Conflick in the Neutral Zone in a bargain sale for 10 euros, so I was not expecting miracles; I merely wanted us to laugh a little. I did not even get that. It is one of those purchases that makes you wonder who looked at the box and said, “yes, let’s put Star Trek on it too.”

At its core, the game attempts to turn a space conflict into a dexterity game: you aim and try to hit with the ballista, with the spaceships serving as the objects in this space carrom setup. The idea is immediately understandable and could, in theory, support a light, chaotic party game.

The problem is that rules and theme have been piled onto that simple physical activity without fitting together. Instead of the interaction emerging cleanly from the shots, the misses, and the chaos on the table, the game muddles its already fragile idea. And when the ballista misfires for the tenth time, there is not even the consolation that at least something funny happened.

For me, it is completely unplayable, not merely a game with a few rough edges. The only useful crossover I found is with Catapult Kingdoms: when your little monster is fully frustrated by the misses, give them Conflick’s spaceships and let them throw them by hand at your castle. At last, they become lethal weapons.