Polite Dissent

Right off the bat, SPANC has three things going for it. First, it is published by Steve Jackson Games, publisher of such fine and outstanding games as GURPS, Ogre, Munchkin and Illuminati. Second, the art is by the incomparable Phil Foglio of Girl Genius fame. Third, the concept itself is pure genius: Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls — what’s not to love?

The game consists of three decks of cards: Crew, Toys, and Challenges. There are also counters to represent Loot and each player’s crew. To start, each player is dealt a crew of four catgirls. Each player also starts with one Toy (think “gear”) card and 2 loot markers.

Crew members are scored in 4 abilities: Space Pirate (representing gunnery, piloting and carousing), Amazon (outdoor survival and intimidation), Ninja (sneakiness), and Catgirl (fashion sense and sex appeal). Attaching a Toy card to a crew member may raise one or more of these scores (or may lower one of them). Certain “one time use” Toy cards grant dice re-rolls, returns from the dead and other special abilities.

Each turn, the players attempt to complete a “caper.” Each caper is composed of four Challenge cards, each requiring a different skill to succeed. To beat a challenge, the crew member must roll their skill or less on two dice. The best crew (and the best toys) will finish the challenges and complete the caper. This earns that player more loot and more toys. The first player to obtain 10 loot wins.

SPANC is quick-playing, fun, easy to learn game. Anyone who enjoys Steve Jackson games or Phil Foglio comics will love this game, as will anyone with an appreciation of Space Pirates, Amazons, Ninjas and/or Catgirls.