The Creature That Ate Sheboygan
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''The Creature That Ate Sheboygan'' is a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
released in 1979 by Simulations Publications (SPI). The game received good reviews and won an industry award.


Gameplay

''The Creature That Ate Sheboygan'', designed by Greg Costikyan, is a two-player combat-oriented game. In the best traditions of Japanese
kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...
, a monster is going to climb out of
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
and attack
Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, which has a pop ...
. One player takes the role of the monster, and designs the monster's destructive abilities. The other player takes the role of the police, fire fighters and military units that will be used to try to protect the city and destroy the monster. The players can choose several scenarios to enact. Every time the monster destroys a building or eliminates a human, it gains victory points. If the monster accrues the number of victory points called for in the scenario, the monster wins. If the humans destroy the monster before it reaches this threshold, the humans win. The game comes with a rectangular grid map of the town, a set of rules and tables, and a counter sheet. The counters included markers for
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
, fire fighters,
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
and unarmed
civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...
s. There are several different monster counters, as well as damage and fire markers.


Publication history

In 1977, Metagaming Concepts published ''
Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
'' and pioneered the concept of the microgame—a cheap, small, quick wargame packaged in a Ziplock bag or small flat box. By 1979, SPI was in financial distress as interest in its traditional big box wargames waned, and the company decided to tap into the microgame market, publishing a number of "Capsule" games in various genres, including four science fiction-themed "Space Capsule" games. "Space Capsule #1", titled ''The Creature That Ate Sheboygan'', was designed by Greg Costikyan, with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen and illustrations by . SPI released it packaged in a ziplock bag in March 1979, and it proved very popular, debuting at #4 in SPI's Top Ten Best Selling Games List. Two months later, it rose to #1 and remain SPI's #1 or #2 best-selling game for the next year. SPI also released the game as a
boxed set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
in 1979.
Simpubs Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) was an American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship ''Strategy & Tactics'', in the 1970s and early 1980s. It produced an enormous number of games and introduced innovat ...
, SPI's British subsidiary, released it as a boxed set in the UK with new cover art. In 1985, Encore published a Polish-language version of the game, ''Ratuj swoje miasto'' (''Save Your Town'') in Poland. In 1982, TSR took over SPI, and added several SPI titles to their own catalogue, including ''The Creature That Ate Sheboygan''. Costikyan sued TSR in 1992 in the US District Court in New York, claiming that he was the legal owner of all rights to the game, and alleging that they had stolen the game, and when they added the game to their catalog they republished it without his permission and removed his name, stating that it was created by a staff member of TSR. The next year, his lawyers discontinued the suit without prejudice, with Costikyan declaring he wanted TSR to revert the rights to all his games, while TSR claimed they obtained the rights legally and wanted Costikyan to pay for them.


Reception

In the November 1979 edition of ''
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
'', Karl Merris liked the fact that the game was simple—only four pages of rules—and yet "This simplicity of game mechanics allows play to proceed quickly, often at breathtaking speed. Most scenarios can be played to completion in an hour or less. Yet despite its simplicity, the game is challenging and interesting." The one weakness of the game Merris noted was when the monster was given a fire-breath weapon, for which there was no defense. Despite this, Merris recommended the game: "''The Creature that Ate Sheboygan'' is a cleverly conceived, well-produced little game. It provides excellent opportunity for you to let your most monstrous fantasies run riot. Buy it, play it and enjoy it." In the first issue of '' Ares Magazine'', Eric Goldberg lauded ''The Creature that Ate Sheboygan'', rating it a 9 out of 9 and saying, "Since ''Creature'' even appeals to non-gamers, no one should be without a copy.". In the 1980 book '' The Complete Book of Wargames'', game designer Jon Freeman called the game "inexpensive and eminently playable." He did find some ambiguities in the rules about fires, but concluded by giving the game an Overall Evaluation of "Very Good", saying, "It really is as much fun as it appears, particularly if your monster is equipped with fire-breathing. Closet pyromaniacs will go wild ..If you don't take your wargaming too seriously, this is more fun than seeing the movie."
Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...
reviewed ''The Creature That Ate Sheboygan'' in '' White Wolf'' #43 (May, 1994) and stated that "The humor of this game is all in the play. The rules rely on dead-pan, format wargame chatter about line-of-sight, case-format references ..and Combat Resolution Tables. Nonetheless, fans of Japanese monster moves instinctively dramatize the game; I always wave my head around and trumpet triumphantly after I gobble up hapless National Guardsmen and scream piteously in my death throes." In a retrospective review in Issue 4 of ''Simulacrum'', Brian Train noted, "This is one you will want to play once you get your hands on a copy ..Very straightforward but worthy of repeated plays." Train concluded with the comment "I have found that usually the human player tends to win, unless the monster is allowed the 'fire-breathing' special ability, so players should play one match and then switch roles."


Awards

At the 1980
Origins Awards The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...
, ''The Creature that Ate Sheboygan'' won the
Charles S. Roberts Award The Charles S. Roberts Awards (or CSR Awards) is an annual award for excellence in manual, tabletop games, with a focus on "conflict simulations", which includes simulations of non-military as well as military conflicts. From its founding in 1975 ...
for ''Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Game of 1979''.


Other reviews


1981 Games 100
in ''
Games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...
'' * '' Games & Puzzles'' #81 * ''
The Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...
''


References


External links


''The Creature That Ate Sheboygan'' Article List

Counter Sheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creature That Ate Sheboygan Board games introduced in 1979 Greg Costikyan games Origins Award winners Science fiction board games Science fiction board wargames Sheboygan, Wisconsin Simulations Publications games Wargames introduced in 1979 Wisconsin in fiction