Description

Animal Reich was included free with the program of the 1987 GamesCaucus held in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is loosely based on the novel, "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. One player takes on the role of the animals. The other player takes on the role of Farmer Brown. The goal of the animals is to kill Farmer Brown, while the goal of Farmer Brown is to kill the animals. The game was a wargame that included some role-playing elements, namely the creation of Farmer Brown allows for differential strengths and weaknesses. For example, the player can choose to have a fast but weak farmer or a slow but powerful one. The decision on what characteristics Farmer Brown has will have a major impact on game play and players can alter these characteristics to re-balance the game when played between opponents of differential ability. The player using the animals, however, is stuck with the predetermined characteristics.

Animal Reich attempted to bridge the gap between role-playing games and wargames, much as Steve Jackson attempted to do with Melee and Wizard some ten years earlier.