Clubhouse Games Express: Strategy Pack

Genre: Compilation / Board Games

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local Wireless), Download Play Supported

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Review:

Clubhouse Games was originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2006, and was a Compilation containing 42 simple Card Games, Board Games, and Arcade Games. The game would go on to be such a critical and commercial success that Nintendo would produce a sequel on the Nintendo Switch, Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (I liked that game quite a bit – I gave it a B+ grade in my review!). However, in the time between those two releases, in 2009 we got three games on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in the Clubhouse Games Express line. These are not new games, but rather small portions of the original Clubhouse Games release on DS that have been cut apart from the rest of the game, had features removed (no more online play!), and sold on the Nintendo DSiWare shop and the Nintendo 3DS eShop for $5 each.

Out of curiosity, I took a trip over to ebay.com and looked to see what it would cost to get a copy of the original Nintendo DS release of Clubhouse Games in used but playable condition, including shipping costs. The result? $6. That’s right, you can pay $5 each for three DSiWare releases which, together, constitute one-third of the contents of this game, or you can pay $6 to get the entire game on a cartridge that plays perfectly fine on your Nintendo 3DS via backwards-compatibility.

You’re seriously still reading after that? You still want an actual review of this rip-off of an eShop game?

~sigh~ Fine…

Clubhouse Games Express: Strategy Pack contains five Board games that can be played against AI opponents of varying difficulty or human opponents, with download play supported. Those five games are: Backgammon, Field Tactics (a non-branded version of Stratego), Turncoat (better known as Reversi or Othello), Connect Five (otherwise known as Gomoku), and Grid Attack (an off-brand game that’s very similar to Battleship).

These games are presented using decent but simple 2D pixel art visuals, and with a few selections of energetic background music that can get a bit annoying over time. Overall, this is nothing special, but it works well enough for the presentation of the game.

As for the games themselves, you’ll be playing these games using touchscreen controls, and the versions of the games here seem to be mostly surprisingly decent.

Backgammon is… well, Backgammon. Don’t know how you could mess this game up, but they don’t.

Field Tactics really requires players to learn the different pieces and how they all work. It’s not a terrible game, but it requires a lot of setup based on an understanding of how the pieces interact.

Turncoat… okay, I don’t know why they don’t just call this Reversi, it’s not a copyrighted name. Anyway, this is like Backgammon in that it’s hard to mess up, and they don’t, for the most part. It is a little annoying that players are expected to drag and drop pieces from a collection onto the board, but you get used to it.

Connect Five… well, I’m sure they don’t call it Gomoku because some people might think that sounds scary and foreign, I guess. Anyway, this is like Turncoat in that it’s hard to get this game wrong, and they don’t, though the need to drag and drop pieces from a collection onto the board is a tad annoying.

Grid Attack had pieces that are shaped differently from the pieces in Battleship, and you have special wider-area attacks you can use in limited quantity too. Unfortunately, there’s no option to shut either of these off to play a more traditional game of Battleship, and the board size seems too small too. Overall, still an enjoyable game, but it definitely feels like it needs more options.

Overall, I think that the games included here are mostly done right, though many of the games have some irritating quirks.

However, even if you still want to play this version of these games, then you’re still better off just getting a copy of the Nintendo DS version of Clubhouse Games. Simply put, there is absolutely no reason you should buy Clubhouse Games Express: Family Favorites, unless you’re an idiot like me who’s writing a bunch of reviews before the Nintendo 3DS eShop shuts down. Don’t do that. Don’t be like me.

tl;dr – Clubhouse Games Express: Strategy Pack contains decent versions of Backgammon, Field Tactics (Stratego), Turncoat (Reversi/Othello), Connect Five (Gomoku), and Grid Attack (Battleship). Even if you wanted to play these games, this release is a total rip-off, because you can get the entire game these titles were ripped from for almost the exact same price. If you want to play these games on Nintendo 3DS, don’t buy Clubhouse Games Express, just get the original Nintendo DS version of Clubhouse Games instead.

Grade: F

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