Games
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Sorry! What? Am I nuts? Well, yes, but that is neither here nor there. I think this is a great little game and worth talking up. Will y'all beat me up? I'm sure. But that's OK.
Cheers,
Van
Sorry! Sliders.
Really!
It’s mega-hella-super fun! You have two types of pawns. A small scoring pawn for marking progress up a scoring track. A shooting pawn which is bigger and has a ball bearing in the center and is the coolest little pawn I’ve encountered in some time.
I have looked down my nose at what seems to be gimmicky games before. All too often something just doesn’t work. That is not the case for this little gem. The shooting lanes and center boards are all very attractively colored. The plastic edges slip on easily. The lanes slip into the center boards creating a lip. Depending on the number of players there are some additional plastic rails to slip into the center board to create four walls for the shooters to bounce against. The components are all sufficient if not quite as rugged as this uber gamer snob in me might like. The shooting pawns are perfectly sized and giving them a good FWACK! with the index finger is quite satisfying I must say.
The game comes with two center squares each with two sides so there are several options. Variations include an instant home circle if you get in the center hole on the yellow board. On the green board, opposite the yellow, there is an instant Sorry! space. The red board contains “danger dots” you need to avoid. In all cases if you shoot you pawn off the corner, then Sorry! you have to move your front most scoring pawn back to the start space. The shooting lanes may also be daisy chained together for some of the suggested variants. I have idly wondered about what sorts of craziness I might be able to come up with using several copies of the game…
The instructions are well diagramed and straightforward. A couple of quick scans were all that was necessary to clarify rules on leaners and shooters that tip over. This is a game where you can rip off the shrink wrap, punch out the cardboard, read the instructions and start playing in about fifteen minutes or so.
The first couple of plays felt a big ‘ol dopey grin on my face. There is some primal, visceral pleasure in flicking the shooting pawn across a board and trying to get it land where you want or knock other players out of a good spot.
Ready… Set….
FLICK!
I was transported back to junior high wood shop. I remember making a nickel hockey game. It is a rectangular board game with dowels placed around the board and holes big enough for a nickle to be shot into.
We dragged the game around school and played it often. One of the few wood shop things I ever took the time and effort to actually try and get right.
Sorry! Sliders brought those memories rushing back with a FLICK! and SWOOSH! It is not a difficult game to play. Like standard Sorry! you are trying to get all your scoring pawns to your home space by exact count. Rather than rolling dice and flipping cards, you send your shooting pawns zooming along your launch lane (hopefully) out onto the main board. Concentric circles with numbers indicate how many spaces you may move your scoring pawns towards home.
I could not find any design credit in the instructions. I wish Parker Brothers would let us know who worked on this game. It is a stroke of brilliance. A simple, attractive, and affordable version of Crokinole with a name that people will almost certainly instantly recognize. So often those of us who are deeply involved in this silly little hobby of board games, forget the simple, (dare I say, elegance?) of a well done game. This is a simple, no frills but still incredibly amusing game that deserves some good word of mouth. If whomever came up with this design happens upon this review, I would love to interview you. Well done indeed.
So why would gamers want to pick up this “mass market” game. I’ll tell you why.
If you have kids they will LOVE this game. My son is five years old and asks to play it often. This has been the first big “hit” game for him. He has played many games of course, but this one is the first he has repeatedly and often requested to play.
If you don’t have kids why would you want this game? It would be a fantastic end of the night closer. After a long evening of Titan or Die Macher or whatever floats your boat, you might be ready for something light and fun. This would most certainly fit the bill. I can even imagine a Sorry! Sliders Shots! variant that would be all kinds of amusing.
If you are looking for a great game with complexity, depth and strategy obviously this ain’t it. But if you would like a reasonably priced game that could be brought out in just about any scenario this gamer can think of, I would highly recommend you check it out.
If you think I’m full of it, well, I have one final word for you.
Sorry!
