Guest Author - Lynn Little

Fans of the Girl Genius comic book/graphic novels will most likely enjoy The Works. Even if you've never heard of Girl Genius, The Works card game is enjoyable and fun.

Girl Genius was created by Phil Folgio who also created the comic Xxxenophile that also has its own card game. The Xxxenophile card game has been discontinued but The Works is very similiar to it in game play. Xxxenophile was a bit risque when it came to the artwork for the cards. Girl Genius is a more toned down version of the game, making it more PG-13 than NC-17. The cards still feature the buxom women of Girl Genius, so therefore may still not be appropriate for all ages.

In The Works card game, players start off with five cards in their hand. 12 cards are placed face down in a criss cross pattern. On a player's turn, they flip over a facedown card and then rotate any card that is face up 180 degrees. All the cards have colored symbols on the side. When two cards match, then the player pops the card with more symbols. They have to do the action on the card and add the points to their total. Replace the popped card with a card from your hand and play it facedown. The first person to reach 100 points wins or by collecting submarine and dirigibles cards.

The Works is a non-collectable card game. Each deck contains 108 cards. For a shorter game, you can always play to 50 points as playing time usually takes at least an hour depending upon how many people are playing the game.

The game play featured in this game is loads of fun. Xxxenophile played pretty much the same way as The Works and was always fun to play. With its risque artwork and some colorful text on cards, Xxxenophile wasn't a game you could just bring out to play with everyone. Girl Genius The Works is a toned down version that is suitable to play in mixed company.