



While reading a rulebook, it's sometimes a welcome bit of relief when the designer pokes their head out for a moment to make some kind of remark or to include something in the game for fun. You start to catch a glimpse of the human being behind the game. I've always wanted to write a short blog post about the unusual or funny things in the rules or components of the games I own so here it is:The final scenario of the game allows players to play a huge WW3 battle for control of both the Aegean Sea and the Middle East by putting together the maps forand. Before you do that, however, you should check the victory conditions for the scenario. It is completely unwinnable! I'm not sure if this was dark humor, pessimism, or realism coming through but it definitely got my attention:The last scenario in the rulebook is based on the 1980 movie, "The Final Countdown", where a Nimitz-class carrier goes back in time to 1941 just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In one of the worst cases of blue-balls in cinematic history, the Nimitz gets transported back to 1980 just after the carrier commander decides to go ahead and intercept the incoming Japanese strike force. In this scenario, however, that never happens and instead you get to use the Nimitz and its full complement of jet aircraft to fight World War II. What were the designer's justification for including this scenario in the game?For anyone who has tried to master the numerous and sometimes impenetrable rules for TSoH, it's always nice to see that the designer had a good sense of humor. In the first training scenario, you're introduced to your pilot instructor Major "Grit" Skywarden, who will send you to Kansas to fly rusty C-47s if you fail to score the requisite rating points while maneuvering your jet. I struggled mightily with this scenario and gruff old Grit must have sent me to Kansas about 100 times before I finally got it right and passed to the next stage of training.I groaned when I turned the page and read the following in the next mission briefing:It may not be the most balanced game in the world but it sure is fun. Freedom in the Galaxy was a hot crazy mess of a game as much for what it tried to do than for what it actually did. In any case, you knew you were in for a ride the moment you browsed through the character cards and found:Apparently, there were lots of little in-jokes within the game that poked fun at the SPI staff. There's a great thread on it with more detail here I've found a few neat little touches by the designer in some of my other games too. One that sticks in my mind is the Sal Vasta's inclusion of his parent's hometown, Graniti, in Sicily on the map inI'm interested to hear any other unusual/weird/funny stuff that you've found in your game collection. Drop me a line in the comments to let me know.