PUBLISHED GAMES OF SID SACKSON
(C through D)
with commentary by Nick Sauer and Herb Levy
Camp:
Strictly an abstract game with the only semblance of theme being that the pieces moved are triangular in shape so that they looked like what they are called called in the rules: "tents". The idea is to move your pieces so that NONE of them are adjacent, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The clever thing here is the movement. There is a "movement track". Players know, in advance, the number of moves they will be able to make in a turn (ranging from 1 to 2 to 3) and can plan accordingly. (Part of the black and white boxed Abacus line.) - HL
Can't Stop:
This was published by Parker Brothers in 1980.
While Parker Brothers dropped it after a few years due to a rapid fall
off in sales, it has
been pretty much continuously in print in Germany from 
manufacturers
such as Franjos. This is one of
Sid's all time classic games.
The game that it came from was published in The
6 Pack of Pencil and Paper Games
as The Great Races
in 1974. The major
change from this earlier version is that players now may roll more than once and
decide when they stop. In The
Great Races, players
got one roll on the four dice per turn. As
small a change as it sounds, this completely changed the nature of the game
to more of a risk management/gambling style game.
I feel this simple alteration really made the game into the classic that it
has become today. There was also a
first and second place scoring system in The
Great Races that was dropped
in Can't Stop.
- NS
This game is now, once again, available in the United States in a new edition from Face 2 Face Games. - HL
Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory: 
This was published in England by Knopf in 1978. It comes in a cool format that folds into a book that looks like a large children's book. The game play is rather amusing, on a dark sort of level, as the children move through the factory the players fight for control of them. At each of the large rooms on the map, one child is eliminated from the game just like in the book and movie. It's a great simulation that is perhaps a bit too much for the children's audience that the game is clearly intended for. Even though the game is manufactured in England, it seems to be harder to find in America than some of Sid's German titles. - NS
Corner:
This game was originally published as Intersection by Aladdin in 1974. Intersection featured a smaller five by five game board with cardboard markers. Corner, which is pictured here, was a much 1980. The board size was expanded to six by six and a plastic board and marbles replaced the cardboard pieces. This one of Sid's games that I feel is very strongly in need of a reissue. If this is done, the game should really be increased to a seven by seven board as the six by six is a little to easy for modern gamers to analyze.- NS
Domination:
Originally released as
Focus by Western Publishing in 1965. Milton Bradley
would reprint the game in 1982 under the above name. This is an amazing
two-player abstract game that still plays well even today. The game has a unique
movement system for pieces that is directly impacted by capturing your opponent's pieces. In addition, more advanced captures will
remove your opponent's piece from the game and/or give you pieces of your own that you can later use to paratroop back onto the game board. The game
play is very dynamic and exciting as players vie back and forth for control of the game. One of Sid's best
designs. - NS
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