Review - SORRY SLIDERS

SORRY SLIDERS

All right it might have been a dead giveaway when you realize this game is related to the kid's game Sorry, but Sorry Sliders is lacking when it comes to holding the attention of an adult gamer.
Released in 2008 by Parker Brothers, Sorry Sliders has created some buzz in the gaming community, in part because it seems to have been short-printed in the United States, and that always makes a game more wanted.
Actually, if anyone went looking for this one and didn't find it, they shouldn't be too disappointed, unless of course it was bought with younger kids in mind.
The premise of Sorry Sliders is pretty neat, although the neatness fades rather quickly. The game has players sliding pieces, nice plastic molded pieces that have a weighted sphere in the base that allows them to slide at a target area. Of course you can knock opponents pieces around, which is the tie to the old Sorry mechanic of sending an opponent's piece back if it was landed on.
This game owes much to games such as shuffleboard and crokinole, although pales compared to either. Then again Sorry Sliders is about 30 bucks and crokinole 150 and shuffleboards even more, so you are getting something of a bargain here.
Sorry Sliders professes to offer four games in one, and it does include four centre 'target' areas, but ultimately the games are really just variations on the basic theme, which is scoring points depending on where your piece lies at the end of the round. The closer to the centre the greater the score achieved, which reminds a bit of curling.
For each piece scoring you get to move a scoring piece along a track. Be the first to bare off the four scoring pegs, by exact count, and you win.
The game can be played by two, three, or four players. Having tried all three options, the game plays fine by whichever number of players are involved, although with four the field gets more chaotic since there can be up to 16 pieces in play at the end of a round.
The rules can be grasped in a matter of seconds, especially so if you have curled, played crokinole or shuffleboard.
There is a level of skill required with this game, but it's so simplistic in nature that it's hard to envision anyone taking the time to actually hone those skills to any great level.
In fact, the game is so simple it's the kind you might drag out on occasion to play with non-gamers, but serious board game fans will likely quickly opt for other games to play.
Now the evaluation will likely change if you have younger children. This game would likely catch the younger mind more, and it is easily accessible for anyone, so kids could be competitive with mom and dad, unlike a lot of games that parents usually have an advantage at unless they rely totally on luck which is used to even the playing field for younger players. This one is pure skill, but skills younger players can master.
For families, Sorry Sliders might be a good fit. For adults, a few plays will last months, and then this one will be a real dust collector.
-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Jan. 21, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada