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This week's game of the week is FRAG From Steve Jackson Games. FRAG is an attempt to bring the fun of first person shooters on the PC, to the table top and it does so with amazing accuracy. FRAG is in production over at Steve Jackson Games and I was fortunate enough to be invited to play. FRAG is a term from first person shooters that means kill, hence the byline of FRAG, "If it moves, shoot it!" FRAG will be available sometime this year from Steve Jackson Games and will retail for a suggested price of $34.95. Let's take a look at how FRAG works and just how well it manages to capture the feel of the first person shooter, because it does.
 Each character in FRAG has three stats: HEALTH, SPEED and ACCURACY. At the beginning of the game you allot 7 points amongst these stats, which will be how many dice you have to roll when using these stats. Health is how many hits you can take, speed is how many dice you roll to move and accuracy is how many dice you roll to see if you hit a target at long range. Creation takes about 5 seconds with these three quick decisions. You get 1 map to begin with in the box with other maps to be purchased later. The game can use just about any miniature as long as it fits on one of the grid squares.
After character creation determine who will go first and now you're ready to FRAG! There are several "spawning" areas on each board. Roll 1 or 2d6 (d6 are all you ever roll and boy can you roll a lot!) and look for that number on the board, this is where you spawn when the game starts; where you "re" spawn after you get FRAGGED is determined by another die roll. A round of battle would look something like this (FRAG is still in beta testing and is subject to change).
FRAG, just like first person shooters, has tons of power ups, special powers and weapons galore. There are three kinds of cards you can get, Weapons-things to shoot people with, Gadgets-things to help you shoot people and  Specials-miraculous powers like disconnecting the user from his net connection. Each type of card is designated by a different color and each has a designated spot or two. You get one of these cards by running over the designated spots on the board. You can run over as many as you want in a turn and can run over the same space multiple times. You do not get the cards automatically though; you have to roll a 4, 5, or 6 on a six-sided die to get the cards.
At the beginning of the game you determine who goes first. Play then moves in a clockwork motion around the table or whatever you are playing on.
MOVE. Check your move trait and roll that many dice to see how many spaces you can move. Remember to add any cards you have into that total.
Move More/ Get a Power up Card/ Attack. - The cool thing here is that you can move, attack, move, run over a power card, attack, and move some more! There really isn't a set order to do anything. This is what sets this game above the rest!
Tell the next player it's his turn to try and shoot you, and also that you know he won't be able to.
 FRAG is a lot of fun and I'd like to thank Steve Jackson Games for letting me see it even before it was released as a playtest. FRAG captures the intensity and feel of the multiplayer "death match" of the first person shooter through it's crazed special cards. With cards like "No Carrier" and "Lag" really give you the annoying feel of playing on a 56k while everyone else buzzes around on their fancy dancy Cable connections.
FRAG is a game to look for in the future. With weapons like "portable nuke" and the "chainsaw," FRAG is a game you can have real fun playing. Gadget Cards like "medpaks," "Exoskeleton," and portable teleporter FRAG is quickly becoming the favored board game of my tabletop. I'd recommend this game to anyone who enjoys first person shooters, board games and shooting people.
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