V.I.P.E.R. (1988)

About this game

V.I.P.E.R. or The Official Handbook of the Venerable Institute of Practitioners of Extraplanetary Racing (which is quite a mouthful by any standard). The game is a basic space racing game with a free form construction and movement system, similar in concept to things like Full Thrust and Car Wars where there is a large amount of work to be undertaken before the game is actually playable. The game comes with a die and counters for ships and marker buoys but could easily be played with spaceship miniatures. As with Car Wars, the game has both a race component and a "blow the opponent out of the sky" component.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 12.
• Rules load. At 2.5/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.