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Ever since Magic: The Forest Killer! Came out, card-based games have received a bad rap. This however, doesn't stop me from checking out card games that aren't collectable. For me, there's just something really coolabout being able to pull a random deck out of your pocket and play a game with some friends. Mission I.S.S. has found a permanent spot in my magic book bag.

Iron Bear Studios is responsible for the game. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this in a bad way. Mission is the kind of game you and up to 3 other friends can play almost anywhere and have a good time doing it. The game doesn't require any counters or scraps of paper. All you need is the deck of cards and a willingness to ruthlessly crush your friends.

The game is based around the construction of the International Space Station. Each player takes the role of one of four nations contributing to the construction: U.S., Japan, Russia or the EU. Each player has five modules they are trying to get built and launched. While building, the other nations can drive up the cost of your modules, bring one of your completed modules back down, or even destroy the booster being used to launch the module.

There are only 6 types of cards in the deck. Money, fuel, module failure, booster failure, launch delay and political influence are it. All of the cards are pretty self-explanatory, and the only reason I've had to refer quickly to the rules is to make sure I can play a particular card at a certain time.

A station hub card is placed in the middle of the playing area at the start of the game. All of the space modules are built off of this central hub. Some of the modules only have one "hook-up" so watch out that you don't build your station into a metaphorical corner. During each player's turn they draw a card, plays a card on the module currently being readied for launch, or plays the card on an opponent's module to either delay or facilitate it.

When all of the money and fuel requirements have been met for a particular station module, the module is launched. The player is still expected to draw and play (or discard) a card, but for this turn the player will not have a module of their own in front of them.

A friend and I played a few games in a hotel bar after the convention and had a lot of fun. The game play is fast paced, and while you can spend time thinking about how to best play your cards, you don't need to. It was wonderful to be able to play a game and still carry on a normal conversation. Well, as normal as you can be while discussing if it was a Pina Colada that Gary Gygax had just finished drinking, or something else entirely. . .

The game is a lot of fun to play and doesn't take a lot of time to learn. I wish more than four people could sit down to play the game at once, but there really isn't anything wrong with a four-player game. At $15.95, I fully expect to be playing this game for years to come, especially whenever I visit my nieces. Now I have a game that all four of us can sit down to without "Uncle Wooz" having to suffer through yet another session of Hi-Ho Cherry-O or Monopoly Jr. (Now if my brother would get off his butt and buy that copy of Hungry, Hungry Hippos that I've, I mean his daughters, have always wanted. . . )