Omega Virus
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Omega Virus is a talking electronic board game released by Milton Bradley in 1992. It involves collecting weapons and room keys to destroy the computer virus which has taken over a space station.
[edit] Gameplay
The setup consisted of a central board which would fold down the center, in the traditional manner of board games; a talking electronic console with which players could interact and upon which the game's weapons, probes and access cards were stored; four folding cardboard panels, which could store the "access cards" and bases which would attach to the central board on each side; and four commandos.
The probes and commandos were the primary pawns of the game. They came in four colors: red, green, blue, and yellow. Each player would start out in the matching "sector" color of the main board, each of which has a corresponding "docking bay". Red starts at the red sector, green at the green sector and so on. The probes were placed in a peg in the central console that would correspond to each sector.
Play began by selecting the number of players and the duration of the game by using the buttons on the main, central console. Each player would have the chance to enter a secret code which would prove useful in accomplishing the game's objective. More on this code later.
The commando pawn was the only pawn available initially. Play would rotate between players in a cyclical manner. The commando could move three adjacent squares to enter a "room". The room was entered by typing its three digit number into the electronic central console. Initially, the player only could visit green rooms (regardless of the starting sector).
Game actions were communicated through two voices, one of the besieged Battlestat computer and the other of the Virus itself. The computer said phrases like 'Help me. We are running out of time.' while the Virus mocked the computer and the players. One would inevitably hear 'You human scum' or 'You fools' in a gratingly smug voice at some point during the game. The Virus also enjoyed inter-player attacks: 'Green is attacking yellow. How amusing! Green, take your best shot.'
Within a room, a variety of results could occur. One is that the electronic console would say "Nothing here." in which case the turn is relatively futile. The player might also find a beneficial item: these consisted of colored access cards, which enabled the player to enter different colored rooms; a probe (more later); and one of the three weapons needed to defeat the game's antagonist, The Omega Virus. On the negative side, one might be attacked by the Omega Virus itself. At the end of the turn, the console would say "code XX" where XX is a two digit number. If the code matched what the player put in as their secret code at the beginning, the Omega Virus is known to be located in that room. Also on the negative side, a player could be transported to a random docking bay.
In the event of an attack by the Omega Virus, the player would be given the option to, depending on the number of weapons the player possessed, press one to three buttons out of a possible four in total (0,1,2,R). If the player did not press the same buttons that the Omega Virus has attacked with, an item (access card or weapon) would be destroyed. Additionally, if two players ended up occupying the same room, they could attack each other. The procedure is much the same, except the attacking player would be asked to push one to three buttons to launch an attack. The defense is the same method as if the Omega Virus were attacking.
A player could stumble across their corresponding probe in one of the rooms. The probe pawn was placed next to the player and then a second turn was granted in the form of the moving the probe. The probe could move any number of spaces that are connected, but could not bypass rooms within a single turn. This enabled a player to explore the board more rapidly. It, like the player's commando pawn, could also initiate and receive attacks.
As the game progressed, the Omega Virus would "shut down" sectors he did not occupy. In this case, the cardboard flap would be folded over the said sector and all players in it were teleported to another sector's docking bay of their choosing.
Through the player's explorations, once the code and all three weapon items were found, the player was to go to the Omega Virus room and then attack the virus using the same attack methods as before. A player who guessed the correct button to press was declared the winner. Otherwise, the timer ran out and the game was lost for all parties.
