Reveiw The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction

Hello there,

Another day, another review. Thank you sir for dropping by on my blog to get the opinion of a man who has yet to define where he fits in the universe. Or we all do not fit it in... Anyway, let talk about another game from Kickstarter. The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction

Game Title: The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction
Designer: James Mathe
Publisher: Minion Games (2016)
Player Count: 1-5 players
Time: 20-30 minutes
BGG Rating: 1,752 as of Dec 2016

Firstly, I have yet to played the first game in The Manhattan Project due to the fact I feel intimidated by it. Thus, I am unable to view nor compare the similarities of the two. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Before jumping to gun, here's a brief low down on how the game is played. The game ends when a player collects 10 points of Bombs. Then, everyone gets one more turn and points are counted. Whoever has the highest wins.

So, how do you play The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction. Everyone starts with 5 cards and on each card there are personnel available on the left, Output of the card on the bottom and the cost to activate the card. With the 5 cards in hand you will be trying to activate your workers (Labourers,Scientist and Engineer) to make Yellowcake which is then needed to create Uranium which is then needed to get the Bomb Plans to win the game. It is a card combo game which is ludicrously fun.

If you have not noticed already, I enjoy playing this game a lot. It is quite genius that a single card will have duel function which makes it a challenge when on deciding whether to use them for the personnel available or to get the output. How badly do I want to get the Yellowcake? If I use personnel for this card I might have just enough to get the Uranium from this card? Where are the freaking scientist cards? These are some of the questions you will be asking yourself. Player interaction is just enough to not make it a confrontation game which I am not a fan of. There are a number of cards that causes other players to discard card and when your on the receiving end, it hurts the combo you were planning I have with me that comes with tokens that are beautiful to have to represent the Yellowcake and Uranium. I have yet to play it solo as I am writing this, but will definitely give it a try.

Now, cons. There are not any that I can think of. It is a solid 30 minutes game which provide just the right amount fun and thinking at the same time. If I had to nip pick, it would the box. The standard comes in like a deck box which will definitely not let you sleeve up. My deluxe version fits my sleeve cards only after removing the inserts. I am not from the game publishing industry, but I would really appreciate if designers put some though in to their inserts. There are people like me who love for their game to last till the end of time via sleeving. Thats just a small matter.

Conclusion
This is a game that will probably be on my shelf for quite some time. It'll be the game I'll bring out when waiting for people to show on Game Night or when I'm just hanging out with friends. Definitely, a must have for those who enjoy small games in a box.

9/10

Review Friday

Hello there,

Welcome to my second review for my beloved readers whom I believe at the moment has risen by one. Thank you so much for visiting this page. Now Lets talk about Friday ( No. No. Not that debacle of a song that gets stuck in your head. *shrugs*).

Game Title: Friday
Designer: Friedemann Friese
Publisher: Rio Grande Games (2011) - Actually according to BGG theres a few publishers. Who knew?
Player Count: 1 player
Time: 25 minutes
BGG Rating: 267

In Friday, you are Friday (who knew right) who is trying to help Robinson Crusoe who decided to crash your awesome island which is filled with wild animals, cannibals and the ever need to discover the island Yes those are the situations that the game will pit you against. Who knew exploring somewhere new could be so dangerous. Right? At the end of the game, if you are able to help Robinson Crusoe to defeat the 2 pirates who decided to way anchor and hide their treasure here, you win the game.

The set up of the game is quite simple. Put aside the phase cards, shuffle the pirate cards and draw 2 cards, set up the three storage boards with the necessary cards (Robinson cards,Hazard cards and Aging cards) and take 20 life counters. In the box they have included a supplementary sheet that is very useful. It shows exactly how to set up and what to put aside. I applaud it.

Moving on with the game play. There are basically summed up to the following steps:

1. Draw two cards from the Hazard deck. Choose one, discard the other.
2. Fight against the hazard. Draw up to the number of cards allowed on the Hazard card. Try to beat the number base on the current phase. If any of the cards you drew have special abilities activate them.
3. Resolve the fight. If the card power that is drawn is equal or higher you have won and put the card in your discard pile. If you lose (be it on purpose or just a really bad draw), you lose as much life tokens as stated in the Hazard card.
4. If there are more then 1 card in the Hazard pile, you start back at 1. If not, the next phase (The phases are green, yellow and red) begins with you taking 2 cards from top of the Aging Deck and shuffle them in the Hazard deck. Then start from 1.
5. After the last 2 cards in the last phase, the final showdown with pirates begin. From the two that was used in set up, you choose to duel one at a time. Fighting them is exactly the same as facing the Hazard cards. You MUST defeat the maybe drunken pirates, if not its Dave Jones locker for you and Robinson.

Firstly, full disclosure, I have not read the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Thus, I can not say how close this games resembles the events in the books. After a few times of playing this game, it is clear to me that it isn't as easy as I thought it would. I have played a number of deck building games whereby you get to buy cards from a market. Limiting the options of card to get by two for each round and having to get the card by trying to card count your deck presents a challenge in to itself. This game wants you to manage pushing your luck. You'll be thinking since -1 card has come out, I might not get another one for a while, should  be going after this card or do I want to play safe with a card I can beat. Mind you, the first few games did not take 30 minutes. The replay-ability of this game is quite high, you have 10 pirate cards, and 11 ageing cards that ensure that you have a varied gaming experience every time the game hits the table. The components are what it needs to be there is nothing fancy about that.

I do have a couple of issues with the game. I am not a fan of the artwork. I know. I know. Some of you are going to hate me on this but isn't it subjective. I'm a fan of artwork that are a lot more crisp or clean (not entirely sure that is the right description). I do understand that its suppose to represents a lighter tone, and I do know some people would love it. To each their own. Another thing that bugged me was the game length. I know it said on the box 25 minutes, but for a solo game like this, I feel like it should have been made a lot simpler. Don't get me wrong, most of the time is spent on small decision making. I would have liked it a lot more if was a lot shorter in game length. I also didn't like that i had three storage boards, I mean it just felt like it was everywhere. I understand that the main reason is to ensure that the game would still fit in the box, but I believe it would be a whole lot easier to set up if the board was one piece.

Conclusion

I believe that if you love card games, deck building and want one game you can play by yourself that is not solitaire on your computer (kids will never know how cool it was to complete that), then this is one game for you. If you have friends who always come to your board game meetings, then just borrow from the friend who I mentioned earlier.

8/10

Review Control: A Strategic Card Game

Hello there,

Now I shall proceed forthwith the first of many entries. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Control: A Strategic Card Game.

Control: A Strategic Card Game

Game Title     : Control
Designer        : Mattox Shuler
Publisher       : Keymaster Games
Player Count : 2-4 players
Time               : 5-15 minutes
BGG Rating   : 3,479 as of Dec 2016


There are numerous games that have been release in the past year and I believe I have spent a considerable sum of money this year in procuring them (backed about 14 Kickstarter projects this year 😭). The reason I chose this game is due to the fact that it is the first game I backed on Kickstarter and thus it will forever have a special place on my shelf. So lets begin shall we.


I believe we should start in explaining what is Control? You play as one of many time travellers caught in a riff between time and space. You must quickly install fuel cells in to your TARDIS, I mean time machine. Strangely enough, your TARDIS , GOD DAMMIT I MEAN TIME MACHINE will only work if you have 21 fuel cells in it. Only then can you leave your other Time Lords behind and trapped in limbo. During each players turn, they can only choose one action which is either draw a card, install a fuel cell, burn a fuel cell or block an opponent from reaching 21 by defusing one of their installed fuel cells. If you would like to know more on how to play, I've included their tutorial on the game below. Enjoy.

Now lets talk about what I think about this game. It is a ridiculously simple game to play and teach. It takes about 5 mins to get everybody know the game. One round of play for everyone to catch on and from there you'll probably spend an hour or so of it. The cards are numbered from 1-10 and your decision process will be either to play a card or stop someone from reaching 21. You can either quietly try to sneak in an 11 during your turn and hope that no one is having an eye on you so that you blow them all away with that Nova (the card numbered 10) you had hidden all along. Bluffing your mates trying to force the current player to mess up another players plan so you can steal victory by putting your Exotic Matter ( Number 2 card that causes a chain reaction) to steal all the glory. 

I adore all the components in the box even though there are not a lot in it. The metal coins feel nice and heavy. The insert works well and allows you to either sleeve it or let it be. The linen finish on the card is beautiful to watch and lovely to hold. The box with spot UV and varnish is a sight to behold. The short comic in the rulebook adds to the flavor of the game. The explanation in the rulebook. All these components are well though. It feels like a pricey game. 

Now, having said all that this game has a flaw. Not a major one. Its that after a few rounds I came to a problem with my game group, we ended up coming to the same game strategy of finishing the deck before we all duel to the death. It kinda became apparent that this was how we would be playing the game. We might have just dealt all the cards to each other. I'm not sure if other players have encountered this. I would also like to point out that, my group and I found that drafting the game was another way to play, everyone would get a kinda balance hand, thus making it interesting to see their hands are played.

Conclusion

I would recommend this game to anyone who likes quick easy game from waiting that one friend who is always late or in between meal courses. Its one of the games that should sit well with Love Letter. My advice don't overplay it till it becomes stale.

7/10