Review: Xenoshyft: Dreadmire

Xenoshyft: Dreadmire

Players:  1 - 4

Publisher: Cool Mini Or Not

Year: 2017

Some games are about deception, subtleness and stealth. Some games are not. This game clearly falls into the latter category, with all it’s blood, guts and glory. Xenoshyft: Dreadmire puts you (and other players) in the position of a CEO in a mining colony and above all else you need to make sure the operation is completed, so you can harvest the profits.

The box

Xenoshyft: Dreadmire is the second game in the Xeonshyft series. It’s a cooperative defense game, where you and other players work together to defend your base against an ongoing horde of monsters. These can vary from nasty vermin to giant insects. Over the course of nine rounds, divided into three waves, the players have to defend the base. If the base takes too much damage, the operation is abandoned and the players lost. To defend the base, players get Xenosathem, the fuel that is mined and which is also used to pay for new, and better troops. Every third round, the difficulty advances, as tougher enemies appear and stronger troops can be bought. As soon as the third wave is over, if the base is still standing, the players have won the game!

The goal of this game is to create a suitable deck, by getting rid of your old cards and buying new ones. This is done by distributing Xenosathem every turn, as well as any other you might have. These go towards the troops or the equipment that you have available every turn. While certain troops might be useful for a few rounds, as soon as the wave goes up, they are outclassed and easily decimated. As soon as they have been bought, the troops are placed in your personal lane. Next the monsters are placed and the resolution start. As you don’t know what monsters appear, it could be that the troops which you needed are in the wrong position or that the troops that you wished to protect, are suddenly attacked. If the monsters kill all your troops, any remaining damage is dealt to the base. If your troops get rid of all the monsters, good job and prepare for the next round.

Influencing this all is the weather ability, unique in the Xenoshyft: Dreadmire. This can help your troops, but also the enemy. It might just be the buff you need to pull of the defense or it could be that the timid horror changes into a rampaging nightmare.

The monsters in Xenoshyft: Dreadmire

The troops in Xenoshyft: Dreadmire

What’s great about this game is that it’s a co-op deck builder. It’s not just that different people sit in their respective corners and the only time they meet is when damage is dealt to the base, people need to work together to survive. Different players might have different bonuses or discounts, which are vital to survive. This can be achieved by having players play in other people’s lanes, rather than just their own, although it impacts down-time as well. Other than that, the artwork is amazing as well!

While there is a ton of replay-ability in this game, it sometimes feels a bit similar. It’s like the same, but different. The cards are minor variations of each other, but not totally different. Perhaps it could be just my personal preference, but we had a certain feeling of similarity between various games.

Most outstanding feature

The artwork is amazing! The art is gorgeous and every card is amazing to look at. They really blend in with the theme as well. There’s a distinctive Horror/Science-Fiction vibe. At times it feels like the world of Predator. It’s the artwork that carries the game and every enemy looks frightening/amazing.

Some more artwork!

Overall, the game is solid and it’s a great co-op deckbuilder. Every wave the game gets more difficult and new troops need to rise to the challenge. The question is, can you scale with it?

Review: The Resistance

The Resistance
Players: 5 – 10

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year:  2009

Before we start, I must confess something. This is my favorite party game. Having said that, in this review I’ll explain why. Of course opinions can differ and reviews are subjective.

In this game, people take on various roles, playing either as a member of the Resistance, colored blue, or the Spies, colored red. The Resistance is working together to overthrow the evil government, however, the government has infiltrated their ranks with Spies and both sides are trying to sabotage the other one side. Over the course of the game, five missions need to be carried out. As soon as one side has achieved three victories, they win. These victories don’t even need to be in a row, but can be throughout the game. The groups that carry out these missions, as well as the requirements for a success or a fail, depend on the amount of players.

A leader is chosen and that person assigns people to send out on the mission. Depending on previous missions they can estimate what combination of people will bring about their preferred outcome. A Spy might try to include the other Spy or him-/herself in order to sabotage the mission, while the Resistance members will try to pick other Resistance members. There can be a vote about the chosen combination of people and this can create lively discussion as people will need to argue over who they chose and for what reason. If the team is rejected, because too many people voted against it, a new leader creates a new team. If the team is accepted, two cards marked ‘success’ (in blue) or ‘fail’ (in red) are given to each person in the team. They secretly decide which card they want to play, which influences the outcome of the mission. Afterwards the cards that they wish to play are taken together and revealed. As stated before, if there are enough ‘successes’, the Resistance has completed the mission. If there are too many ‘fails’ (usually one or two are enough) the Spies win the mission. 

 

Double-sided gameboards that give all the information you need.

In this game, the Resistance don’t know who to trust, because they are unaware of the affiliation of the other players. For the Spies it’s easier, as they might know who are on which team. Every mission is assigned a group to carry out the assignment. The number required is determined by how many players there are. The mission is successful if enough successes are played. Usually a single fail is enough to fail the mission, although there are exceptions. In order to sabotage the mission, the spies need to be on the team, however, they can’t be too obvious about it, because then they risk exposure.

Tokens that are handed out to people that are selected for the mission.

The biggest reason I like this game is that there’s no player elimination. So everyone that starts the game, continues until the end. This is unlike Mafia or Werewolf, where people are killed and thus out of the game. They will need to wait until the game is finished, before they can do something again. However, in the Resistance plays until the game is over, even when people are exposed as being a Resistance member or a Spy. Everyone can still discuss or try to influence the outcome. There’s no downtime as everyone is always capable of contributing the game. This makes it much better than Mafia or Werewolf, where people have to wait out the game, before they can participate again. Another aspect, that contributes to why I like this game, is that it’s capable of handling large amounts of players. The game can be played with five to ten people, so everyone can join. 

As a few minor drawbacks, I would say that the expansions are great, but they are rarely used. People first need to understand the basegame, before they can proceed to the more complicated modules or set-ups. Also the science-fiction theme might not appeal to everyone, but it’s a matter of personal taste. There’s Arthurian-themed one also available for those that prefer it.

Overall, the best parts of the game are the lack of player elimination and the fact it handles large numbers of players well.

Review: 1500: The New World

1500: The New World

Players: 2 – 6

Publisher: Dan Verssen Games

Year: 2017

A copy of this game was supplied by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

1500: The New World is published by DVG and features the settling of America by European colonists during a timespan of almost 200 years. The goal of this game is not to establish the most colonies or to acquire the most profitable trade-route, but to acquire as many points as possible as fast as possible. Players compete for the limited resources and there are historical expansions that allow players to play as different nations (or allow an AI to play as such a nation). The game ends after 6 rounds and the person with the most victory points is declared the winner.

The game is easy to learn and quick to play. Set-up is easy, as players need to pick an appropriate color and determine the first player. While this may seem like a benefit, it might be better to hang back and go later in the round. The first player may sometimes draw less cards than other players and it can take longer to advance on the royal support track. The appropriate number of cards are drawn. The goal is to gather as much points as possible. Victory points are awarded for the following:

+1 point for struggling a colony from another player.

+1 point for every successful colony at the end of your turn.

+2 points for each regional or export monopoly.

-1 point for every struggling colony at the beginning of your turn.

Scoring is done at several moments, as some points are calculated at the beginning of your turn, while others are calculated at the end of your turn. It helps to have monopolies or lots of colonies. Having a monopoly can be done in two ways: on a certain type of export, which can be lumber, gold, fruit, jewels or spice; or by controlling an entire region. The first works by looking at the appropriate symbols on the maps, the latter works by controlling a colored region. Successful colonies grant 1 victory point at the end of your turn, while struggling colonies cost you 1 point at the beginning of your turn. The map is small, which means a lot of time people are interacting with each other.

The map with bottom-left the Royal Support track and upper-right the score track and the turn counter.

At the start of your turn you lose points for struggling colonies. Then you can use your cards. During your turn, you can use your cards in a few ways. For their intended effect, where you use it for the effect that is stated on the card itself. However, you can also use it to build or reduce a colony. Colonies are placed on the map and exist in several states. These can be successful, or struggling and cards are used to change their states. A card is discarded to change a colony from struggling to successful or vice-versa. Other cards can be used to influence the Royal Support track, which determines how many cards a player draws and may have in their hand. A single card thus has several ways in which it can be used, but it can only be played for one of the previously mentioned effects. Once you are finished with playing your cards, the next person starts their turn and so on. After everyone’s had their turn, the game advances to the next round. After six rounds the game is over.

Reactions are good, as it gives players a choice to do during when it’s another person’s turn. This is also where a choice needs to be made. You can keep back several cards to anticipate the other person’s turn. However, if you keep many of them, you might need to discard cards later on to the appropriate hand size. Reaction cards are noted as such and do indeed provide something extra to the game.

A sample of cards. The cards on the right are reaction cards.

Another good thing is that the game plays fast. One of our players compared it to ‘Settlers of Catan, but on steroids’. Colonies are built fast and lost rapidly. While it might be a shame it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. After all, struggling colonies detract from your score, while lost colonies don’t count towards your total.  Regarding the actions of other people, you have to make a decision about this involving the cards in your hands. They can be used in your opponent’s turn under certain circumstances, but if the situation doesn’t present itself, the player is left at a disadvantage.

The amount of cards also contributes to another point. Hand size is essential to success, because the more cards you draw, the more things you can do during your turn. While this is good, it can also result in situations where a specific player gets picked on. If several people work together to keep a player small, it’s really hard to make a comeback, as you are limited in your options every turn. Someone on the top of the Royal Support track has 7 or 8 cards to spend per turn, while someone at the bottom has ‘just’ 4 cards per turn. The difference is that the top player has almost double the amount of actions than the unlucky player. The top players can then consistently use a few cards to limit the hand size of their opponents, while they can continue to grow. With a larger number of players, or an AI, this situation won’t take place, but in lower player numbers it could occur more often. Although the situation is not likely to present itself, I wanted to mention it.

The aim of the game is to acquire as much points as possible and it offers an area-control game where the players scramble for points. It’s a brutal conquest, which involves a lot of betrayal and destruction as the players fight over the Royal Support and/or the Victory Point track. While other DVG do a better job of blending theme and mechanics, the game is still good. Overall, the game is easy to learn and fun to play and provides good entertainment for a light evening.

Review: Coup: Rebellion G54 – Anarchy

As I have reviewed Coup: Rebellion G54, I’ll not be going over the rules. Instead I will look at what the expansion adds to the game and examine the cards in detail.

Contents:

18 influence cards (3 of each role)

7 role action cards (1 of each role, and 1 Social Media)

1 general action card (bank)

1 role token (bomb)

6 role dividers (1 of each role)

Two new general actions are available:

Social Media (General action): Take 1 card from the deck. Return 1 card to the deck. This cannot be challenged or blocked.

Bank, enables Loan (General action): Take 1 coin from the treasury. Add 1 coin to the bank. This cannot be blocked or challenged.

The roles and general actions in this set

The roles: 

Plantation owner (finance): Active player takes 1 from the treasury. Then any other player may claim Plantation owner. Once all claims have been made, challenges have been resolved, everyone gets the number of coins equal to the surviving claimants.

Financier (finance): The Income General Action card is swapped with the Bank card, enabling people to take the Loan general action. Active player may claim the financier to take all the coins from the bank card.

Anarchist (force): Active player does not have to claim anarchist to take this action. Active player pays 3 coins to the treasury and declares a target. The target gets the bomb token and can either Defuse or Pass the bomb to a new target. If they do not Pass or Defuse, the target loses a life. Counteraction: Target may claim anarchist to either Defuse (discard) or Pass the bomb to another player. The bomb may never return to any player that had the bomb, including the player that first took the bomb action.  

Paramilitary (force): The player declares a target and pays 3 coins if the target has 2 lifes remaining or 5 coins if the target has 1 life remaining. Target loses a life. Counteraction: Target may claim paramilitary to prevent the loss of a life.

Arms dealer (Special interest): Active player names a character role and then turns over two random cards from the deck. If any of those two cards is the named role, the player gets 4 coins from the treasury. Return the cards to the deck and shuffle.

Socialist (Special interest): All other players must give either 1 coin or 1 card. Active player keeps all the coins. The player then looks at the cards acquired, adds 1 card from his or her hand and chooses 1 card to keep. Then they add 1 card from the deck, shuffle and give 1 card to each player that gave a card. The leftover card is returned to the deck.

Thoughts and review:

 All cards are advanced, and add two new roles to force, finance and special interest. For finance and force it's nice to have more options, as they had less options in G54. Communication is missing, but replaced with Social Media. Now every turn, someone can swap a card with the deck and hopefully assume a new role. This has influence on the communications card that people might wish to use, as some of them lose their purpose. I can’t say much about them in play, as the mechanic of G54 is different with each set of cards.

Plantation owner: Another special mechanic. People are encouraged to claim plantation owner, as everyone benefits from it. However, the danger is that you might just help your opponents too much, because now they have more coins than you’d wish them to have.

Financier: To take all the coins in the bank is interesting, but the downside is that everyone is also eyeing it. There’s also no counteraction for this, except challenging the player directly. The biggest change is that it influences the general actions, so people might think twice about gaining income and instead steal coins from their opponents.

Anarchist: Anarchist is interesting, as you don’t need to have the anarchist yourself in order to claim the bomb. Also you can’t get the bomb back yourself, so there’s an incentive to light the fuse. However, because another player can defuse or pass on the bomb, you’re not guaranteed that someone will lose a life.

Paramilitary: Basically, it’s a guerilla, which always costs 4 coins, but with some cost variations. The first time people pay less, as they have more lives remaining. To finish them off costs more, so the incentive could be to equalize gameplay.

Arms dealer: The arms dealer can acquire a lot of money in a single turn, but only if you’re feeling lucky. You might just get what you want or be left empty handed. I like this card.

Socialist: My personal favorite in this expansion! You either mess with other people’s plans. If you’re targeted by this you can buy yourself out or might just end up with a new card. Again there’s a luck component, but due to the general reshuffling, you might just end up with the card you needed (or not).

Does this expansion take Coup G54 to a whole new level? Not really, as basically G54 remains G54. However, what it does add is another 6 roles, which are of various interest. Most of them are fine and fun additions. The Plantation Owner, Financier, Anarchist, and Paramilitary are all equal to me. Nice to have, but it’s no harm if you don’t have them. The two remaining roles are exciting, Socialist and Arms Dealer. The Socialist, which allows you to mess with other people’s cards and plans. They can have a plan with their roles, but you can mess these up. The Arms Dealer is also nice, but mostly because it’s amusing when you guess correctly. The remaining cards are nice, but more on the same level for me. Overall, I would certainly recommend this expansion. However, keep in mind that as it’s no radical overhaul of the game, but an addition to the existing game. G54 can also be played without it and plays perfectly fine. If you want more options, however, then certainly get this expansion!

Critical Component Comparison: Coup & Coup: Rebellion G54

A while ago we reviewed Coup on this blog and recently Coup: Rebellion G54. Of course a comparison is logical to make. The purpose of this post is to review the components of both games and share some thoughts on the mechanics. This review shall start with a overview of what’s in both boxes, before examining them in detail.

Coup (Coup)

Players: 2 – 6

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year: 2012

Coup: Rebellion G54 (G54)

Players: 3 – 6

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year: 2014

Both games are about deception and bluffing. Both games are published by Indie Boards & Cards. They’re set in the same universe and the goal is to eliminate other players. Coup was published first, while Coup: Rebellion G54 came out later. The following aspects will be compared: total components, player aids, cards, coins, box, extra's.

Total components

Total components

Coup comes with 15 characters cards, 6 summary cards, 50 coins, a rulebook.

G54 comes with 75 influence cards, 2 general actions cards, 25 role actions cards, 8 role tokens, 50 coins, rulebook, 25 role dividers, 2 dividers.

Judging by the components alone, G54 gives a lot more than Coup. Not only in terms of cards, but also other additions as well, such as the tokens and everything else. The nice aspect is that it’s not just the game, but also storage of the game that they thought about.

  

Player aids

The player aids

Coup comes with simpler version, which is double sided. One side features the available actions, while the other side shows the roles and their related actions, explained in two sentences. Illegal actions, or actions that can’t be taken are marked with a cross. Also symbols related to the roles are shown.

G54 comes with cards that explain the role, as well as general action cards. These cards are divided into several sections (force, communications, special interest, finance) and that makes swapping them easier.

Equal. Both serve their purpose. The benefit of Coup is that they are personal and are in front of you. It would be impossible to fit all the cards from G54 on a player help and it are separate cards. Because of the space, more text can be put on it, so more complex roles can be added to the game.

  

Cards

The cards

Coup comes with bigger and sturdier cards. On it the person and their action is shown. These stand up better to repeated playing, shuffling and transporting. Sleeves for these cards are less easily available.

G54 comes with smaller cards, features the artwork and a box with the text. The cards are numbered in the bottom, relating to their set and the game. They are also better sleevable, making them more durable and standing up to repeated play.  

G54: Cards are a smaller size and sleevable. While they would be equal and both have benefits, the size is the dealbreaker.

  

Coins

The coins

Coup comes with 50 coins. These are all valued 1. They look like a cross between poker chips and sim cards for your phone. They are good to wield, except that they are all the same value.

G54 comes with 50 coins. These are valued either 1 or 3. The look like small sim cards for your phone. The value 1 is silver, while the value 3 is gold. It ensures there’s enough money to go around for every player, while you don’t need to gather big piles in front of you.

G54: Because the coins have different values.

Extra’s: Dividers and tokens

Extra's

Coup doesn’t have this feature.

G54 comes with 2 big divider cards and 25 role divider cards. These can be inserted in the box to split the cards and to make it easier to take out the cards that you want. You can use them, but it’s optional. While they are okay to have, I haven’t used them so far and to me it doesn’t seem to add a lot to the game. G54 also has tokens, which can be used to make more complex roles.

No points awarded.

Box

The boxes

Coup comes with a smaller box, which contains everything. The game is much more manageable and transportable this way. This is a huge benefit compared to the other box.

G54 comes with a big box, which can hold everything. You can even fit the box of Coup in there. The size is also the detrimental here, because it’s not easy to carry around. While Coup can easily be added to your backpack or taken along, G54 fills the whole bag. However, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed by putting the game in a different container.

Coup: has a better box.

Even the Coup box can even fit in the G54 box!

Score: Coup – 2 (Box, player aids) G54 – 4 (Coins, cards, player aids, total components)

Final thoughts.

G54 comes out better in comparison. Coup is leaner and might have trimmed out some of the unnecessary fat, such as the divider cards, but it also lacks the extra possibilities of G54. Of course, this can be explained as Coup was published two years before G54 came out. Therefore it’s logical that G54 is like an improved version compared to the previous game. There’s several benefits to G54 that make it more suitable than the basic game, such as the different coin values. However, the main feature that really improves this game is that there’s so many cards that can be used and added. Where as Coup can only be played in a certain pattern with the same cards, in the same environment, G54 offers the possibility of changing everything. This way you can introduce new mechanics, new strategies and a whole lot of more replay value to the game than just basic Coup. It stays interesting, even after several playthroughs in a single session and elevates it from a light filler game to something that can be used to spend the evening. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this comparison and it might help you make a better decision if you’re still on the fence about which game you should buy.

Review: Coup: Rebellion G54

Coup: Rebellion G54

Players: 3 – 6

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year: 2014

Coup: Rebellion G54

Rebels and traitors are indeed some of the most famous aspects of science fiction stories. That stories borrow or steal from another is well-known. However, some stories may even appear so similar that it’s hard to tell them apart. While it could be said that coup and coup: Rebellion G54 are similar, after all the use the same mechanics and share the same universe, they are different enough to justify their own reviews. I won’t be pointing out similarities, as these will be reserved for another post.

In Coup: Rebellion G54 every player is dealt two cards face-down. These are referred to as influence. On each of these cards is a role, which would allow you to act out certain actions. For example, you could acquire more money or acquire protection. There’s also two general actions, which can be done regardless of which role you have: acquiring one coin income or paying seven coins and putting a coup on someone. On your turn, you play an action. This could be one of the general actions, one of the actions on your cards, or an action on a card that you claim to have. Whether you have the card face-down in front of you, or not, is irrelevant, as long as no one challenges your claim, you are allowed to carry out the action. The explanations of the roles can be placed in the middle of the table, so that everyone can read it. The game continues until there’s one player left. The box also contains coins, with a value of 1 or 3. In the box are also dividers, so you can easily find the appropriate cards.

Of course there’s danger to this, as people can challenge your claims. You could demand money from another player, but some cards can be countered by the same role, which they could claim to have. So you, or they, could potentially be lying. Here’s where the catch some is, because these claims can be challenged. In that case the player that is challenged, has to prove they have the card they claim to have. If the player indeed has the card they claimed to have, the challenging player loses one life. If the challenged player doesn’t have the card that they claim to have, the challenged player loses a life.

This game is easy to teach, easy to carry and easy to set up. Great for vacation or on the go. The game can also be played with large groups, which is a benefit as well. One of the reasons why this game is so easy to teach, is because the roles only interact with the other cards of the same role. So only a ‘guerilla’ can counter a ‘guerilla’ or only a ‘politician’ can counter a ‘politician’. This makes it easy to explain. A game is resolved fast, so if you’re eliminated, a new game will be starting soon. Usually we let the player that’s eliminated first look for a role to be swapped during the next game. The cards are also the regular size and can be sleeved. There are 25 roles, so the game can easily be adapted. You can tailor the game for your personal tastes. Some roles allow you to quickly acquire money or trade several cards, but these can be swapped for others that might push for a slower growth or less trading of cards.

A downside is that the box is so big. The box is huge, while the game is little more than a stack of cards. It might give some wrong expectations. Our game is also not kept in the original box. The many roles can also serve as a bit of a determent, as new people might need to adapt to the new roles (and new opportunities they bring). While I don’t perceive it as a negative, luck and bluffing plays a role in these games, so not all players might like it.

The same contents, but from a different angle

The box, the dividers and a card

Everything together, this game is fast, social and a lot of fun! It’s highly recommended! While we may not play it as often as we’d like, every time it hits the table it’s a lot of fun and a hit with every group. While the chances of your rebellion might be uncertain, you’re guaranteed to have a lot of fun.

Review: The Cards of Cthuhu

The Cards of Cthulhu

Players: 1 – 4

Publisher: Dan Verssen Games

Year: 2014

Imagine a world where dark forces are actively trying to bring about the destruction of humanity. They have unlimited resources at their disposal. To prevent their dark dreams from becoming reality, there’s only you, and perhaps a few allies or trinkets. You are all that stands in the way of eternal damnation. Those odds don’t look very good, do they? However, it captures the gist of The Cards of Ctulhu.

Set up and ready to play!

In this game you’re an investigator trying to stop an invasion by not one, but four elder gods as they try to take over the earth. Each of these gods, and their cultists, is competing with another to take over the world. Every turn you draw four cards, place them on the appropriate board and try to stop the cultists from awakening their gods. The goal of the game is to stop the gods from awakening before the deck runs out. The gods awaken if at the end of a turn a single god has five or more minions. The drawing of cards can be influenced by open gates on the board or other cards. Minions are needed to summon the god, but they can’t be attacked directly if there are awake Horrors on the board. 

A horror is about to wake up!

While the rules might seem simple, this game is really hard. The actions you have every turn are limited and there’s always several places where you need to be, while you can only be present in one location. It’s as if there’s a whole house on fire, but you and the fire extinguisher can only save one room at a time. Besides that, the cults will slowly whittle away your sanity as you try to stop them. Open gates allow monsters to pour into reality. Expect to lose a lot of games. You can have luck and acquire the perfect card at the precise moment you need it, or you can watch all the good equipment pass by at the wrong moment and be left with little more than your fists to stop nightmares-turned-flesh from wreaking havoc. Expecting an easy turn, but then drawing two gates can really put a damper on your plans.

Or three in this case...

What I like about this game, is that it’s co-op! It can be played solo, but I like games where people have to work together towards a common goal. This can be quite stressful, as you have no idea what turns up next and people might have different ideas about how to solve current crisis. However, it also has benefits as you have more tools and abilities at your disposal to stop the invasion. Other than that it’s easy to learn and quick to set-up. Besides that, the components are really nice. The metal experience coins are well made! The theme also suits the mechanics really well. It feels as if you’re trying to stop a tidal wave of monsters from overtaking our reality.

Of course this game is influenced by luck. You can have a walk in the park if the right cards come up at the right moment. On the other hand, you can easily lose, despite all your best intentions, because the cards weren’t stacked in your favor. Although the metal coins are nice, at some moments there might not appear to be enough, especially when you’re playing with more than just one player. Another minor drawback is that some of the flavor texts at the bottom of cards don’t really blend well together. Some try to be humoristic, while others appear to be gloomy or serious.

Overall, I would highly recommend this game. Luck plays a huge part in this game, as it determines what choices you have to make and where you need to be.  However, the experience is well worth it.