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Brian Cherry
Canada
North Bay
Ontario
Obligitory Smart-Ass Comment Here
Shhhhhhhh!
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I was lucky enough to coerce my wife into trying (read: puzzling) out Luna this weekend. I asked her if she felt like trying to learn a new game, and explained to her that it would be a tough one. In the past, I have expressed I found Luna to be tough to figure. The "Why" is unclear. I know the goal is to collect influence, and you can do it about 14 different ways, but I couldn't tell WHY you would pick one over the other.
So, I layed out the game, and she looked rather interested. Good start. Then I showed her the player reference (which, I might add, helps only if you already know HOW to play the game), and she said "um hm". Then I began explaining, in the order of the reference, each of the options you could do.
I told her you could deactivate two novices to do this, this or this. If you have a shrine you only need one. You can move them by deactivaing them and moving them to another island. Or you can move them, without deactivating them using the boat. Or you can use the wave to move them, but then it deactivates them.
She listened very patiently, and said nothing, but "wow". This wasn't a good "wow", as in "wow, am I ever excited to try this". This was "wow"... "that's a lot to digest.
If you watch "Big Bang Theory" and listened to Sheldon's rules for 3-person chess, inluding his new pieces... It was like that.
God love her, she was still willing to play. You see, when I openly tell her that this might be a tough learn, we make coffee and know we are learning a tough game, rather than playing for "fun"... and she's okay with it, as long as she's up for it.
The first round we spent lots of novices swimming, without knowing "why", and the rounds ended a LOT faster than we thought (Generally, you've only got about 3-4 actions, in the first round, before youve used all of your novies ). It went fast. But WHY would you want to put novices in the Temple?? It took some time to see how much of a difference it makes... a big one.
As a side note: moving the Moon Priestess 5 spaces (as per 2-player rules), and the Apostate clockwise to the next occupied island set this game up so every second round, Luna and The 'State would be on the same island...which sux.
By the end, turns flowed quickly, and we ended the game feeling like we knew better HOW to play, if not quite sure WHY we were doing the things we were doing. Also, on my last turn, I had 2 sets of novices on islands where I had the favour, so I decided to use them for council seats (which had been completely neglected for the game). In the end, we tied, and since the council positions break ties I won.
We high fived because we thought there was no way we could tie... and then for me to win with an afterthought was hilarious.
So, any game that ends in a high-five can't be that bad. But, the next day she said, "hey, lets play a game... but not Luna again, okay".
And it was okay, because I didnt really feel like it either. It's a good design, no doubt. Non gamers wont get it. And there's better complex games out there. So, I think, like Vikings... its a good game that I will often THINK about playing, and then pick something else instead. And God help me if I dont play it for awhile and have to try and remember how to play...
Thanks for reading. Till next time I should be known instead as The "Why's" Guy
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, I recommend to play it again a second time before you forget all the actions. You will see it's much easier than in the first game. 
