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Girl Genius: The Works
Objective: (What you must do to win)
Be the first to have 100 points in your score pile. Points are acquired by collecting cards from those in play (and other methods). It's a first across the line scenario.
There is also a secondary victory condition possible by collecting dirigible and/or submarine cards into your score pile and then triggering an ending with one of these cards in play.
Complexity: (How many rules to get your head around)
Very easy game. The rules take up very little print space. I do, however, recommend you give the terminology section a once over as the wording on the cards are very semantic.
Aesthetics: (How shiny I think it is)
Okay, I admit, I'm a Girl Genius fan, and immensely biased. This is in fact the reason I got the game. So I'll leave it at that.
Strategy: (How deep the strategy in the game seems to be)
You know, for a game that seems to be a bunch of cards on the table and their collection the game can get really deep with the right players.
I find this game gets played in one of two ways: the quick and chaotic, or the slow and strategic.
In the first case, players seem to pop (trigger cards in a way that lets you collect them) cards in a way that is relevant only to the immediate board configuration.
In the latter, players take the above into consideration and attempt to think several chains ahead of time and start a campaign of zugzwang (chess terminology: forcing them to have no move that wouldn't worsen their position) playing against them.
Also, I mentioned the dirigibles/submarines strategy. Be really careful with this. I've never seen it done and every time I attempt it, my opponent always gets to 100 points before I realise.
Highlights: (What impressed me about the game the most)
For me, getting hints and previews about what some of the characters in the graphic novel are all about.
Sticking Points: (What I think could be improved about the game)
The sticking point is getting players to translate from the fun and whacky hijinx style of play into the nasty and strategic. It seems whimsical on the surface but once you start thinking about the permutations available it can be a severe brain pain.
Duet: (is it good for two players?)
This game works very well as a two player game. There seems to be no significant difference between two and multiplayer.
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Gary Pressler
United States
West Lafayette
Indiana
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Quote: Duet: (is it good for two players?)
This game works very well as a two player game. There seems to be no significant difference between two and multiplayer.
Good review, but I'll take exception here. With two players, you often set up your opponent to not only worsen their own score, but to add to your own. With 3P, the benefit of a clever set-up usually goes to your other opponent (on your right). The game is best at 2P or 4P in partnerships. With partnerships, we have our own score piles for the purposes of losing or swapping cards, but the scores are totaled between them and subs and dirigibles count together.
Edit: typos
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Thanks for that, I guess that makes sense.
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Peaceful Gamin'
Canada
Vancouver
BC
Looking for a playtester/editor/translator for your cool new game? Contact us, we're free (but we ask to be mentioned in the acknowledgements, and a copy of the game would be a nice gesture, but not necessary).
Looking for a playtester/editor/translator for your cool new game? Contact us, we're free (but we ask to be mentioned in the acknowledgements, and a copy of the game would be a nice gesture, but not necessary).
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Awesome review. Might consider getting a copy now...
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