-
VIPER Review of Guillotine
My VIPER reviews assume the reader has a basic knowledge about the game. The main goal of this review is to outline 5 major game traits and assess each one along with giving an overall rating at the end.
Variety - Does the game keep itself fresh? Is it the same/different every time I play it?
Interaction - How will I be interacting with other players? Is this interaction too limited or too much?
Playability - How well does the game flow? Is anything broken? How difficult is it to learn the game?
Enjoyability - Is the game a fun experience? Does the game create a sufficient competitive environment?
Replayability - After I finish a game, do I want to play again? Is it still fun after a lot of plays?
Variety- None - Low - Moderate - High - Very High
The noble deck contains 50 cards and you will use 36 of them per game (usually). There will be an overlap of nobles used from game to game but they are really just a "pretty face (or head)" on cards used to collect points. The action deck has a good variety of actions that can be used on the noble line, other players, or otherwise for your own benefit. These are the cards that will gave the game a slightly different flavor each time it is played.
Interaction - None - Low - Moderate - High - Very High
All of the interaction in this game comes from the action cards. There's nothing too terribly exciting here. There are cards that will make opponents lose a noble or similarly negatively affect them in some way but not much else. I feel that the action deck provides a sufficient amount of interaction cards for the game not to feel like just a points race againt a few other people that happen to be playing the same game.
Playability - Terrible - Low - Moderate - High - Almost Perfect
The game is one of the most simple games to learn and teach while still being a very fun game to play. There really is no learning curve... it's play an action (if you want), draw the card at the front of the nobles line, and then draw an action card. Sometimes it's easy to forget to draw an action card at the end of your turn (I still do it, I don't know why!). The game flows well from player to player and there are no special transition rules from day-to-day except for just setting up a new line of nobles ready and waiting to be decapitated.
Enjoyability - Very Low - Low - Moderate - High - Very High
One of the reasons it is enjoyable to play, is in its simplicity. Easy to play and learn, it makes for a great filler game or something to play quickly. The theme (French Revolution) adds to the fun. Players will get a laugh (at least in my experience) that the basic premise of this game is to behead people and that adds to the fun factor. The game
also does a great job adding to the theme, even adding a cardboard standup guillotine to mark the front of the line.
Replayability - None - Low - Moderate - High - Very High
The game's simple and player-friendly nature makes it one you will always have in mind. Although you may start to see a lot of the same nobles and action cards after a few plays, it is the game's mechanics and theme that will keep you coming back.
Overall - 8/10
It's fun, easy to play, and doesn't eat up large chunks of time which makes it near the top of the list whenever I am looking for a quick game to play, especially with new players.
|
|
|
|
