One of our recent acquisitions is 51st State, a card game from Toy Vault based in the Neuroshima world (like Neuroshima Hex). There has been a small bit of buzz about this, often with it being compared to Race for the Galaxy. In fact, lots of claim it will effectively replace Race for the Galaxy in your collection. I require to share how we are feeling about the game after a handful of sessions under our belts. For those of you not familiar with the Neuroshima world, it is a post-apocalyptic North The united states with various factions vying for power. It was originally based on the Polish roleplaying game Neuroshima. The designer of 51st State, Ignacy Trzewiczek, is also of the designers of both the Neuroshima roleplaying game & Neuroshima Hex. For those of you familiar with Fallout, what I have seen & read about it seems a lot like the world depicted in that series of videogames. It is an fascinating setting, & the art of the cards does a great job of conveying the post-apocalyptic theme.
The rules of the game are not complex, though I must indicate that the rulebook is not that great. It meanders a bit, & some things are not referred to throughout but not explained until the finish. That being said, a couple reads & look at some online resources helped us start. It starts with players selecting cards from several set out at the beginning of the turn. After card choice, players earn an income & then take turn executing actions. Actions can be playing a location (more on this later), using a production location with a worker, playing a leader, rebuilding a location or a couple other minor actions. Play continues until all players have passed. For the most part, gameplay is multiplayer solitaire, much like Race for the Galaxy, or even Dominion.
Each player takes on the role of of the world's factions. There's: Mutants, New York, Appalachian Federation & the Merchant's Guild. Each faction is trying top establish dominance by controlling areas. They each play a small different. The differences are not immense, but thematic. This is reflected in how they spend resources to accomplish the basic actions for dealing with a location, & income they receive in the resources present in the game: scrap, building materials, weapons & fuel. As can be expected, each has an advantage towards of the basic location actions.
Most of the cards you'll see are locations, & locations are fascinating in this game. Each location may be played in of ways, each with a color associated with it. The most basic function is white, & that is putting the card in your play area as a location; doing this can derive of several benefits, such as giving an income of a resource, or being able to produce victory points or having a trait that stays in effect. Some are production locations that you, or sometimes an opponent, may play a worker on to get its benefit. Another option is to make a deal, which is the blue action. This will give you a modest income of its resource (or sometimes a card or victory points) each turn. The final action, denoted as red, is to conquer the location. This will yield a one-time windfall of resources, cards or victory points. This is a sure strength of the game. Each time you look at a card, you require to choose the way you require to play it. It is a fascinating tactical consideration, & thematic to the world.
I must say I have been enjoying this game. Rulebook woes aside, it is a great game. There is definitely a small bit of randomness with the limited card availability per turn, but the cards appear balanced that you won't have a situation where you require to fish for cards to implement your chosen strategy. It's complexity to be fascinating, without dictating a dominant strategy.The said playing time is 40-90 minutes, & is correct. In an earlier weblog post I talked about the "sweet spot" for games in regard to fun versus time spent, & I think this game does a nice job hitting it. 51st State gets a solid recommendation from me. I encourage you to give it a try!
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