Just bought this and it's now my best "tiny rules, big strategy" game. I just have two comments, first is that I think Spies mostly remove (or at least heavily dilute) the last player swing. Playing a Spy does a better job of upending players' plans than having the last move, that last set of cards is much less impactful when the board is now full of hidden information. Secondly, I think the two player game is really solid and much less random. It loses a little of the unpredictability as you only work against one player, but it removes the dogpiling and does a really good job of allowing a real duel as you mess with each other's court. Spies and Assassins really play well in this version. It feels like Azul, in that the strategy changes so much when you go from 3+ players down to 2, it feels like a different game. Really enjoying it
+ The artwork and the cards in this game are gorgeous! The gold foil accents- my goodness! And the images for the "special" cards (assassins, guards, etc.)- it's not just the icon in the corner of the card- they add the specific details; + Game has simple rules- easy to learn, easy to explain; + The game is short enough so the loss doesn't feel too bad (I'm not a fan of the games where you're sitting for two hours and already after the first hour you see you have no chance); - I really don't like the cloth "court"- it is wrinkly/ folded and doesn't sit flatly on the table. I'd preferred carton version that you can fold/ unfold
I did't play the game so maybe I am missing the flow, but wouldn't it be possible during the ''final round'' if every player just played 1 card each (till they empty hand)? To give the infamous last player slightly less power on the overall game.
Interesting idea, I like it. The issue is that in a turn you have to divide the 3 cards between court, yourself and others, would that be the same in the final round? If yes, you might need some way to keep track of what has been played because with 5 players I think people would tend to forget
Just bought this and it's now my best "tiny rules, big strategy" game.
I just have two comments, first is that I think Spies mostly remove (or at least heavily dilute) the last player swing. Playing a Spy does a better job of upending players' plans than having the last move, that last set of cards is much less impactful when the board is now full of hidden information.
Secondly, I think the two player game is really solid and much less random. It loses a little of the unpredictability as you only work against one player, but it removes the dogpiling and does a really good job of allowing a real duel as you mess with each other's court. Spies and Assassins really play well in this version. It feels like Azul, in that the strategy changes so much when you go from 3+ players down to 2, it feels like a different game. Really enjoying it
I think the Pandasaurus game you meant to mention is District Noir (not District 9)?
+ The artwork and the cards in this game are gorgeous! The gold foil accents- my goodness! And the images for the "special" cards (assassins, guards, etc.)- it's not just the icon in the corner of the card- they add the specific details;
+ Game has simple rules- easy to learn, easy to explain;
+ The game is short enough so the loss doesn't feel too bad (I'm not a fan of the games where you're sitting for two hours and already after the first hour you see you have no chance);
- I really don't like the cloth "court"- it is wrinkly/ folded and doesn't sit flatly on the table. I'd preferred carton version that you can fold/ unfold
reminds me a lot of inheritors, absolutely love that game
I did't play the game so maybe I am missing the flow, but wouldn't it be possible during the ''final round'' if every player just played 1 card each (till they empty hand)? To give the infamous last player slightly less power on the overall game.
Interesting idea, I like it. The issue is that in a turn you have to divide the 3 cards between court, yourself and others, would that be the same in the final round? If yes, you might need some way to keep track of what has been played because with 5 players I think people would tend to forget
Game length?
15 minutes
❤