How did the game make you feel?
Spider: It made me feel good, like a brain exercise. It seemed like it was healthy for me to play.
Cat: I liked that aspect, too. It was really rewarding to figure out the puzzles. I got the same satisfaction as solving a difficult brain teaser.
What did you like about the game?
Spider: I felt like we were one brain trying to solve this thing. It was cool. It was like one half of the brain would present a problem and the other half of the brain would try to solve it. I thought it was a great two player game.
I loved how it made us think and how we would have to think together. I liked how it would make us try to predict how the other person would think, but there was still a basic logic to the reasoning.
Cat: I like that the outcome of someone else solving the puzzles was dependent upon how well you played your fates. After playing a few rounds, I felt like I got the knack of optimizing my revealed fates so that I didn’t waste pips on the cards and fade them too fast.
What was frustrating about the game?
Spider: I thought it was easy to be put into a position to ruin the game. It comes down to the wire so often that it was easy to mess it up. If the other person didn’t get it, like if there was human error, it would ruin the entire round. That I thought was a little annoying, but whatever.
Cat: The most frustrating aspect of the game was remembering to use the faded cards. I felt like I forgot about that for the first few times through.
What did you think about the artwork?
Spider: I loved it. I thought it was very tarot in style. I liked that it was all consistent, no outliers. Sometimes in games it feels like something is tacked on, but I didn’t have that feeling with this game.
Cat: I actually really loved the tarot style art. I thought that the artwork on the cards could very easily be turned into water bottle or laptop stickers. Like, I would want one on my laptop.
What did you think about the game mechanics?
Spider: I loved how the cards were two sided. They had a base ability on the front to help players determine relationships between the fates, but when the cards were faded they could still help one last time.
I liked how it was intensely cerebral, but it wasn’t a long game. It was really digestible. We either won or lost. Then we could just play again. There was no-one looking at their watch. So, the game length was a huge perk for me.
I loved the co-op aspect of the game. I thought that was a really great idea. I liked how solving the mechanisms of the game machine were like figuring out the mechanisms of someone else’s mind. I liked the back and forth nature of the game. I would reveal a fate in relation to a card on the table, leading you to my hidden fate. The more fates are revealed and the faded cards are used and discarded it got you closer to solving the problem. The turn play provided nice breaks and back and forth with the problem solving.
Cat: I liked how it wasn’t necessary to make a prediction every turn. I also liked the idea of conferencing with the other players while trying to develop the predictions. I found myself in the two player setting talking out loud to walk through my reasoning steps. I also liked how the game was not timed. There is inherent pressure from the advancing of the doom when cards fade, because that forces movement in the game and prevents the game from stopping when no one feels comfortable making a predictions.
Overall take home points
Pros:
Co-op multilayered puzzle aspect
Artwork
Quick game
Con:
The theme didn’t really impact the game.
Ratings:
Spider
Cat
Rating Scale
Would not buy or play again
Would not buy but would play again
Would buy and play again, but only occasionally
Would buy and play again in normal rotation
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