DriveThruCards.com

KYBG Kickstarter Spotlight

KYBG Kickstarter Spotlight

-----

Review: Game of Energy






   CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN


I've had the pleasure of having a review copy of a great game called "Game of Energy" for a little while now, I've played MANY games of it with different people, so I feel like I'm ready to give it a proper review!

So sit back, Grab your favorite beverage and read on :)

Launching on Kickstarter: Feb 16th 2016

Tabletop Simulator link
Game of Energy for TTS

Players: 1 - 4
Play Time: 30 - 60 Minutes
Ages: 14+

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379986539/game-of-energy

Story line/Setting: "The world will soon not produce enough energy to meet ever-increasing energy demands. Before this happens, captains of the energy industry seek to build up the energy infrastructure of the world—with biofuel, fossil fuel, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, and wind—to prevent a world gone dark. Can you produce enough energy in time?!"

Picture from Tabletop Simulator










Game of Energy is what I would describe as a "Light euro DRIPPING with theme". Players take on the role of a Captain of Industry to try and rebuild the energy infrastructure of the world. Each player gets to choose their Captain at the beginning of the game from 2 cards that are randomly dealt to each player.

Now, each Captain of Industry ALSO has a special ability that can help that player throughout the game when it comes to drawing cards, buying industries and other various things. Below is just an example of how the card looks to give you a feel for the "Captain Cards".

Picture from Tabletop Simulator





Once you have your Captain, and your starting money(Energy Credits), you are ready to play. Depending on the amount of players, there will be a different "goal" to trigger the end of the game. Basically though, you'll be trying to earn money by permitting other industries in different areas. Each industry also has a cost to place it, An income that you earn at the beginning of your turn and an amount of TWh (terawatt hours) it producess.

On the board there are two score tracks, the TWh score track and the Energy Credits  score track. As your Energy Credits score goes up, you earn that much at the beginning of your turn as I mentioned. Now, the TWh track is what you'll be counting as your "score".  Through the various turns that you play with your friends, you will eventually trigger the end of the game from reaching a certain number on the TWh track.

The higher you are in here, the more likely to win. Should players TIE on this board then you simply go to the Energy Credits score track and see who has the most there. If you STILL tie, then play the game again as a tie breaker. Now, that last part is simply a suggestion because you WILL want to play again anyways, lol.

Here's a couple shots of the two tracks on the board:

Picture from Tabletop Simulator
Picture from Tabletop Simulator







































Now, down to my opinion of the game.

The artwork for this game is beautiful, It's very alive and just pops in a good way. The mechanics in the game are just right. Nothing that is really ground breaking here but then again, If it's not broke, don't fix it.

The components are all wonderfully designed and share the great artwork. The hex shaped pieces really have a place on this board as well as the hex grid locations. The designer couldn't have done a better job with this part. I couldn't imagine anything else on that board.

The complexity of the game is simple enough that after a couple rounds you know what you're doing but for hard core gamers it's still a challenge. The game can be as simple or as strategic as the players choose since that relies mostly on the players themselves.

The playtime is at that "just right" mark. It's one of those games that you finish and go "well that was fun, Wanna play again?". It has that feeling of once the game ends, it kind of draws you RIGHT back in for another session.

The "Captain Cards" are a nice touch to mix up strategies. The "Grid Cards" are a main mechanic and feature in the game. That being said, they are also something that is needed in the game. Without them, the game would suffer. On some of them, there are even facts about the energy industry in general. Not "Boring" facts but ones that I actually enjoyed learning.


So, All in all, I really like this game. It's fun, Simple, Strategic, Brilliant, Vibrant and a good game to draw new people into the hobby in general. I highly suggest you check it out. Does it mean that the game will be for you or everyone? Well, not necessarily. That's because this is my opinion.

I suggest you try it out before pledging on the kickstarter campaign and forming your own opinion. You can try it out virtually on Tabletop Simulator if you happen to have it and you can also try it out on Tabletopia. I'm a little biased towards the TTS version because I made it on there though, lol!

Picture from Tabletop Simulator

Picture from Tabletop Simulator

Picture from Tabletop Simulator

Picture from Tabletop Simulator

























As always, Thank you for reading and I hope you walk away from this review with some information that you were looking for. :)
-Tim

4 comments:

  1. Where did you get that awesome coaster!!! I want one

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael! I made them last summer :) You can check out a little about how I did it on this post: http://kybg.blogspot.com/2016/02/heres-cool-way-to-keep-drinks-from.html

      Delete
  2. For me the best one so far, the story doesn't stop being far cry but I do think it tries new things and does it well, makes the secondary missions entertaining and not repetitive, gives you a map where your going to have something to do for a long time, but on multiplayer it doesn't shine and besides co-op didn't caught my attention.
    See more review: Jurassic World Evolution
    Smoke and Sacrifice
    Moonlighter

    ReplyDelete