Big fan of <PERSON> and his games. When I heard about this one and heard <PERSON> talking about how this was his favorite book series, I decided to dive in.
Read the first 3 books and they are excellent. Started the 4th and it didn't catch my interest so I haven't gotten past 2nd chapter.
Finally received my Collector's Edition this past Friday and was excited to get it to the table! My "gaming group" for the most part is my wife, 18 yr old daughter and 15 yr old son.
First I played a 3 player game with my son an daughter. I explained everything and we were at it. I thought it wouldn't keep my sons interest because he doesn't like reading but to my surprise he was focused and really liked the different ways to score. My daughter loved the game as I thought she would since she's an avid reader and loves strategizing and trying to optimize her scoring chances.
My wife was dead tired so didn't play but she watched and I can tell she would like this game (she's not much of a gamer).
I loved the first game. Once I received my initial 5 cards, I really couldn't spot a "pattern" or things to connect. But as the game went on, things came together and I realized the genius in optimizing combo's. I ended up winning the first game with a score of 242, my daughter had 216 and my son scored 174 (he messed up because he was going for all blue cards with his Gold combo) and instead collected all Golds (because they have the blue stripe on the left side and he thought they were blues..lol, brain fart).
Right away my son was itching to play another game but he had to run out. I played a 2nd game with my daughter and it plays MUCH quicker with 2 people. I had <PERSON> from the beginning and banished one of her cards earlier and she was never able to regain cards so it buried her. I scored 213 and she only scored 157. We enjoyed the game, but I did feel bad taking a card that early and putting her at disadvantage but it is what it is.
My son returned and I played another 2 player game with him. I scored 210 and he had 180. 118
Another quick game and fun experience.
Final thoughts..Production quality is AMAZING. The cards, the art, the components, all top notch. The Gold's really pop!
Gameplay..simple to play but with enough depth to make you think about every card you deploy and then picking a card to maximize your scoring tracks. I see some reviews that say Apollo is overpowered but I don't think so at all. We ended up playing with all the houses throughout the 3 games and I felt the balance was solid.
3 player was the sweet spot. Seeing more cards and the length of time to play was perfect for me (about 45 minutes) where the 2 player game felt short (25 minutes).
I'm excited to keep playing and trying to maximize the score. I see <PERSON> say 300 is a good score, and I'm not even close to that. The cards are key. Losing cards will kill you and gaining cards will put you in a great position to win.
8 out of 10 for me. Lot's of replay value as every game is different. I do feel reading the books (especially the 1st one) really let's you connect more to the characters. I always enjoyed getting a character I loved. <PERSON> was my favorite character and I got him one game and it just added a little more excitement.
This is my first review and I hope it wasn't too long or drawn out. Really enjoyed the game. 366