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Gremlins Inc. Kickstarter Review

Gremlins Inc. Kickstarter Review

Information:

Mechanics: Hand management, Set collection, Tableu builder, Take that
Player Age: 12+
Player Count: 2 - 6 Players
Time to Play: 45 Minutes
Game Designer: Alexev Bokulev
Game Artists: Yaroslav Pavlyshynets
Publisher: Czacha Games
Release Date: 2015
BGG Complexity: 3 / 5
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

The Game:

Objective:

The aim of the game is to reach a certain amount of prestige points by either using actions or building blueprints. For a quick game the goal is 10 prestige points, and for a longer game 20 or 30 prestige points is recommended.

Card Anatomy:

There are three types of cards; blueprints, blueprint permanents, and actions cards.

There are no cards in the game designed only as a resource. Instead, every card in the game can be used as a resource and also has additional purposes. The cards resource is displayed as a banner at the top of the card resources come in three colours; gold (most common); red (abilities hinder opponents); and green (only used for blueprints).

Blueprint Cards:
These are the projects that you will aim to build. To the left of the cards name there will be the prestige points earnt when completed. Below that are the required resources needed in building this blueprint. Then lastly their will be a ability that will occur when built (see below).
Permanent blueprints all share the same traits but once built these cards will stay in continuous effect to the side of the field (see below).
Action cards:
These cards are used for one time effects shown below the name of the card (see below). These cards may have a cost on the left of the name or may require no resources at all).

Setup:

Shuffle the cards together and deal each player six cards. If any player doesn't like any of their starting cards they can discard as many cards as desired and redraw that amount. Just once though, you can't be greedy.

How to Play:

On your turn you have two action points to spend in any combination for the following five actions:
- start a project
- assign a card as a resource
- finish a project
- play an action
- discard a project

At the end of every turn all players draw to equal six cards in their hand.

Start a Project:
There are three available spots to place a project. To start a project, place any card face down. Here, action cards can be placed face down in order to bluff your opponents. Although the ‘faux project’ gives you nothing and can not be completed, you can stack up resources behind it and fool your opponents into focusing on that project, suspecting the worst and wasting turns to deter it. Meanwhile, you may be building up a victory-ensuring attack on them from where they least expect it. However, if you want a project that can be completed you would aim to place a blueprint or permanent blueprint card face down.

Assign a Resource:
Any card in your hand can be assigned as a resource to a face down project. This is done by sliding the card face up behind the project and leaving only the resource banner visible (see below). A project can have any amount of resources assigned to them, where you can trick your opponent by adding unnecessary resources of any type.
Finish a Project:
If any of your project have accumulated the required resources (or more) you may now ‘complete’ the project by turning the card face up, gaining the appropriate prestige points, performing any project card abilities, and discarding all resources used for this project. If the blueprint is a permanent, place the card to the side and the cards effect will now remain in play continuously.

Cancel a Project:
Discard any of your projects and all assigned resources. This will clear space for another potential project.

Play an Action:
To play an action card from your hand for the desired ability, you may need to pay a cost. If so, the cost is taken from any resources that have already been assigned to an ongoing project. Simply remove and discard the resource from the project to use the action card.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- Great art
- The player doesn’t have to go down a ‘take that’ route, instead they can use those cards as resources
- Quick and easy to play

Cons:
- Opponent may play the game asymmetrically as ‘take that’

At face value ‘Gremlins Inc.’ is a tableu builder with heavy elements of take that. As someone who isn’t really a fan of negative game play, it may seem that you wont enjoy the game. But let me be clear, this game is great due to the multi-use nature of the cards where they can be used as a blueprint/action or as a resource. ‘Gremlins Inc.’ allows you to modify the amount of the ‘take that’ mechanic that you want to use in the game. This leaves the player with lots of choices on their turns as well as a large amount of replayability.
In fact, if you are a fan of ‘take that’ and a fan of tableu building I highly recommend ‘Gremlins Inc.’.

Click...feed the addiction:

Gremlins Inc. on Kickstarter


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