Whales Destroying The world: Review

Whales destroy the world: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Bluffing, Hidden Roles, Set Collection

Player Age: 7+

Player Count: 3 - 6 Players

Time to Play: 10 - 20 Minutes

Game Designers:  Jindrich Pavlasek, Petr Vojtech

Game Artist: Jindrich Pavlasek

Publisher: Time Slug Studio
Disclaimer: A preview copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

The Game:

Objective:

The unthinkable has happened. Moby Dick has been slain. Now it’s time to avenge our fallen brethren and take the fight out onto land.
In 'Whales Destroying the World' you will secretly play as either a whale set on vengeance or a superhero defending the city. Your objective as a whale player is to have the most points (in whales) when the end game condition is met (more on this in the How to Play). Be careful though as there is a traitor in the mix (the secret superhero) that wants any player to gain three heroes in order to stop the invasion.

Card Anatomy:

Hidden Roles:

There are two roles in this game; firstly the whales which will be the majority of players. They want the invasion to succeed but keep in mind that only one whale player will win after the invasion has been successful.
Secondly, there's the superhero who wants a player (even themselves) to gain three heroes so they can stop the invasion in its tracks. Each game will only have one superhero unless playing with six players, then there will be two.

Whale Cards:

The whales come in three colours: white, blue, and red. Each set had whales worth 1-6 with one card worth 10 points. The higher cards only have one of each colour so make sure you get them when you can.

Special Cards:

The superhero has an advantage with close to one fourth of the communal deck being made up of hero cards (card on the left of the image) that are used to squander the whales chance. However, the whales had a backup plan; there are healing cards (card on the right side of the image) in the deck that will remove any one of your cards, if you’re lucky enough that may even be a hero.

Setup:

- Shuffle the roles equal to the player count and deal a role to each player, only include one superhero unless playing with six players.
- Remove the cards with the 5 or 6 at the bottom of the card if you are playing below those player counts. Include the cards with the 5 if you are playing five or add those with six if playing with six players.
- Shuffle the deck and deal each player two face-up cards to begin their collection.

How to Play:

On each players turn they will draw two cards from the deck. One of these cards is discarded face-up the other is passed face-down to a player of their choice. When passing the card to a player you tell them one piece of information about the card e.g. it is red, a hero, a heal, a certain number, etc. The information given can be true or false, in fact, most of the time you may want to lie as only one whale or the superhero can win after all. The receiving player will have the choice to accept or reject the card. If accepted, the card is placed in front of the player (except for the turtle that will perform a heal action then be discarded). If rejected, the card is returned and the active player must add it to their face-up collection.

Each player can only have two whales of each colour in their collection at one time. If they receive a card that pushes past this limit, all cards of that colour are discarded and they can take the lowest valued card of any colour from any player. This can be beneficial though if the one gained card is higher valued than the two lost cards.

So how do win you may be asking? There are three ways the game can end. Firstly, if one player has three heroes in their collection then the game ends and the superhero player(s) will win. Secondly, if two cards cannot be drawn at the start of a turn the game ends and scores are counted for the whale players only. Thirdly, if at any point a single player has six whales, two of each colour then the whales win and the scoring commences. When scoring, each whale player will discard their lowest card for every hero card they have. The hero has managed to defeat a whale in your army. Following this, the value of each card is calculated and whichever whale player has the highest score is the winner and ultimate avenger of Sir Moby Dick.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- great combination of the whale players having to work together to not lose to the superhero but ultimately they want the most points
- great player range
- great combination of art and theme
- simple rules but layers of depth

Cons:
- may take a couple of games to get a hang of the game, but that's ok as they’re  quick games

As a fan of this style of game, it was an instant hit with me. However, these games can sometimes fall flat for the players who do not enjoy lying or just find bluffing games harder to play. I can happily say this wasn't the case for 'Whales Destroying the World' as this was an instant hit for all who played, leaving us wanting to go another round straight after due to the easy rules and quick play time. The game was enjoyable for players who weren't as accustomed to bluffing games and a hit for me, a bluffing veteran. With the unique theme and great play, this should be an instant back and has earnt a Kickstarter Seal of Excellence for fans of great lightweight bluffing games who enjoy immersive and entertaining themes.

Click...feed the addiction:

Whales Destroying the World  on Kickstarter
Whales Destroying the World on BGG
Time Slug Studio
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