Roll Camera: Rapid Review
Information:
Mechanics: Cooperative, Worker Placement, Dice Workers, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers.
Player Age: 11+ Player Count: 1 - 6 Players Time to Play: 45 - 90 Minutes
Game Designer and Artist: Malachi Ray RempenPublisher: Keen Bean StudiosYear Published: 2021BGG Weight: 2.23Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher
Player Age: 11+
Game Designer and Artist: Malachi Ray Rempen
Rundown:
Roll Camera is a cooperative dice-rolling, worker placement game where you are trying to meet the patterns of storyboards to create a movie (5 scenes). The movie has to be of a certain quality which is either ‘Not Bad’ up to 'Cinematic Masterpiece' or om the opposite side of the spectrum ‘So bad It's Good’ which is at the bottom of the quality chart. In the pursuit of this goal players will build sets to help situate the dice into the formation of the storyboards. They will also resolve problems as they arise and consider the end-game scoring alterations that the script will resolve. This is all restricted by the amount of time the production has, each turn the time dial will turn down resulting in less and less time to get this movie up to scrap.
Storyboard/Scene Cards:
The goal is to create a movie consisting of five scenes, and of course, it has to be of that certain quality. Each scene starts as a storyboard which has a colour to depict the kind of scene they become, a possible bonus to the quality, and a certain pattern that has to be met by specifically placing workers on the set.
Once the storyboard is replicated the active player pays the cost next to that storyboard which can be a mix of budget, time or quality to place the storyboard as a scene at the top avaliable space in the editing room. The order of scenes can be altered later on to be more cohesive and better meet the script.
Sets:
As you play you are building a set using two of the same dice face and one budget (money) at the build/re-arrange location. As more set pieces are built, you will create more blue spaces available for workers to be placed into patterns on the scene cards. There are numerous benefits and restrictions that will come from these blue locations when trying to create a scene, these include only being able to play a certain worker face, any face may be played, drawing a problem, gaining a quality or saving one cost in the scene. Many times throughout the game these scenes will have to be relocated to allow for different scene patterns. Luckily the same location that builds these tiles allows you to re-arrange the set.
Problem Cards:
At the start of every turn a new problem will arise on set. These problems will give restrictions on certain parts of the game such as actions will cost more, or the set cannot be rearranged, etc. At the top of the board is a designated area for the problems to be placed. There is only room for three problems to exist at one time and each problem gets harder to resolve the further along the three-location track it is placed. For example, the first problem on the queue will cost any two dice to resolve, the second problem will cost two identical die faces and the third problem is a drastic resolution of three identical dice. There are two benefits to having problems, if you resolve five problems in total then you receive a bonus on time or money, and on the back of each problem there is an icon depicting what the next problem will hinder.
Idea cards:
At times, a Hollywood production may feel drab and hopeless. That is when a good brainstorm session with your team is vital. By going to the idea location you will gain idea cards from yourself, other players and one from the deck in a two player game. Then choose one card to discard, one to play immediately and one to store on the board in one of two spots for later access.
These are great cards that break the normal rules of the game in your favour, such as ignoring a problem for a turn, or being able to modify the sets or scenes.
Alteration:
Ignoring the abundance of problems, ideas and scenes variations that you will see from game to game, there are also six different characters, each with a male and female side. These characters share a common worker spot called ‘Refresh’ that allows the player to discard one idea from their hand and replace it. This shows how essential to a game the brainstorm function is. Each character will also have two unique worker spots on their character board, each with their own requirements such as multiple dice or certain die faces. These unique abilities will match the job of the character, like the production designer who can add to or re-edit the set at a lower cost, or the editor can re-arrange the completed scene cards in any order. This becomes particularly useful when planning for the script cards.
Script cards will modify the quality of the movie once all five scenes have been completed and the game wraps up. They come in a top-half and bottom-half that combine to create two end-game scoring factors.
This modification will both be in increases and decreases based on the colour/emotion of the scenes (as shown in the script symbol key below), so they must be factored in while planning, otherwise you will think your movie is watchable but it may be a flop.
The last alteration I want to mention is the production company cards. This is for players who have a good understanding of the game and would like a further puzzle element. These cards give different challenges to the game, for example the Pot O' Gold company that wants the scenes to be a rainbow in a specific order, or Seppuku Films that require a win by reaching the lowest quality spot and beginning at a higher starting quality spot than normal.
Production:
The game has an outstanding production quality that reflects how the theme of movies comes from a labour of love. The first example of this is the way the box opens, rather than being a standard game box, it opens from the top representing the famous clapperboard. Following this, the game tray insert is shaped like a film reel.
Furthermore, even the back of the board has been designed to allow players a chance to brainstorm there own movie plotlines using the available scene cards. 
The art is done in a way that is fun and whimsical with little jelly-inspired people, and additional role-playing actions have been added to the character boards that allows players to feel more immersed.
One last thing is the turn summary card, instead of merely being a card in this game it also contains a dial for the budget and time the players have available.
Interaction:
The track of budget and time, which also doubles as a turn summary, aids the setup for the variable game difficulties.
This is a cooperative game that requires good interaction and coordination between players, especially at the higher difficulty. Players have to focus on how they build the sets, when to resolve the problems, which storyboard to aim for, how the script will modify your film quality and ultimately what quality level to aim for.
To help with all of this, players can lock dice to a set on their turn if they are unable to complete a storyboard. They may also leave dice on the third problem location if they have two of the three identical dice needed to resolve the problem. The next player can choose to either keep those dice as is or unlock them for rolling. They can look the dice on any unfinished worker spot these are just examples that will come up often.
Determination:
- Unique and strong theme.
- Interesting combination of dice workers and pattern building.
- Interesting scoring of simply being outside of the average film rating.
- Great range of adjustable difficulty.
- Plenty of alteration with difficulty, scripts and production companies.
- Whimsical art and flavour text.
- Takes a little time to wrap your head around once play begins.
Roll Camera takes the underused theme of working on a film and does it with such great theme, production, implementation and personality that it truly keeps this game feeling memorable. At first it takes a bit to understand the elements of the game and how best to proceed with the workers you roll on your turn. As the problems fill up, the storyboards are revealed and the quality of movie you are making becomes evident. The turns begin to flow faster as you coordinate with your fellow players to create those interesting patterns on the set. This game has a lot of replayability packed into the box with adjustable difficulty, production companies and a good range of cards in each unique deck. If your a cinephile and want to see what it’s like working on a movie set, or just love a good cooperative game, than I think this is a fun but challenging game you should get to the table. Which is why it is easily earning a Silver Seal of Approval.
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