Draft & Write Records: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Drafting, Draft and Write, Pen and Paper, ComboPlayer Age: 10+Player Count: 1 - 6 PlayersTime to Play: 30 - 60 MinutesGame Designer: Bruno MacielGame Artists: Pedro A. Alberto
Introduction:
In Draft & Write Records players are building a band/crew, going on tour and releasing a slew of music. To do this there will be numerous rounds consisting of weekdays and weekends. On the weekdays players will be drafting from a hand of cards to select a crew member or choosing an asset/agenda. This is done until players have drafted all but one card, which is discarded. Following this the weekend occurs. In this weekend phase players will see the fruit of their hard work and score any goal cards they have met. These range from easy to more challenging goals, and the best of these will allow you to cross off extra bonuses on your sheet. Once a player either has a full crew, too many fails, or has completed six goals, the game will end and players will commence scoring. The highest score across the range of sections on the sheet has produced the latest breakthrough hit and will look forward to their lucrative future ahead.
Game Anatomy:
Card Anatomy:
The game is made up of two decks of cards. The cards you draft (band, scandal, asset and agenda cards) and the goals you strive to complete.
Crew Cards:
The crew cards make up the majority of the deck. They come in four types; lead singer, musician, production and backstage. When played they will be added to an open crew slot matching their type. The value in the middle of the card will be the end of game points. Each crew card also has four colours (skills) surrounding their point value which are drawn onto the crew spot in which they are allocated. When being drawn in, the order and placement of the colours cannot change.
Asset and Agenda Cards:
The asset and agenda cards allow the player to fill in one of these symbols for their respective area. Most of these cards only feature one symbol, however some feature two. When the dual symbol card is chosen the player gets to decide which one of these symbols they will fill in.
Scandal Cards:
There are several scandal cards scattered throughout the deck. When these are taken they will fill one spot on the scandal bar to score the player negative points at the end of the game. The main reason to take this card will be the cash bonus awarded on the second node of this track.
Goal Cards:
Each goal card has points displayed on the top half that are awarded upon completion, as well as any bonuses to be gained. The bottom half of the goal card shows which section the goal is relating to and the objective that needs to be met. This could include certain patterns in the agenda section, reaching certain locations on the tour, or placing the crew in certain ways.
Cash:
Some sections of the boards, like paths on the tour section, or multiple crew sections, are blocked off. To unblock these sections cash needs to be spent. Cash can be gained as a bonus through many areas of the play sheet.
Sheet Anatomy:
Crew:
The crew section is a crucial element of the game where each crew selected will belong to one of the four sections.
Hiring crew awards the player points, as well as a combination of colour coded skills; blue (levels), red (tune), yellow (tempo) and purple (pitch). These colours are key to creating harmonies, as described below. At the end of the game, any empty crew slots will guarantee an additional mark on the fail track.
Harmonies:
Harmonies are what happens when your crew is vibing. Any time the coloured skills of two crew members match in their connected path the player marks off the left-most empty spot of the corresponding skills track.
Each of these tracks has two to three bonuses and the player will score 15 points for filling a row and 10 points for filling a column. Note that columns are created by reaching the same level across all colours.
Assets:
Assets will be crossed off throughout the game, mostly through selected cards. Whenever you cross out two connected symbols there is a bonus immediately gained.
Agendas:
Agendas like assets are mostly gained through the cards. Unlike the assets, bonuses surround the symbols whenever a row, column or diagonal line is completed the player will gain either a bonus or points from either side.
Multiplier:
Multipliers are first unlocked through bonuses then used when adding a crew member to your team. An unlocked multiplier will enhance the points of the crew member being placed. These multipliers cannot change pre-existing crew members so it pays to be vigilant and unlock the multipliers early.
Touring:
Touring is essentially a right of passage for popular bands. Each time this bonus is activated through other sections, the player will move to the next destination on one of the three tour paths. These paths are riddled with cash roadblocks that have to be removed prior to moving to the blocked location. At the end of the game, players will add together every point value reached along their journey. At the end of the tour, point values reach either 15, 20 or 25 which adds a large portion to your score if achieved.
Releases:
The releases can only be gained through bonuses from other sections. There are two tracks; the top represents albums, and the bottom represents singles that the band has released. At the end of the game, the player will score this section by multiplying the distance on the album track by that of the singles track.
Fail (Scandals):
If a player drafts a scandal or does not play a card for its effect, either by being unable to or by choosing not to, they will gain one mark on the fail track. When choosing not to play a card for it effect the player will still choose a card but will simply discard it instead of playing. Each mark on the fail track will score negative points at the end of the game. If one player has all five fails marked the game will finish with a final weekend phase.
Setup:
- Place the coloured pencils within reach of all players.
- Everyone will denote a starting colour in the skill field above the lead singer and to the left of the band name.
- From the deck, remove any cards that have a number on the bottom right that is higher than your player count.
- Place the pass direction card in the middle of the table on either side.
- Shuffle the goal deck and give each player two (they will select one to keep hidden).
- Reveal four goals in a face-up row.
How to Play:
Throughout the game, many weeks (rounds) will pass as the band is formed, albums and singles are released, bonuses are actived and tours take place. The game will finished when a player gains five failures, six goals or fills all 12 of their crew spots. If the players are still in the week phase when this occurs they will immediately resolve a weekend phase, giving players one last chance to score some of the goals.
Week:
At the start of each week phase players will be dealt a hand of five cards. Players will then begin drafting these cards by selecting one card from their hand (revealing the card once every player has selected), resolving the action of the card and then resolving any bonuses that occur immediately. Players will then pass the hand of cards over according to the direction card.
When players have the last two cards as draft options, they will choose one and discard the other. Once the hand is empty everyone will begin the weekend phase.
Weekend:
During the weekend phase, players can claim any personal or public goals they have met, scoring the points and any bonuses that occur. At the end of this phase all claimed goals are discarded and new public goals are replenished. The pass direction card will be flipped over and a new week phase will begin until the game has finished in the ways stated above.
Scoring:
Once the game has finished players will score each section of their sheet, totalling a final score. The highest scoring player is the winner with the most successful band.
Final Thoughts:
- Tough decisions in how to use your cash.
- Great range of difficult and easy goals with the points and bonuses reflecting their challenge.
- The scandal cards mainly feel like a dead card as you can simply choose to score a fail and discard a card.
Draft and write games are an underused subgenre of roll and write games that Draft & Write Records have managed to enhance. There are mainly three types of cards players are drafting but players must also consider how these cards are going to ripple throughout their sheet. If they draft a crew member they could be aiming to use the multiplier they unlocked early or looking to create a harmonic combo, unlocking further bonuses. Players also have to consider the goals when they draft. It could be as simple as touring to a certain location, creating specific patterns in the asset and agenda, or gaining crew members of certain point values and types. Some of the goals are easy to achieve but the goals with worthwhile points and bonuses require a lot of planning to achieve. Roll/Flip and Write games are easily one of my favourite mechanisms and Draft and Write Record easily stands out in my collection of this genre due to its systematic drafting element. It will be gaining a Silver Seal of Approval and joining my collection for plenty of combo-filled fun as I try and set up the best band.
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