I love how they take the basic Yahtzee dice rolling mechanism and turn it into this insanely entertaining and flavourful battle.
Yes. Yes it is, and this expansion is the best way to get more of that sweet, sweet train goodness in you life!
(Worth it for Heavy Cardboard/France alone)
Very fun! We first played at a friend’s place and then I bought the game for my 14 year old. Great that a person can play solo or with others. A round takes just the right amount of time - we can play once or multiple times in one evening!
I had high expectations for this game after seeing videos and reading reviews prior to the game coming on the market and honestly, it did not disappoint! It looks like a heavy game with all the booklets, charts, reference cards, massive board and counters all over, but it is honestly one of the easiest games to get into. The flipbook included in the game is designed to take you by the hand and guide you through every single step, without having to read the massive 48-page rule book before you start. Instead, all the steps are explained, and if you need more details on what you are doing, why you are doing it, what the consequences are, then you can read the rule book as a reference point. From unboxing, all you need to do is setup the components based on which scenario you want to play, read the "How to play" booklet which is 6 pages, and off you go into your presidency!
There is a lot of stuff to manage, but everything on the board eventually has its own operation steps where you get to manage what happens: Congress, your party, the media, the economy, legislations, wars, diplomacy with China and Russia, tensions in the major regions across the globe, terrorist groups, civil wars and a lot more! You cannot go thinking that you will get through this game in 3 hours...it won't happen. It is a deep time investment, but incredibly worth it for anyone who wanted to have a peek at what it might look like to sit at that desk in the oval office and face the consequences of every single decision you would ever take, every single bill you would try to pass, every person that comes to you for a favor. The narrative of every single part of the game is what makes this game so much fun because you get to see right in front of you who acted, in what way and the consequences to those actions. The Middle East decides to close the taps on the oil reserves? Well the media won't help you look good and your public will go down! Imagine the scenario of something that the President would have to deal with, and you are mostly likely going to face it, or a similar situation in this game.
Repayability is phenomenal because of all the cards and possible options to all your actions. Only about 2/3 of all the cards in the game are used for the sandbox scenario (so around 120) which means that 60 cards don't get used until your next game. Start a new one, remix the cards and you get a totally different presidency aligned in front of you.
If you are a fan of deeply immersive games where time doesn't matter to you (expect to spend 20+ hours going through your first game), then this game is for you. You will enjoy seeing the impact of your decisions, and try to fix the negative impacts of those decisions, by taking other decisions that will impact other spheres of your presidency. To me, this game felt like a good book that you just can't put down...you always want to see what's going to come next!