Hey just had some questions for the community on this game that's kind of hard to research.

I'm looking into getting into a new card game to play with my friend. However she isn't a huge game person (she likes playing them but isn't going to go out of her way to do it) however is usually willing to give stuff a shot and likes things like Hearthstone and is ok with the Arkham Horror LCG. The stuff I'm interested in knowing is:

1. How "crunchy" is this game? I like Netrunner but it's got a lot of systems and card interactions that are required to know very well to be effective which my friend does not like. Does it require a ton of knowledge on every card that exists or you get blown out?

2. Is one Core set enough to actually play the game and have fun? I'm worried that it would be a very mediocre experience and give a bad first impression. I don't want to really invest in this and end up with literally no one to play with if my friends end up disliking it like I did with Netrunner.

3. Is this something we can learn as we play together out of the box or am I going to have to read a ton of stuff on how to play it properly then teach her?

Any honest answers would be helpful. If this game isn't for us that's fine but I'd like to know before I waste her time.

1. It's super crunchy, I'm afraid. If you don't know which cards you have to play around, you're gonna loose hard against someone who does.

2. One Core isn't really enough. It's really a demo. 2 Core could give you a 'ok' Boardgame experience tho.

3. It's ok to learn while you play but this game has got some bizarre or narrow rules interactions and you'll need to read the Rule Reference Online.

Honestly this game is really similar to ANR, complexity wise. So if it didn't clicked with your friends this one isn't likely to click either. ^^'

If you are just playing with a single other person then one core is fine to have fun and enjoy the game.

Like Conquest the large number of neutrals that appear in all decks increase card knowledge but still provide difference and playability plus each faction still has a very distinct play type.

Cost for a single core is cheap so I would recommend buying one and just trying some of the example decks. It is easy to play and learn if you are both learning together.

If you intend to start playing outside a limited play group then complextiy ramps up and card knowledge becomes more important. It is not the be all and end all.....

Finally if you want to try it out and I am happy to teach you the basics on Jigoku so you have an idea of how things work before teaching the game to your friend. Just send me a PM..

Personally, I would not recommend playing with one Core. Most other LCGs are okay with one core, but I found the one core environment very, very poor for L5R as it's a very warped version of the game. Basically, the characters you can recruit each turn are random, and you need to beat your opponent's strength by a certain amount to break provinces to win the game - with only one core, I found there was way to many cases where people would have bad flops, and sits around not really being able to do much, but still being strong enough that the opponent can't really do much either. I found the games tended to be very slow, grindy and boring. It's fine to give you an idea of the mechanics, but I didn't really enjoy actually playing very much.

And sadly, I'd say yeah - you're probably out of luck on this one. I haven't really played much Netrunner, but from what I do know about it I'd say L5R is probably on a similar level in terms of complexity. There's less hidden information/'blowout' aspects (still some, but not quite Jinteki style 'you accessed a server and now you're dead), but there are a LOT of decision points

I think the reason why my group is able to approach L5R more technically as "casuals" is that all of us have played many iterations over the decades so even though the game has changed considerably we all have a feel for it. Even with our background certain aspects like pacing fate between Characters and Conflict deck took some time. I am not saying you must approach new L5R as a strictly competitive player, just be prepared to jump in with both feet and neck deep because you will need to immerse yourselves to appreciate the play value.

Hi, Radish.

I found myself in a very similar situation. I wanted the game mainly to play with my girlfriend who’s not much of a card game person herself. We played Arkham Horror some times but it didn’t really appeal to her.

L5R was more to her liking. Being an Old5R player and huge fan of the game, I went immediately for 3 cores, so I can’t really help much there.

Having read the Learn to play guide book and watched a couple of plays on YouTube, I found the basics easy to learn and teach. On the few occasions doubt arises during play, we both go online and figure out the correct rule. On a couple of occasions, we just decided for ourselves what seemed fair and only checked the rules later so as not to spoil the fun. I would highly recommend watching one or two videos of how the game is played on YouTube, it really clarifies the rules (personally, I liked the Team Covenant ones).

As for card knowledge, we haven’t felt it to be much of a problem. Of course, we both made rookie mistakes, such as her collecting a bunch of conflict cards on hand and running into my RoB (yeah... almost slept on the couch for that one) or my many blunders against Jigoku players (who were kind enough to put up with my rookie mistakes and help me get better). All in all, to play in a friendly environment, I don’t think you really need to know every single card to have fun. However, as you get to know the cards and get better at the game, enjoyment will increase.

We both have had a lot of fun playing the new L5R, with the rage inducing moments of RoB to the frustration of Voice of Honor to the exhilaration of victory over your crushed opponent (kidding...). We don’t play competitively between us and it’s great.

Hope this helps. Cheers

Thank you guys for your input on this. I'll have to think it over. The game isn't a huge investment for one box so maybe I will give it a shot and keep in mind it might not be optimal. I really appreciate all the incite from more experience people!