The Game

By Peacekeeper_b, in Android

Can someone list some pros and cons about the game? How versatile is it? Is it worth the price?

A lot of pros and cons in this game are a matter of taste. You can get a lot of information on BGG. Personally, I love this game and it's one of my favorites. Here is my take on pros and cons:

Pros:

- Rich Cyberpunk theme, in a richly developed universe (at least two novels are coming out)

- Unique and bold game mechanics. I don't know of another game where you have to balance your character's personal life and work, a game that captures the inner struggles and personal demons of your character.

- Absolutely beautiful art and components

- The game makes it possible to imagine a movie about your (and other) characters

Things that are considered cons by a lot of people:

- Your role is not really your character, but more of a writer who is writing a story about your character, as well as the other characters. (I actually prefer it that way, so this is a pro!)

- This is not a deduction game. Sometimes it feels like your character is framing a suspect rather than finding evidence. (Again, I actually prefer it that way!)

- Understanding of the Android universe at a relatively deep level is almost necessary in order to fully appreciate the theme. Otherwise a lot of events may seem somewhat random and unthematic out of context. The game doesn't make it easy to follow the unfolding story about your character, it just provides little bits and pieces of the story, and if the player is looking for a connected story, the onus is on the player to use their imagination to fill in the missing details. (Again, I prefer it that way!)

- There are a lot of rules and players who like optimizing victory points will be prone to AP during the first few games, with corresponding downtime.

- Beginners may experience seemingly random powerful negative events that may leave them feeling out of control until they learn the weaknesses of their character

- Hurting other players is a significant part of this game, so players must have a thick hide against such things. (Again, I prefer it that way!)

Something else to consider; the game may feature a cyberpunk-ish future but it is very much a noir story. Thinking of the game and the setting in noir terms and imagery helps with understanding the "feel" of the game.

Yeah, to be honest, I always cringe a bit when people call it cyberpunk. Floyd (and bits of Rachel) notwithstanding, there's really not a lot of "cyber." It's definitely more in the broadly "future noir" style of Blade Runner and such.

But semantic quibbles aside, rbelikov hit the nail on the head: it's a beautiful, lush and engrossing game that takes an hour to set up, three to play, and six to learn (and much longer to learn well )...for that reason (and other, sillier ones) the biggest issue with this game is just that it's hard to find people to play it with you, unless you already have a group that goes for that sort of thing.

Just chiming in as well to say that I think the other posters got it right. Some of the thematic elements make a lot of sense if you're at all familiar with film noir or hardboiled detective fiction.

Man, I'd love to see some print on demand support for this.

jasonpanella said:

Man, I'd love to see some print on demand support for this.

Me too... Let's hope the books (fiction) currently being published bring so many new fans to the game that an expansion or at least small PoD will come out anytime in the near future...

Yeah, I know. But ain't it sweet to dream now and then?

Is what subochre said accurate. About it taking three hours to play? I've noticed that the playtimes that they put on the descriptions of their products tend to be shorter than any of the actual game times I've experienced. I wouldn't consider it a downside, I'm a fan of Arkham Horror so I know a thing or two about games taking time, I'm just curious about the game I just purchased.

Blue_Hawaiian said:

Is what subochre said accurate. About it taking three hours to play? I've noticed that the playtimes that they put on the descriptions of their products tend to be shorter than any of the actual game times I've experienced. I wouldn't consider it a downside, I'm a fan of Arkham Horror so I know a thing or two about games taking time, I'm just curious about the game I just purchased.

Totally understandable. I know a lot of people use a "one hour per player" rule of thumb, so three hours is pretty accurate if you're playing with three people. I've played a few times with four players and the game ran around three hours, but I think that's because people were focusing on the game.

Yeah, that was a pretty optimistic figure; the longest game I've played was nearly six hours, but that was indeed with five players, and it was our first time. So I agree with jasonpanella: "one hour per player" is a pretty accurate rule of thumb, but if people really know what they're doing and (in particular) plan out their turns in advance, they can squeeze it down a fair amount.

i agree with all the above positive respond to this game, i purchased this game because i love drawing and looking at the top 5 on BGG, nothing is anything better designed, drawing-wise, than android. but a little i knew of this game, so i asked the geek that runs the store, and he said "this is the best detective game ever created". so i bought it disregarding my friend's advice that a newbie shouldnt buy something so hard to understand, plus, this is the only downside of the game, it would reduce our player, from 7 in the group, to only 3: namely, me, my girlfriend cuz she'd like whatever i chose unvoluntarily, and that group leader who masters most of the games we play.

and one more thing, never have i had an argument near fighting over a game contradiction than android. the fight over the game just somehow destroy the will of playing game of fun-game lovers and now it left me only two players; my girl decided not to play it anymore. and the other who have tried decided that their head was too dizzy playing and the dark card really brings bad moods when you get whacked in the game. but then again, if you don't really have fantasy about being an investigator in a really mean street universe, you have been warned.

for me, i love this game and all the wits in the fight

rbelikov said:

- Understanding of the Android universe at a relatively deep level is almost necessary in order to fully appreciate the theme. Otherwise a lot of events may seem somewhat random and unthematic out of context. The game doesn't make it easy to follow the unfolding story about your character, it just provides little bits and pieces of the story, and if the player is looking for a connected story, the onus is on the player to use their imagination to fill in the missing details. (Again, I prefer it that way!)

So how does one go about reaching the level of understanding necessary to appreciate it except by playing repeatedly... reading the books?

Skowza said:

So how does one go about reaching the level of understanding necessary to appreciate it except by playing repeatedly... reading the books?

That helps, but paying attention to the flavor text in both the rulebook and the cards was what really did it for me (even on just a few plays).