Those of us who:
1) Know what ‘Eurogame’ and ‘Ameritrash’ means.
2) Know that enjoying the game is more important than winning.
3) Don’t own more than 50 games.
4) Don’t consider their FLGS a second home (maybe a 3rd or 4th though).
5) Like to read a review without being overloaded with information.
Lifeboat is a card game that could easily be passed over at your local game store. It's cover is unassuming, it's in a small box and there has been next to no word-of-mouth here on BGG about it. So let me try to encourage you to slow down when browsing games, and give this one a second (or third) glance.
I won't bore you with game instructions, as you can find those elsewhere on the Lifeboat game page. Let's just jump in the boat and see where it takes us, ok?
Art:
First off, I love the artwork. Very simple bold lines, and yet so Orphan Annie-esque. It adds a great 1920's-1930's feel to the cards, which really appeals to the artist inside me.
Components:
Yeah, cheap plastic things... but honestly, who cares? There is no need for anything fancy here. Plastic blue chips and plastic yellow gems, works for me! The cards are the star of the game, not the plastic...
The Rules:
For the most part, the rules are fairly easy to pick up on... with just a quick overview to teach the game and then a couple rounds before everyone will be able to understand how it works, and what needs to be done. Sadly, the rules could be better written... and maybe a little more thorough. There were several times when a rule check didn't really explain well what needed to happen, or what to do - luckily, we just role-played some rules that didn't exist.
The Game:
The game is truly fun! The mechanics are unique, and the guesswork of who loves you and who hates you is quite ingenious. You are on a lifeboat, not much to do but fight and steal as some people try to get the boat to land before they die. What a riot!
Downtime:
The game plays fairly fast, and keeps everyone involved with next to no downtime between turns... mainly because on other player's turns, they may be picking a fight with you... or asking you to help them beat up someone else! There is also little reason for long-term strategizing (I love that word), it is pretty simple to figure out what you need to do next. Analysis Paralysis is next to zero.
Game Length:
To be truthful, the game can be a little long - at least an hour depending on how quick people want to get to shore and who will let them get there quick. I would like to have seen this dropped to more of a 30 minute game. But the time isn't too bad.
Finish:
The ending is a little anti-climatic. You will usually have the winner figured out when the game is 3/4 completed... as many will be dead, and the others are hanging on by a thread. So for more than half the people playing, it's just sitting around waiting for the game to finish so they can maybe get some points. The game is more fun for folks if the lifeboat makes it to land quicker with not everyone dead.
Pros:
Fun game
Easy to understand
Plays well with 4-6 (6 is best)
Cons:
More info in rules
Nothing for dead players to do but wait
Need at least 4 to make game good
Big Con:
I have mentioned the lack of info in rules. One BLAZING example of this would be the lack of explaining what the 3 yellow gems are for that come with the game. There isn't a single word in the rules about these three gems... so for the first 3 games I played, they sat in the box. It wasn't until I checked BGG and found someone else explaining these are to indicate the birds that appear as you get closer to shore. It was one of those 'duh' moments... made perfect sense. But then, why couldn't a single sentance in the rules that come with the game point that out?
Overall:
We truly enjoyed this game - even my brother who was playing The Kid and died in the first 15 minutes of the game. It will make it to the table again in the near future.
I give it a 7/10
Last edited on 2008-05-29 19:17:30 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Posted Fri May 23, 2008 1:29 am
