Post-apocalyptic Fun: A Review of 51st State

by Randy

One of our recent acquisitions is 51st State, a card game from Toy Vault based in the Neuroshima world (like Neuroshima Hex). There has been quite a bit of buzz about this one, often with it being compared to Race for the Galaxy. In fact, many claim it will effectively replace Race for the Galaxy in your collection. I want to share how we're feeling about the game after a handful of sessions under our belts. For those of you not familiar with the Neuroshima world, it is a post-apocalypic North America with various factions vying for power. It was originally based on the Polish roleplaying game Neuroshima. The designer of 51st State, Ignacy Trzewiczek, is also one of the designers of both the Neuroshima roleplaying game and Neuroshima Hex. For those of you familiar with Fallout, what I've seen and read about it seems a lot like the world depicted in that series of videogames. It's an interesting setting, and the art of the cards does a great job of conveying the post-apocalyptic theme.

The rules of the game are not too complex, though I must indicate that the rulebook isn't that great. It meanders a bit, and some things are not referred to throughout but not explained until the very end. That being said, a couple reads and look at some online resources helped us get started. It starts with players selecting cards from several set out at the beginning of the turn. After card selction, players earn an income and then take turn executing actions. Actions can be playing a location (more on this later), using a production location with a worker, playing a leader, rebuilding a location or a couple other minor actions. Play continues until all players have passed. For the most part, gameplay is multiplayer solitaire, much like Race for the Galaxy, or even Dominion.

Most of the cards you'll see are locations, and locations are very interesting in this game. Each location may be played in one of three ways, each with a color associated with it. The most basic function is white, and that is putting the card in your play area as a location; doing this can derive one of several benefits, such as giving an income of a resource, or being able to produce victory points or having a trait that stays in effect. Some are production locations that you, or sometimes an opponent, may play a worker on to get its benefit. Another option is to make a deal, which is the blue action. This will give you a modest income of its resource (or sometimes a card or victory points) each turn. The final action, denoted as red, is to conquer the location. This will yield a one-time windfall of resources, cards or victory points. This is a definite strength of the game. Each time you look at a card, you have to decide how you want to play it. It's a very interesting tactical consideration, and very thematic to the world.

Each player takes on the role of one of the world's factions. There are four: Mutants, New York, Appalachian Federation and the Merchant's Guild. Each faction is trying top establish dominance by controlling areas. They each play a little different. The differences are not huge, but somewhat thematic. This is reflected in how they spend resources to accomplish the three basic actions for dealing with a location, and income they receive in the resources present in the game: scrap, building materials, weapons and fuel. As can be expected, each has an advantage towards one of the basic location actions.

I have to say I've been enjoying this game. Rulebook woes aside, it's a great game. There is certainly a bit of randomness with the limited card availability per turn, but the cards seem balanced enough that you won't have a situation where you need to fish for cards to implement your chosen strategy. It has enough complexity to be interesting, without dictating a dominant strategy.The stated playing time is 40-90 minutes, and is accurate. In an earlier blog post I talked about the "sweet spot" for games in regard to fun versus time spent, and I think this game does a good job hitting it. 51st State gets a solid recommendation from me. I encourage you to give it a try!

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Of all the luck!

Over the last couple weeks, I have had a few interactions with the customer service people for several game companies. Invariably, I have been treated very well and received prompt replies. I think that it reflects well on the industry that companies are eager to keep us, the gamers, happy. So let me share a little with you.

Over the 8-1/2 years my wife and I have been together, we have bought an enormous load of games. That's what we do. Some people go clubbing, some people take frequent little vacations... we game. And we love it. But back to the point, we have bought a lot of games. And until a few weeks ago, we haven't had any issues with components.

It seems quite uncanny that over the last month, all the games we purchased had some issue. That's four games from four separate companies. Yeesh! Crazy luck that we've had. I guess if you buy enough games, you're eventually going to get one with a minor defect. It just happens. And you contact customer support, because they just make it all better. Anyway, here are the companies that we have contacted, and our responses:

1. North Star Games
Our copy of Wits & Wagers Family had a single wet-erase marker that didn't write. We were able to play the game fine, it's just that we didn't have had a marker for the fifth player. This did indeed come up in our first game. I contacted the company, and a nice fellow by the name of Andrew contacted me very quickly. He explained that there was a defective batch of markers. I received a set of replacements, plus a couple extra cards for the standard version of Wits & Wagers. Top notch service, guys!



2. Z-Man Games
Our Christmas present to ourselves, Neuroshima Hex!, suffered from having a board that had an extra slice through the middle. After the first play, we had a sliver of the board between the standard middle fold of the board and this cut (probably 2-3mm wide)peel off, leaving a noticeable eyesore. My wife contacted Z-Man Games, and Zev (the Z-Man of Z-Man!) contacted her personally to address the issue. Within a few days, we had received a new board. Thank you, Z-Man!



3. Gamewright
Gamewright publishes, among other things, Forbidden Island. If you haven't tried it, please do! Expect a review from us soon. Anyway, upon opening the tin, we found one of the island space tiles, the Whispering Garden, had a tear across it. Since their tiles are prepunched, it likely happened when it was separated from the boardstock, since sometimes the paper top hangs to the sprue. Upon being contacted, Gamewright immediately sent a replacement. I would like to thank Emily, the woman who handled my issue. Thanks!



4. Gary Games
Yesterday, we picked up Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer from Gary Games. As with Forbidden Island, definitely expect a review of this game. We found upon opening that we were missing one of the Apprentice cards. These are particularly important because they make up your starting deck. It hasn't yet come up, but that makes it unplayable for four players. It's a bit preemptive for me to discuss their customer service, but I have sent a message to them and am awaiting a reply. I fully believe that they'll do the industry proud and ship out a replacement card soon. Update: Replacement card received, plus a promo! Thank you!



So... that is that. I wanted to thank the customer service people at these companies. Way to go.  So... of all the luck, eh? It is truly bizarre that after buying so many games without issue, that four in a row have either missing or defective parts! Crazy!

Neuroshima Hex!

Hi! Today I've decided to share a little about one of our newest games, Neuroshima Hex by Z-Man Games. Angie and I have played this a few times since we gave this for ourselves for Christmas. That is a bit of a story alone!

We had decided to allow ourselves one game for Christmas, but we were torn on what to get. On our list were Steam, Dixit, Neurosima Hex and the new Sid Meier's Civilization board game. We went back and forth on it, and came up with a plan on how to decide: we decided not to decide for ourselves... and get someone from our friendly local game store to choose for us.

So... one of the joys of having a physical game store to walk into is building relationships. Our primary local game store is Evolution Gaming in Eugene, Oregon, where we live. We described our dilemma to one of the owners, and asked if he would be so kind as to make a choice. He looked at our list, and threw the game in a box as we meandered around the other side of the store. He later told us that he picked it based on what he knew we played. This is why local game stores are awesome. Or at least can be, when the people running it have the right attitude. Like at Evolution Gaming, or at Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon.

Anyway... the game. Of course he picked Neuroshima Hex. This made the list in part due to the iPhone app. My wife had been playing it on her iPhone for awhile and was intrigued by it. So she had a few plays up on me, which is fine. But just so you know, there's a cheap way to try it out... if you have an iPhone.

Neuroshima Hex is a cross between an abstract area control game and a tactical combat game. Played on a hexagonal grid, you and your opponents are trying to destroy one another's base. You do this by playing tiles and attacking. Your turns consist of drawing tiles from your faction's supply until you have three, discarding a tile and then playing up to two tiles. Tiles are either going to be a unit, which typically has a melee or ranged attack value in certain directions, a module which gives bonuses to adjacent friendly units, and action tiles. The primary type of action tile is an Attack tile, which you may play at the end of your turn to initiate a board-wide execution of all tiles' attacks according to their initiative value. All players' units participate.

So positioning is everything. When you place a tile, you must consider its initiative bonus in relation to enemy units that are eligible to attack it. Your super melee unit may be adjacent to the enemy base, but it may not get to act before it is eliminated. There are a lot of considerations altogether, making this a very strategic game.

In the base game there are four factions, each with a different flavor. It should be noted that there is a roleplaying game that this was based (called Neuroshima), and the factions draw from the post-apocalyptic world this happens in. One is a bunch of mutant brutes who melee well but lack range. Another focuses on range and mobility. One makes extensive use of modules, and the last is unit-heavy and spreads across the board easily. Pretty balanced. There are also two expansions that add factions to the base game, one of which (Neuroshima Hex! Duel) can be played as a stand-alone two player game.

 
The verdict? We like this game a lot. It doesn't take long to play, and it is very strategic. There are a lot of considerations in the game. Playing the game just as a tactical game will get you stomped, but so will playing it as only an abstract area control game. We're very glad to have this game in our collection.

And a note on customer service. the copy that we opened had a defective board. The board had an additional cut through the center, resulting in a sliver of the surface coming off almost immediately, showing the paperboard underneath. My wife contacted Z-Man and received correspondence from Zev (Mr. Z-Man himself!), followed by a replacement board a few days later. We always appreciate when a game company provides great service. Thank you, Z-Man!

I hope you guys enjoyed this. Have you played this game? Or the Neuroshima Duels? Let us know what you think! And also check out Cool Factor 5 and see what Julian is playing!