This is a complex and extremely ambitious attempt at injecting the aesthetic of role-playing into boardgames. More than anything else, the story and experience of playing this game is perhaps more important than the actual process of winning. Therefore you should judge carefully before buying. If you’re looking for someone light and simple to play, then Android is not for you.
Thematically it borrows heavily from the world of P K Dick and Bladerunner, being set in a dystopian future populated by androids and offworld colonies. At the heart of the game is a murder that can be solved by the players, a conspiracy featuring shady corporations to unfold and a personal plot that each player has to follow. It’s important to note however that this is NOT a murder mystery like Clue – depending on your own character, each of which has their own set of abilities, weaknesses, strengths and motivations, each player will have differing ways of winning the game. Winning the game is resolved via a complex scoring system which calculates who has the most victory points and unusually the murderer is not pre-determined.
Android is a big, heavy game with a lot of components as fans of Fantasy Flight Games will come to expect. You will need a big table with a lot of space and some time beforehand to set it all up. There are a lot of counters, cards and tokens to hand out during play, but overall it is designed beautifully with some fine, evocative artwork. Once you get past the fact that the murder isn’t the centre of the game, then Android’s THEME washes over you and slowly takes you by the hand into the heart of a unique gaming experience.
Each player is assigned a specific character along with a unique set of plot cards, a vehicle ruler, a deck of twilight cards and to begin with, a help prompt that is pretty useful. Each player draws a specific plot that is unique to them and if they manage to resolve the plot in a positive way, then they will gain victory points at the end or specific abilities that help during the progress of the game. The vehicle ruler determines how far a player can move around the board.
The core mechanic of the game is the Twilight Deck which is one of the more unusual and thought-provoking I’ve seen in a game. The deck is split into light and dark, with the latter being placed in the middle of the board. In the middle of each player’s character sheet is a “light meter” which acts as a resource for playing cards from the deck, some of which are higher in cost than others. If you play a light card which will benefit you only, then you move the counter on your light meter towards the dark. The only way you can then “lightshift” back into the dark is by playing dark cards on other players during their turn. It’s an intriguing mechanic that takes some time to get used to, but is good for a couple of things – it ensures that you are still involved in the game during downtime when it’s not your go and also means that you are fighting against each other rather than just jumping around the board doing your own thing. In order to use the light cards effectively you have to play dark cards during other people’s turns.
Downtime indeed can be a bit of an issue in the first few games because each player can do so many things on their turn. Another of Android’s wonderful mechanics is a bit of a double-edged sword, but when grasped, can really become quite exciting. Each player has a certain amount of “Time” (usually 6) that they can then expend doing what they like on their turn. You can move about the board (which is divided between New Angeles and the Moon via a space elevator called the Beanstalk), follow up evidence on a crime, try to uncover the conspiracy or visit certain locations in order to gain favours, hits and other assorted things that can aid your progress in the game.
At the start of the game a number of murder suspects are chosen according to the scenario played and the number of players present. A number of hunch cards are then dealt separately which give each player a guilty or innocent hunch. Each player can then try to locate evidence, broken into documentary, physical and testimony categories, and pin it on the suspect of their choice. This evidence is dotted around the board and can be obtained by visiting a location where it’s present. Depending on the suspect, certain types of evidence are better than others, but can be nullified by Alibis and Perjuries. At the end of the game, the person with the most amount of guilty evidence is the suspect and the player with the guilty hunch for them will gain a significant number of VPs. Players can ruin a player’s chance of ensuring that the suspect is guilty by obtaining hits to remove them from the game.
Further to that is “Uncovering the Conspiracy” which is documented in the game as a jigsaw puzzle that radiates out from the centre. Players can elect to “uncover…
A great game from fantasy flight, its not for begginers but it can satisfiy every advanced board game player out there! It takes a lot of time to setup up and it takes a couple of hours to complete the game but its great!!! Buy it !!!
*Due to lost in postage i never got the item from amazon so i bought it from the local board game store for 60*
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Amazing game. Unfortunately I din’t get it with Amazon in the end as it was sent by courier who failed to leave any note the two times they attempted to deliver. And I only discovered this when I came on to Amazon to track it. Due it being over Christmas I was given two options: – Go to the far side of London to collect or have it delivered on 27th (The last day they would hold it before returning it to Amazon). As it was a Christmas Present and I was away this was of no use to me.
Amazon quickly refunded the money but the delivery company were useless.
I bought the game elsewhere. Its a great game, tgakes along time to play especially the first time as you take a while to get into it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
An extremely complex but rewarding experience,
This is a complex and extremely ambitious attempt at injecting the aesthetic of role-playing into boardgames. More than anything else, the story and experience of playing this game is perhaps more important than the actual process of winning. Therefore you should judge carefully before buying. If you’re looking for someone light and simple to play, then Android is not for you.
Thematically it borrows heavily from the world of P K Dick and Bladerunner, being set in a dystopian future populated by androids and offworld colonies. At the heart of the game is a murder that can be solved by the players, a conspiracy featuring shady corporations to unfold and a personal plot that each player has to follow. It’s important to note however that this is NOT a murder mystery like Clue – depending on your own character, each of which has their own set of abilities, weaknesses, strengths and motivations, each player will have differing ways of winning the game. Winning the game is resolved via a complex scoring system which calculates who has the most victory points and unusually the murderer is not pre-determined.
Android is a big, heavy game with a lot of components as fans of Fantasy Flight Games will come to expect. You will need a big table with a lot of space and some time beforehand to set it all up. There are a lot of counters, cards and tokens to hand out during play, but overall it is designed beautifully with some fine, evocative artwork. Once you get past the fact that the murder isn’t the centre of the game, then Android’s THEME washes over you and slowly takes you by the hand into the heart of a unique gaming experience.
Each player is assigned a specific character along with a unique set of plot cards, a vehicle ruler, a deck of twilight cards and to begin with, a help prompt that is pretty useful. Each player draws a specific plot that is unique to them and if they manage to resolve the plot in a positive way, then they will gain victory points at the end or specific abilities that help during the progress of the game. The vehicle ruler determines how far a player can move around the board.
The core mechanic of the game is the Twilight Deck which is one of the more unusual and thought-provoking I’ve seen in a game. The deck is split into light and dark, with the latter being placed in the middle of the board. In the middle of each player’s character sheet is a “light meter” which acts as a resource for playing cards from the deck, some of which are higher in cost than others. If you play a light card which will benefit you only, then you move the counter on your light meter towards the dark. The only way you can then “lightshift” back into the dark is by playing dark cards on other players during their turn. It’s an intriguing mechanic that takes some time to get used to, but is good for a couple of things – it ensures that you are still involved in the game during downtime when it’s not your go and also means that you are fighting against each other rather than just jumping around the board doing your own thing. In order to use the light cards effectively you have to play dark cards during other people’s turns.
Downtime indeed can be a bit of an issue in the first few games because each player can do so many things on their turn. Another of Android’s wonderful mechanics is a bit of a double-edged sword, but when grasped, can really become quite exciting. Each player has a certain amount of “Time” (usually 6) that they can then expend doing what they like on their turn. You can move about the board (which is divided between New Angeles and the Moon via a space elevator called the Beanstalk), follow up evidence on a crime, try to uncover the conspiracy or visit certain locations in order to gain favours, hits and other assorted things that can aid your progress in the game.
At the start of the game a number of murder suspects are chosen according to the scenario played and the number of players present. A number of hunch cards are then dealt separately which give each player a guilty or innocent hunch. Each player can then try to locate evidence, broken into documentary, physical and testimony categories, and pin it on the suspect of their choice. This evidence is dotted around the board and can be obtained by visiting a location where it’s present. Depending on the suspect, certain types of evidence are better than others, but can be nullified by Alibis and Perjuries. At the end of the game, the person with the most amount of guilty evidence is the suspect and the player with the guilty hunch for them will gain a significant number of VPs. Players can ruin a player’s chance of ensuring that the suspect is guilty by obtaining hits to remove them from the game.
Further to that is “Uncovering the Conspiracy” which is documented in the game as a jigsaw puzzle that radiates out from the centre. Players can elect to “uncover…
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|Excellent choice for advanced players. . .,
A great game from fantasy flight, its not for begginers but it can satisfiy every advanced board game player out there! It takes a lot of time to setup up and it takes a couple of hours to complete the game but its great!!! Buy it !!!
*Due to lost in postage i never got the item from amazon so i bought it from the local board game store for 60*
Was this review helpful to you?
|Fun but Long,
Amazing game. Unfortunately I din’t get it with Amazon in the end as it was sent by courier who failed to leave any note the two times they attempted to deliver. And I only discovered this when I came on to Amazon to track it. Due it being over Christmas I was given two options: – Go to the far side of London to collect or have it delivered on 27th (The last day they would hold it before returning it to Amazon). As it was a Christmas Present and I was away this was of no use to me.
Amazon quickly refunded the money but the delivery company were useless.
I bought the game elsewhere. Its a great game, tgakes along time to play especially the first time as you take a while to get into it.
Was this review helpful to you?
|