The Crew (card game)

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The Crew
File:The Crew board game box art.jpg
The Crew board game box art
DesignersThomas Sing
IllustratorsMarco Armbruster
PublishersKosmos
Publication2019
Genresco-operative, trick-taking
Players2-5
Playing time20 minutes
Websitethamesandkosmos.com

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine is a board game for 2-5 players designed by Thomas Sing and released in 2019. In The Crew, a trick-taking cooperative game with fifty missions, players aim to win tricks based on their task cards, but could only communicate limited information on their cards. Upon its release, The Crew received critical success and won numerous awards. A sequel, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, was released in 2021.

Gameplay

The Crew is a co-operative, trick-taking, limited communication game with four suits and a wild suit. During each round, one player (rotated clockwise) opens a trick, and other players must play another card matching the trick; at the end of the round, the player with the highest valued card matching the trick of the starting card wins. In most missions, players are assigned a number of task cards equally divided among the players. If a trick contains a player card matching the task card of one player, he/she must win the corresponding player card.

The game ends as a victory for all players when all task cards are won, however, if the matching player card is won by another player, all players immediately lose the game. In The Crew, players may not communicate with each other throughout the game about their cards, except by revealing one of their cards along with a solar token, which may be placed at the top, middle or bottom depending on whether the card is the highest, only or lowest card of the suit.[1]

The game contains a logbook with fifty missions progressively increasing in difficulty.[2] Some missions alter communication rules, require task cards to be finished procedurally, or introduce other special conditions to win instead of task cards.

Reception

The Crew received positive reviews upon its release. Space.com listed it as one of the best space-themed board games, and stated that it had "a truly unique plot and challenges".[3] Rachel Kaufman from the Smithsonian Magazine also praised the game's co-operative, "family friendly" mechanics, and considered it to be suitable for "fans of traditional trick-taking card games who want something new", but criticised the theme.[4] The replayabilility offered by the missions, which become increasingly difficult, was positively commented by multiple reviewers, including Nicole Brady, a member of the American Tabletop Awards, and Matt Basil.[5][6] Matt Jarvis from the Dicebreaker also listed the game as one of the best co-operative games, praising the "difficulty escalation" for the missions, and replayability, and compared the limited communication mechanic it to The Mind, but stated that it "expands upon it to provide a greater challenge".[7] The game also received several accolades, including the 2020 Kennerspiel des Jahres award, with the jury stating that in the game players "gradually come to appreciate the subtleties of the genre and are challenged in an original way",[8] the Deutscher Spiele Preis award,[9][10] and the American Tabletop Award for Best Casual Game.[5][11]

Despite the praise The Crew received, there was also significant criticism. Keith Law from Paste Magazine was recommended the game, and was complimentary the "beautifully frustrating, and definitely fun" due to the limited communication. However, she suggested that the game lacking in originality, and its simplicity being unsuitable for the Kennerspiel des Jahres.[12] Reviewing for TechRaptor, Andrew Stretch recommended the game for players who enjoy the trick-taking mechanism, but critiqued its appeal for those who want to have "an entertaining experience", and considered the gameplay as restrictive. He concluded that "it will be few and far between sessions when you have anything more exciting to play".[13]

Reimplementation

In 2021, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea was released as a sequel to the original game, replacing the original task cards with ninety-six different task cards with difficulty ratings, along with thirty-two new missions.[14] Reviewing for the Paste Magazine, Keith Law criticised the theme, but enjoyed that the game allowed to "craft your own challenges using the difficulty rating system", concluding that it was somewhat better than the original.[15] The Smithsonian Magazine also considered it to be superior compared to the original.[4] Polygon listed the sequel as one of the best board games, and commended the new task cards as well as innovation.[16] The game was also recommended for the 2021 Best Casual Game for the American Tabletop Awards.[17]

References

  1. ^ Sing, Thomas. "The Crew Manual" (PDF). Thames and Kosmos. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  2. ^ Jeff Spry (2022-02-21). "Best space board games of 2022". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  3. ^ Jeff Spry (2022-02-21). "Best space board games of 2022". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  4. ^ a b Magazine, Smithsonian; Kaufman, Rachel. "The Best Board Games of 2021". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  5. ^ a b "Best tabletop games, according to experts". NBC News. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  6. ^ "6 best cheap board games under £15". Dicebreaker. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  7. ^ "Best co-op board games". Dicebreaker. 2019-11-22. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  8. ^ "Die Crew (The Crew)". Spiel des Jahres. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  9. ^ "Spielemesse digital: Das sind die fünf größten Spieletrends 2020". www1.wdr.de (in German). 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  10. ^ "The Crew wins prestigious board game award Deutscher Spielepreis". Dicebreaker. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  11. ^ Hall, Charlie (2021-04-06). "The American Tabletop Awards celebrate 2020's best board games". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  12. ^ "The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine Is a Fun Game, But Its Kennerspiel des Jahres Nomination Is Tricky". pastemagazine.com. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  13. ^ "The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine Review". TechRaptor. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  14. ^ "The Crew Goes Underwater with Mission Deep Sea, and Improves on 2019's Award-Winning Board Game". pastemagazine.com. 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  15. ^ "The Crew Goes Underwater with Mission Deep Sea, and Improves on 2019's Award-Winning Board Game". pastemagazine.com. 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  16. ^ Hall, Charlie; Johnson, Sarah; Theel, Charles (2021-11-05). "The 22 best board games". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  17. ^ Hall, Charlie (2022-04-11). "The best board games of 2021, as chosen by The American Tabletop Awards". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-06-25.

External links

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