Mission: Red Planet?

So I got a trade offer on BGG. Battleship Galaxies for LOTR LCG (which I know I want) and Mission: Red Planet.

Some of my personal info:

-I tend to like games by the Brunos, or at least games they had a hand in. Never played El Grande though.

-I like games with roles, so I'm cool with that (TI3, Glory to Rome, Citadels)

So what does the F:AT crew think of it? I know it's been out for quite some time, so how does it hold up? I think Battleship Galaxies is a massive turd, so with LOTR already on the table, I can only move up, right?

I really, really disliked Mission: Red Planet. Don't know why--it just....kind of sucked.

And I usually like Faidutti's games, too.

You may dig it a lot more than me, man. It just did absolutely nothing for me. And I even played it with Steve "Tanktop" Avery, Michael "Veggie Powers Activate" Barnes, and Robert "J.D. Salinger" Martin.

This game fucking sucks because I couldn't get the box open :`(

I'm a pretty big fan of Faidutti and when I first got this game I really didn't care for it too much. The game just seemed kind of bland and never really was all that exciting. I shelved the game and didn't play it for about a year.

Earlier this year I decided to give it another go and for whatever reason it was a huge hit this time. I think it might have been because we were all familiar with it and weren't learning it. I'd say it takes getting to that 4th or 5th game to really fall in love with it. At that point you really become aware of how to use the roles in the best way. Also there is plenty of chances to screw over everyone else so the game can be pretty nasty (something I enjoy). I've read that some people hate the hidden "discovery" cards that can be placed, but they don't bother me. I did once used them to really piss off one of my friends. We were both tied in a zone that was worth a lot of points. However, I used my Scientist to discover that the hidden discovery card was actually radioactive (or something like that) and it would destroy the person with the majority letting the second highest player reap the rewards. I left the area during the last turn much to his delight. When he found out that I had duped him and basically murdered all his guys during the final scoring he was irate! I didn't win that game, but that move made my day.

The role selection really makes it one of my favorite "area control" games. It feels like a deeper version of Citadels. Also the game rarely lasts more than 1 hour which is also a plus in my book. The ample opportunities to screw people over is just icing on the cake for me.

I thought I read somewhere that M:RP was going out of print too...If that is true than I say if you are interested in it go for it. At the very least it might become highly sought after in a couple of years and you can trade it away if you hate it.

I've owned M:RP since it first came out and our group still plays it years later.

I don't know what's supposed to suck about it - it's a lot of fun, you can have a few drinks and play and it's easy and comes out regularly in our group (we modified the scoring a bit with a poor reading of the rules but it doesn't change the game in any fundamental way). The roles are a lot of fun: you can sabotage rockets, make them take off early, switch guys, kill guys off. If there is anything you have to get used to, than it is that once on Mars there is less time and fewer options to move around on the planet than you would think. But if you play your cards properly ahead of the scoring rounds (there are 3 of them), there are ways to get what you want. (We always play four players but three works well too and five maybe even better).

I dunno, it's not a heavy game by any means and we don't overthink it: there's just enough 'take that', we always feud with my best friend regardless of whether it sinks the game for both of us, and I found it a good deal more fun than El Grande which partially inspired it and is probably a better and deeper game.

We love this game. I'd never sell it!

Edit: Egg posted while I was writing but my bet it probably is going oop. Haven't seen it re-stocked on local game store shelves at any rate.

I like Mission Red Planet. There's secret goals which can be completely unpredictable but it's fun.

Opening the game -- remarkably difficult until you split a seam on the box.

Given the reviews I've heard on Battleship Galaxies from people I know this sounds like a very solid deal.

S.

Based on what your likes are Josh, this sounds like a winner of a deal.


-Will

I agree, you could do a lot worse in terms of trades. Mission Red Planet is basically the two headed baby of El Grande and Citadels. It's not as good as either one of those, but those are pretty great games. I think you'll like it.

Trade Battleship for it in a heartbeat. I know I'm sick to death of it, but after playing it WAY too many times in a short period...it needs an expansion.

M:RP is fun.