Mission: Red Planet

EvEvanstar3,5

This game is a basic area control game, where the actions are fueled by player's simultaneous role selection from their symmetrical series of cards. At this point I've seen the role selection element a few times already in games I love such as Glass Road and Rococo, but here it's still enjoyable even if it feels a little basic now. I will say that not all the bonus cards are of equal usefulness, and the game plays fast once people are familiar with the roles so it can be hard to get a significant board presence if you don't get a strong start. ★ Art and components ☆ Innovative mechanics ★ Handles 5 or more players ☆ Good with min or max players ★ Low time between turns ★ Comfortable complexity ★ Re-playability ☆☆☆ Enjoyment

ToTomstar7,2

I've read that some folk consider Mission: Red Planet to be a hodge podge of game mechanics resulting in a mess, and I can't emphasize enough how much I disagree with that. Instead of a mess, several mechanics that have been around for a while have been combined to make a delicious playing experience, in which players can have an easy, fun time, while making real strategic decisions. Mission: Red Planet is probably a high end medium weight game in complexity, but is simple enough that non-gamers can be coaxed into playing, and fun enough to keep them playing many times after that. See my review for more details...