Thames & KosmosThe Crew - Quest for Planet Nine | Card Game | Kennerspiel des Jahres Winner | Cooperative | 3-5 Players | Ages 10+ | Trick-Taking | 50 Levels of Difficulty | Endless Replay

OVERVIEW: The Crew is a trick taking game for 2-5 players, similar to Euchre, Hearts, and Spades. The innovative aspect is that all of the players are working cooperatively towards a common goal that becomes progressively more difficult with each success. This cooperative environment makes the game easy to teach as it encourages players to help each other succeed in completing each mission. The missions generally involve getting specific players to win tricks involving specific cards. The fifty included levels ramp up in difficulty as multiple missions and mission order restrictions are added to increase the complexity of each round.COMMUNICATION: In most trick taking games, there are heavy restrictions on communicating undisclosed information from your hand of cards, commonly known as 'table talk'. The Crew adds a unique element of communication to the players, affording them advantages if used properly. This allows players to reveal one of their cards, that is not trump or the subject of current missions, and indicate with a token weather it is the highest card in it's suit, the lowest card in it's suit, or it is the only card in it's suit. This information can be quite invaluable and necessary to the success of any given mission, creating a clever dynamic for players to exploit.SCALABILITY: The Crew is enjoyable at every player count, but becomes much more difficult as it scales up. As most missions involve specific players winning specific tricks, more players increases the likelihood of missions failing. Therefore the chances of getting through all fifty missions decreases. However the joy in this game is in the journey, not the destination, and sometimes coordinating five people to unify as one group can be much more rewarding than with two.PROS: The Crew is incredibly accessible to a large variety of players as it is easy to teach as well as learn. The puzzle solving aspect makes this game more engaging than other trick taking games in the genre, while the cooperative nature of the game emotionally invests players in the success of the everyone involved as a united team, or in this case a crew. The Crew is quick to set up and get started, and can be ended quickly by marking your place in the provided chart within the rule book.The higher levels are complex enough to challenge the most skilled players, and home brewed missions are easy to create.CONS: The theme of the Crew is irrelevant to actual game play, and could have easily been replaced by any conceivable genre. The cards themselves are standard stock, but the printing on them are less than ideal for color blind players or those with weaker eyesight. The featured art on each card is irrelevant to the game and lackluster at best. It is a missed opportunity not to use this space to make the important information the card (the suit and number) much more identifiable. The cards could be better, but they could also be modified or improved easily enough. I don't personally think that this is a deal breaker considering the price point and value of the product.CONCLUSION: The Crew offers one of the most accessible and innovative gaming experiences I have ever enjoyed. Practically anyone can pick up on the rules fast, and the fact that you are asking them to help you win, as opposed to challenging them to defeat you, brings enthusiastic players to your table. Once they taste the sweet success of completing each mission as a team, the drive to progress forward and relive that experience pushes them to continually deal the next hand. It is incredibly portable, with minimal set up, and the ability to quickly end the game and bookmark your place for the next session. It is a fantastic filler game, but is also substantial enough to continue long into the night.

Bottom line up front: an easy to learn, easy to teach, co-op version of Spades that doesn't let one person dominate the table.If you sat me down and said "we made a thematic Hearts co-op variant where you don't get to table talk," I would would have laughed you out the door. Utter nonsense.My wife and I are about halfway through Crew's 50 missions. I'm not laughing anymore. I'm in awe. This is one of the most enjoyable games in existence.The basic gameplay is as old as Hearts or Spades. You play a card. The other players follow suit. High card in suit wins. Trump cards beat all.Instead of individualistic "winner take all" premise of Spades, however, Crew asks all the players to complete communal tasks by winning tricks in different ways. It's a co-op card game. Most of the time, these involve Player X winning the trick containing Card N in a certain order, but unique variations exist (for example: win a trick with a non-trump "1" card). Complete the tasks, and the group wins the game!And then Crew tells you that you the group can't table talk outside of:- one card reveal- per game- per player.Boom.So many good things to say about this rule.- It forces you to use your logic, not the group's.- It prevents the most charismatic or strategic or obnoxious person from dominating the game, a serious problem in all co-op games.- It adds gobs of tension. Why did they play that card? Are they trying to tell me something?- It forces you outside the box.- It drives your mom batty.This rule should become the standard for EVERY co-op game, bar none.To cap it all off, Crew comes with a campaign of 50 game scenarios, any of which you can simply pick up and play at any time. Tons of variety.Crew will have a place on my shelf in perpetuity. A brilliant, reasonably light game that can find its way to any table. Play it with your game group, play it with your parents, play it with your kids (once they figure out what the word "silence" actually means).-----------------------------------------------------------------[2-Player review]Okay, so then you tell me that Crew has a 2P variant where one player controls a robot hand. I laugh you out the door again, more cautiously this time.Then the variant works, albeit differently than 3-5 player Crew. I'm in awe again.In 2P Crew, the robot is dealt 7 cards face down, then 7 cards face up, each covering on face down card. This means that you have 7 cards which at the beginning of the game are entirely unknown. The game turns into a even more of a puzzle. To explain:- Both players can, and should, play based on the face up cards. Some information is always known.- You need to dig for the face down cards. Some information is always hidden.- You have to be exceptionally cautious to avoid completing tasks out of turn. Digging for face down cards involves taking cards - some of which you cannot, or should not, be taking.Because of the puzzle-heavy focus, I don't recommend the 2P variant for everyone. You need to enjoy co-op games, card games, and logic puzzles, and you need to be okay with losing. Sometimes, there is literally no way to win. For my wife and I, we enjoy the struggle to make that determination. Others may not. Give this one some thought before you add it to your 2 player collection.