The Shipwreck Arcana

Trapped in a drowned world, you and your allies are doomed -- or are you? Using a mystical deck and a healthy dose of logic, you can predict each others' fates and escape unscathed.

And that is how we are introduced to Mesomorph's newest game, "The Shipwreck Arcana," a cooperative game of deduction and logic. It was on Kickstarter and I found it on Thursday. It seemed interesting, and I considered backing it, but wanted more time to think before I did anything. Unfortunately, I didn't have more time, due to the fact that by the time I found it it had 3 hours left in its campaign. 

Here's the thing with me and Kickstarter: I've only backed three projects, each for $5 or less. The first, "Steampunk Rally," I backed with $5 to get the print and play files, which I then printed off, cut out and formulated, and then gave to my mom for mother's day. The next, "Book of Mormon Heros: The Servant of Helaman," was a computer game created by a member of the church. By pledging $1, I was emailed a link to where I could download the game. I never did download it, come to think of it. Hold on a sec.     . . .     Okay I'm back. So the link I was given: bookofmormongames.com leads me to another page which has a whole bunch of other links to it, and I'm too lazy to try to search for it. Plus, right now it looks like one of those sites that could give you viruses. Anyway, it only cost a dollar and supported him, so all's good. The third project I backed, "Anachrony," was also a $5 pledge to get the print and play version. The difference between this and Steampunk Rally, however, was the fact that Anachrony is huge. Like, really big. Like, it's over 100 pages for just the base game, not including all the expansion stuff I also got. So I never did have the time or money to print it all off. But I still have the files.

So I have never really gotten a game through Kickstarter, just files to print off at home to make my own version. And I'm thinking, it's about time I got one. With Steampunk Rally and Anachrony, to actually get the game would have cost $55 and $59, respectfully. I just don't have that kind of money to spend on games. (Unfortunately. Maybe some day...) But with Shipwreck Arcana, not only did it seem like a really interesting game, it was also only $15 for the entire game, plus all unlocked stretch goals. I got a $25 gift card that I could use for whatever I wanted (read: games) so I decided to go for it. 

The Shipwreck Arcana is a real game about a fictional deck of cards. The deck exists in a world which is described only as "sunken" or "drowned." The world's history is unknown -- but it is hinted at by the fictional illustrator of the tarot deck, providing a glimpse of the history that surrounds it. The Shipwreck Arcana is a compact, cooperative game of deduction, evaluation, and logic, combining simple, speedy play with incredibly deep strategy. Players take turns playing tokens according to rules found on an ever-changing tableau of cards, in order to convey information to the rest of the group before their doom arrives. 2-5 players, 20 minutes, recommended ages 10+.

Although I was kind of rushed with my decision, I still think that it was a good one. In reality, I wasn't that rushed with my decision. I decided to support it, and gave the credit card information for my $25 gift card. A day later I got a notice telling me it was declined because it couldn't accept that kind of card, so I had a week to fix it or just drop out. So I had a week to really decide whether or not to get it, and in the end I decided that it would be a great enjoyable game.

Some reasons I backed it: (1) It is a short game. My favorite type of games are the ones where there's tons of different ways to score points and it's strategy driven and there are multiple paths to victory. For example: T'Zolkin: The Mayan Calendar. Great game, for those very reasons. Also, I'm really looking into a new game called Merlin that fits this exact style. My game Somerset was structured after these ideas. However, sometimes you just need a quick, light game. Timeline, for example. The Shipwreck Arcana lasts only about 20 minutes, and is a filler, which will be a nice breath of air after all the heavy strategy games.

(2) The game is like a series of difficult logic puzzles. You can read the rules and learn more about the game here, but basically every turn a person is using logic to get to to figure out what he has, and you are using logic to figure out what he has. With 30 cards that give a variety of different situations, and 49 (seven times seven) different tile sets you could be given to work the puzzle with, the variety of logic puzzles to solve is near endless.

(3) It supports adding and dropping out players super easily. Have you ever had a game where when you were in the middle of it someone came in and wanted to join, or somebody playing had to leave? This game allows that flexibility without messing up the flow of the game at all.

(4) It has a super quick set up time. One of the reasons why I love Splendor.

So all in all I'm excited for March 2018 to come, when I'll be getting my copy. Yes, in six months. That's about the amount of time it takes to get a game when you back it on Kickstarter after it has been successfully funded.