I like cooperative games, I love adventure games, and I'm a huge fan of the
Planet of the Apes, movies, so this game should have been a shoe-in for me. Unfortunately, despite some really nice production value and a very well-considered application of theme, this game just isn't very interesting to play.
The game plays like a combination of Reiner Knizia's
Lord of the Rings board game and
Elder Sign, two games I like quite a bit, but in this case they don't combine well. The game consists of a row of cards based on the prominent events of the film, each requiring a particular combination of dice rolls in order to pass. A player's turn involves rolling dice in the hopes of getting the right combination, with a bit of card play to change dice facings. Success moves the marker representing Charlton Heston's Taylor along a path which serves as a timer, with an ape marker moving along the same path. If the ape makes it to the end before Taylor does, the players lose.
It's a simple enough game, but it relies on a lot of luck to get the dice rolls and the have the cards you need to progress, so it can be frustrating when you lose on what amounts to a bad roll or draw. In the end, this game is really just about rolling dice, with very little in the way of meaningful or interesting decisions to make.
The Planet of the Apes theme is nicely applied, with the cards calling back to iconic scenes from the film., and the idea of having players take on different aspects of Taylor's psyche rather than separate characters is an interesting solution to the problem of the story really only having one main character.
It's really too bad the game isn't better.
Rating:
2 (out of 5) The great use of theme actually makes this otherwise dull game all the more frustrating.
What we'll play instead:
Lord of the Rings: the Board Game and
Elder Sign are both similar and a lot more fun.
Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks is another very similar game that uses its theme well and offers more interesting and immersive game play.
