Plaid Hat PH2500 Comanauts, Various

This was and amazing game

Great quick game along the same lines of Stuffed Fables and Aftermath.

There is a lot to like about this game. It is maybe one of the most unique (and creative) games that I've ever played (and my library has 100+ games). The idea of playing on the pages of the book, and how the game utilizes that mechanic, is genius in my opinion. And without getting into too specific details (to avoid spoilers), you are basically traveling inside this guy's mind to have adventures.Here are some things to like about the game:-It includes a large adventure book with 100 pages of illustrations, maps to play on, and directions guiding you through your adventures.-There is a lot of content, with around 70 standees (for enemies and players) total. Of the standees, around 20 are player avatars, each with unique abilities. It is fun to have such a variety of avatars to choose from.-It is fully cooperative, and playing solo is doable as well.- The writing is excellent, which is very important in a narrative driven game, and the illustrations are beautiful, which adds to the immersion.I gave it four stars instead of five because the rules felt a little convoluted, (they seemed like they could have been streamlined to avoid unnecessary confusion), and a few of the main mechanics felt somewhat clunky at times, taking away from the immersion. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the game, even with these flaws.

After playing Aftermath, I thought this game would be similar. The rulebook appears to not have been tested with people unfamiliar to the system the designer has made. Maybe it is the result of poor management of the company or game line.The rules are simple but there should be more examples and better organization of the rules. Because the scenarios are varied, perhaps that is why some rules were left ambiguous and it becomes the player’s responsibility to interpret the rules. This does not sit well with people who like concrete explanations or type A personalities. That’s 50% of the population generally speaking. So we were often left stuck on a rule because we weren’t sure what to do.The story of the overall game is about a group of characters who have to enter the mind of some scientist and live through his memories. At least from the scenarios/memories I have played, the scientist is not a likable person and I cannot empathize with him or really care about what happens to him.The roles that players can assume are more interesting. Some of the powers are not thematic. For example, every character has some colored die bonus and that isn’t always thematic. Some characters are useless in some scenarios. Maybe it would have been better to allow players to choose their roles and pay a penalty to switch between them.We definitely should have died, but I did not want to restart the entire game so we just keep reviving ourselves. Dice rolls can be very unlucky and you could switch out dies with used ones…unless there aren’t any in the discard.If this were a video game…maybe it would not be so bad to restart the game because there would be less set up time? But since it is not a video game I can do whatever I want. One of the perks of a board game.I think restarting the game would make the game more like work. And maybe after a while, you learn how to defeat levels, but is that what you really want to spend your time mastering? I could master the violin with that time and it would have greater payoff.My review is totally soured by my game partner and this review is completely biased by that fact. I could play the game by myself and be mildly entertained and I probably would play through all the scenarios, but I would have to do it alone because my husband has no interest in this game.Pros: The theme is not interesting to me at all but I like the concept of going through different scenarios. There is some mild deduction which reminds me of Black Sonata, but more ambiguous which maybe is something that certain people should learn to live with because life isn’t clear cut. I like the different roles like a gorilla or a woman with a dog. I like the diversity in gender, race, and age. I like that there are printed standees instead of gray miniatures I have to paint or else I have to spend time figuring out which bad guy is which.Overall, there is potential for this game but it is marred by a half-baked rulebook.For $20, I cannot recommend this game to people who have not played modern board games. I would only recommend this game to people who really really love this line of games AND who really really really want to explore this theme - because that’s what will carry you through.

This is a fun game with a unique premise. If this is your first foray outside of "standard" board games like Life and Monopoly, you will likely find yourself well out of your depth. But if you've played a fair number of other "strategic" or "hobby-style" games, you should be able to jump in fairly easily. Some of the rules around movement and actions felt a little quirky at first but we got a good flow going on.I personally really enjoy storytelling games on the whole and so I was intrigued by the storytelling aspect here. While the plot may feel a bit strange, it is well written and flows well. I was impressed by the allowances for some variability while still maintaining a good narrative that didn't feel too much "on rails."Overall if you enjoy other storytelling games, you could have fun with this one. If you haven't tried any before, the mechanics and the story are fun but might be overwhelming as a first choice. Still, if the plot strikes your interest, give it a whirl. You'll be down for some fun adventure and weird revelations.

Very interesting game with unlimited fun

I got this board game earlier in the year (lockdown entertainment was required!). I wanted something a bit different from the classic types of board game and this seemed pretty unusual.When it arrived I sorted all the pieces and started to set it up for a game. It took me a LONG time to figure out how to even begin! I had not played any of the more elaborate types of board games before so it was a lot to get my head around (I have since invested in several other more complex board games though!). So my first thought was "I've made a huge mistake!". I didn't think I would ever be able to figure it out. Okay so first game abandoned, I spent a bit of time with the manual over the next few days, gradually it started to make sense and actually didn't seem too complicated after all.The next time I set it all up to play "solo" - I figured I would use 2 characters to play it through and get an understanding of the rules. I played it a little bit a day for a few days - I would say that first game took a lot longer than the 1-2 hours play time listed on the box! And then I lost!It taught me a lot though and I figured out a lot of what to do. Plus, I really enjoyed the scenarios that happened in the game!I've played it a few times since then - and won! I play board games mostly solo and, as this is a co-op game it's perfectly possible to play this like that.The premise of the game is really interesting, you play each scenario on the page of the book itself and each page may have slightly different rules which I really liked. The basic method of play stays the same from page to page but there are some really fun situations that arise that change things up a bit. I don't want to spoil anything but , on turning to a page, quite often I would either be surprised or just think "that's really cool".I haven't yet played every scenario in the game, there's the possibility for a lot of different situations to arise which makes every play a bit different.I would recommend this game to people who want a bit of a challenge, and to try something a bit different. I can't comment on how fun it is to play with other people, I think it would be best if you could play it with the same people every time as there is an ongoing story happening and it would probably be enjoyed more if you had that sense of progression.Happy gaming!

This game doesn't know what it wants to be. If you're interested try to get it taught first before investing. The rulebook is confusing and feels like it's missing some rules or explanations altogether.Any excitement provided by the story is lost when you try to understand the mechanics, have to house rule it, and then have forgotten what was going on in the first place.