Review: enDANGERed Orphans of Condyle Cove

Game Name:	enDANGERed Orphans of Condyle Cove	Published Year:	2016
Game Publisher:	Certifiable Studios	Player Scale:	2 – 4
Game Designer:	Jesse Labbe	Run Time:	5 – 40 mins

Condyle Cove is a dark and dreary place.  Stark and devoid of both colour and life.  It’s even more desperate if you are an orphan.  Alone, tired, dirty and afraid, struggling to survive and the odds of that…well, they weren’t great to begin with and they just keep getting worse.

 

 



In enDANGERed Orphans each player is a nameless orphan struggling to survive, you’ll wonder through Condyle Cove seeking refuge and safety where you can, using up your limited Options to try and stay afloat.  When you’re out of Options, the shadows part and the Bogeyman gets you.  If you find yourself running low on Options and truly desperate, you can always visit the menacingly named Kiddie Corner (or cul-de-sac) at the centre of the map and try an Act of Desperation, to breathe some limited life back into your game, but even that isn’t guaranteed.  As you could always uncover the Bogeyman him/her/itself and be lost to the void forever.  Mwahahahahahaha!

Okay, so this game may sound a little morbid and depressing thematically, and you would be kind of right, but let me put it this way:

Imagine Tim Burton had a nightmare and turned it into a board game with a Peanuts-esque artwork.



Interested now I bet, and now you’ve got the right feel for this game.

Playing the game

There are three types of cards in the game. Options – cards that you can play to give you bonuses or be detrimental to your opponents, these also form your life-deck.  Cove cards form the map of Condyle Cove, each card has a special ability which will affect any player on the card, and you’ll use these to map out the game area each time you play.  Acts of Desperation – as the name suggests these are last ditch attempt cards to stay in the game, most of these are “good” cards, and at least one of them is the Bogeyman.  Which is bad.  Very bad.



With that all in mind, the rules are very, very simple.  Move (if you want to), up to two spaces.  Play a card (if you want to), and you can play as many as you like in any order.  Draw two cards (either Cove Cards or Option Cards).  If you get to the Draw phase and are unable to draw two cards then it is game over for you and you always, always have to Draw two cards.  This means that after turn one, you will have to play a card.

Kiddie Corner and the Acts of Desperation (AOD) bring an exciting, and terrifying mini-game of chance into endangered Orphans.  You could argue that they are a little swingy, and you’d be right, but a gamble should be swingy.  If a player ever starts their turn at Kiddie Corner, they must pick one of the six Acts of Desperation cards.  Five of these will reinvigorate their Options deck to varying degrees.  One will end their game.  The next player to end up here, well, their odds just got a little steeper.



That’s it.  That’s the game.  This is a player exclusion game, with the last Orphan standing (alone, oh so very alone) being the winner.  enDANGERed Orphans is a quick, light game, that is full of player interaction and most importantly; fun.  It is simple, slick and doesn’t get in its own way with too many rules (I’ll discuss the rulebook a little later on) or limitations.  Simply play a card, do what it says.  Make a friend cry perhaps. And move along.

It is all Take-That though, and the game is very competitive, which may not appeal to everyone.  You can very clearly see you opponents Options deck deplete like a cardboard hour glass, and you’ll see them grin from ear to ear when they have that one card they need to ruin you (having a good poker-face will really help you out in this game).  You’ll start each turn with the seemingly innocuous yet difficult decision about moving.  Since many of the Cove cards grants an ability based on where you are, or are not, but you don’t want to stay put for too long.  Sure being in the Creek is handy for a while that is until someone plays Swept Away and makes you discard everything.  And as much as it is a risk, you don’t want to get too far away from Kiddie Corner, just in case…



The start of your first game, you might play nice.  You might start adding to the map instead of immediately causing problems for your fellow orphans.  But that won’t last.  Soon you’ll be causing cards to be discarded, you’ll be stealing and shuffling other pawns around the board with near reckless abandon. When you play your second game you’ll be a top–class, A-Grade d*ck with a capital “D”, straight out of the gate.  What’s more, you’ll have even more fun.



There may come a point in this game that a loss can fall a little flat, when you’re running low-ish on Options, and then, through a series of unfortunate events (read as ‘Dick moves’) you can find yourself without any viable options, no way to get to Kiddie Corner and nothing left in your Options deck.  This could just be because the people I play against much prefer watching me figuratively bleed-out, rather than just putting me out of my misery, but I do often feel robbed of a Game End when this comes about.

Now, about the components. 

I will start by saying: enDANGERed Orphans has my favourite board game components to date.  Not only is the artwork great in its dreary horridness but the pawns are utterly brilliant – painted or not these look and feel great.  The neoprene play mats: amazing.  The cards themselves are of the highest quality linen finished stock.  The box insert fits everything – including the expansions, with fully sleeved cards – all comfortably, perfectly.  Even the flippin’ box looks great with its spot UV cover art.  I could keep writing words, but you’re better off just looking at this stuff.  Really.



Fundamentally, enDANGERed Orphans is a card game.  In a basic two or three player game, you can strip the game down to around sixty cards and the standees – which you’ll be able to fit into a deck box.   I went with a Flip ‘n’ Tray to fit the expansions and pawns in to make easier to transport, which also adds it to my #LunchBreakGames series.



Bizarrely, it comes with both standees and pawns.  This is only bizarre because the pawns are so awesome.  I can’t see much use in the standees unless players particularly want to something more specific (since the pawns are both ethnic and gender neutral), like a cat.



There are a few expansions also available; Mr Coleman’s Carnival of Captivating Curiosities, Somewhere Down Lexington Drive, these add a new Cul-de-sac artwork card and different and new Acts of Desperation and some additional standees.  Do you need these to expand the game, or get a fuller game experience? No, they just add some more flavour and character.  The one expansion that mixes things up significantly is the Last Winter of Benny Harris which comes with the game which includes a new Cove and ability to draw a different type of card Last Winter, which are bonus actions, some of which are very bad against your opponents, some are very bad for you.  It’s another mini game, big gamble deck which can make the games a bit longer and a little more fun.



…a little later on

One thing about this game that seems to have caused quite a bit of fuss is the rule book.  Is it a very funny, laid-back, jocular and flippant rule book?  Yes, yes it is, there is a very good chance you laugh if not smirk when reading it.  Is it obtuse, vague and occasionally unhelpful, yeah, it kind of is that too.  Yet, as an intelligent, well humoured gamer you’ll get it.  The rules are very, very simple:

Move.

Play.

Draw.

When you’re out of Options you’re out!



Certifiable Studios have gone with the less is more system here and on the whole it works.  If you are a Rule Hound type of gamer…fix yourself a cup of chai tea and find your happy place before opening this rule book.  If you can play a game comfortably by playing logically, sensibly then you’ll be fine.  This lack of clarity extends to some of the cards too, unfortunately with mixed terminology that again, will upset the thoroughbred rule hounds.  Certain Cove card prohibit cards being “Taken” from your hand, but the language on the Options cards uses “Steal” .  Another location stops your pawn being moved – but is that moved as in “Moved one/two/three spaces” like the movement phase, or does it include being taken from one cove location and placed on another.  As a personal bugbear I would have preferred that the term orphan was used in place of ‘anybody’, or ‘pawn’ or ‘player’ to keep the theme and mechanic more interlocked.  A future edition of this game would tighten a lot of these “issues” up quickly and simply, in doing so it making this game more immediately accessible to newer/less experienced or younger gamers.

So…

enDANGERed Orphans is a very completive game, with lots and lots of Take That, which could very easily make you fall out with your friends. It looks utterly amazing, and has set the bar very high for any subsequent games from Certifiable Studios.  Ironically, considering the theme of the game, it oozes love and affection from its creators and they have wanted to deliver the very best, most fun product they could.  I feel they have succeeded in this.  Yes, it is a glorified card game, but, oh.  The glory of it!



The Good:

Great player interaction

Brilliant components

Amazing artwork

Quick and easy rule set

Exciting elements of luck mixed with light strategy/hand management

Funny rulebook

The Bad:

Full on Take-That game – which some may not like

Player Exclusion –which again, some might not like

The theme may put you off, but stop being a sissy and play it

Obtuse rulebook

Occasionally ambiguous card wording

Semi-pointless standees (they still look ace though)

This game was purchased/ backed on Kickstarter at The "GREEDY BASTARDS" Level

 

Who Goes There? - Certifiable Studios

Certifiable Studios is made up of four of the most…interesting individuals in board game design (one of their number habitually never wears trousers…I’m not sure why).  Last year they put out one of the finest, most hilarious, most enjoyable Kickstarter campaigns I have ever seen or been a part of with Endangered Orphans of Condyle Cove (EO).  It smashed through their humble goal of $4,097, made a laughing stock of each and every one of their Stretch Goals and then they even went on to invent Anti-Stretch Goals (personally I’m most looking forward to my Mississippi Air).  So, while Endangered Orphans makes its way across the ocean to my eagerly awaiting hands Team Certifiable have brought us Who Goes There? to coax our bank/credit cards from our wallets.



Who Goes There? (WGT) Is a co-op game for 3 to 6 players based upon the Retro Hugo Awarding winning novella of the same name by John Campbell (you may be more familiar John Carpenter’s The Thing which is also based on the novella).  In this game, players must survive the arctic winter to escape on the helicopters at the end of the game, but, by the end of the game not everyone will be who they started out as, paranoia will run rampant through this game as you trade items and food to better prepare yourselves for another arctic night, but you never know when you might pick up an infection from the Thing.

Jesse, from the team, was kind enough to spare me some time to answer some questions about the game and campaign.

From EO to Who Goes There? You have moved from an original concept to an IP, so I guess the first question is, what was so appealing about Campbell’s work that inspired that move?

Simply put, I loved it!  It’s interesting, though, because I loved the movie first (all three of them, actually). When Carpenter was asked to make The Thing, his response was how much he loved the original movie (1951) when he was younger. It wasn't until he later found out it was first a book. Although he was planning on doing a remake of the original movie, he enjoyed the book so much that he wanted to create that. After hearing this, I figured the book must be something special, and I fell in love with it as well. 

What new challenges did you face bringing this thing to life?

After reading "Who Goes There?" a few times, it seemed like the obvious next step was making a game with the same feel. But I just knew there would be a tonne of obstacles before we could even think about doing a WGT? titled tabletop game because of licensing and rights issues.

 

[caption id="attachment_1538" align="alignnone" width="640"] The Thing[/caption]

 

Rick said we won’t know until we try, so he went after it. Next thing I know, we’re all shooting up high-fives! Boy, that Rick, he sure can surprise us by sometimes getting something right.

What were the key features you simply knew you had to have in this game?

I think some of the most identifiable factors we just had to utilise first and foremost was the shapeshifter factor. Without that, we really wouldn’t relate to the book at all. 
Then there is the tension with the all-male crew. No privacy, no women, no escape and no trust...that's just asking for trouble. And of course, you can’t have WGT? without McReady. This is another hats off moment to Carpenter. He REALLY captured his character by casting Kurt Russell. Nailed it!


It was odd because when working on WGT?, I felt compelled to bring in elements from the movie because I think if it weren't for that, a lot of us wouldn't  know about the book. But at the same time, you must honour the book, because without that...we wouldn't have the movie 


We believe there are 3 things that make this game fun and a bit unique.
Our favourite one is that when you start out, EVERYONE is human. There are no traitors among the team, no secret missions, and no objective that make you want to beat your teammate at achieving. It’s a true co-op game.  As the game goes on, players must start taking risks out in the cold. They do this to gain bonuses that they ABSOLUTELY NEED at the end of the game. The problem is this is where the highest risk of exposure and becoming infected is. Then there is the factor of becoming the Thing. Unlike a lot of other spy/paranoia games, once infected, your objective does not change. Your number one goal is blending in (like the movie and book). This is actually harder than it sounds, especially when you have a few Vulnerable cards in front of you.


And finally, another fun and unique element is that if you suspect someone of being the Thing...keep it to yourself!!! Most games, everyone starts spouting off to each other, "I think it's him!!! I’m TELLING YOU IT’S HIM!!!"  But in this game, you want to keep quiet and act as though everything is fine. If the Thing pretends to be human, you pretend to believe he’s human. If the Thing thinks he’s safe, there is no need for him to attack. Let the rounds wind down...then BAM, kill him or leave him behind! I’ve seen many games end in pure chaos. Humans killing humans, Things killing Things (to cover his tracks), the innocent getting left behind...it’s one big lovable party!

Cute and cuddly mixed with dangerous and cunning

 

[caption id="attachment_1535" align="alignnone" width="800"] The Boogeyman from Endanger Orphans[/caption]

 

From the Bogeyman to the Thing, your games have this dark, horror theme/setting and a wonderful juxtaposition with Jesse’s incredible art – is this an intentional motif that we can expect from Certifiable Studios in the future?

Anthony (one of the other creators at Certifiable) and myself have always been fans of that juxtaposition. Cute and cuddly mixed with dangerous and cunning just felt right.

So, after creating a game where helpless orphans get picked off by their bogeyman, the natural next step was clearly freezing, burning, mauling, shooting, stabbing and infecting a group of scientists, right?

There is a certain fun to these things when wrapped in the right artwork. If you make the art too serious, you lose a lot of the theme. Things become too one-sided and not as much fun. So, we try to keep the darker themes in a light-hearted atmosphere. It keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously.

Do you have plans/designs/inclinations regarding miniatures for the game – it’s been mentioned a few times in the comments section…?

hmmm, have people mentioned minis? That's weird I don't remember seeing anyone say minis...EVERY FIVE SECONDS!

Yes, we do plan on having minis. They are actually pretty spot on to the art. Anthony has started designing them and if you like the art, you will love the minis.

 

[caption id="attachment_1537" align="alignnone" width="640"] McReady himself[/caption]

 

I think that most backers/gamers will enjoy moving a McReady character out in the cold WAY more than a cardboard punchout head. So that's what we are all really shooting for!

Please tell me you have some Anti-Stretch Goals (or Goats, or Goads) lined up and a finale, end of campaign song?

If Rick gets his way (which he rarely does...just ask him) there might be a goat or two (maybe even a Sugar Pony) somewhere in our future!

Lord, help us!

Who Goes There? Is live now on Kickstarter and will end on August 8^th at 11 pm (BST), every copy of the game will also come with an e-book copy of the novella.  It’s over 200% funded at the time of writing and I have little doubt that this game will make a great addition to anyone’s collection, so I thoroughly recommend you check it out, and make sure you watch the brilliant video at the top of the campaign page.