Speaking of simple and popular card co-ops from 2015, how about The Game? Based on simplicity of play, it’s somewhat similar to The Grizzled, but whereas The Grizzled was super evocative, The Game is entirely abstract — but still a fun, tense game. The Game by Steffen Benndorf Publisher: IDW Games (2015) Cooperative Style: True…
Category: Case Study
Case Study: The Grizzled
The Grizzled was a very popular game when it was released in 2015, and when we played it we noodled out some of the reasons why, though they were for the most part about its simplicity of design and its evocative play rather than its cooperative innovation. The Grizzled by Fabien Riffaud & Juan Rodriguez…
Lost Study: Microscope RPG
When we first began work on the book that eventually became Meeples Together, our scope was much larger. We were thinking about all sorts of cooperative play. This resulted in us writing four case studies that didn’t appear in the final book: Dungeons & Dragons, American Football, World of Warcraft, and now the final one:…
Case Study: The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game
Recently Shannon has been writing about Eric Vogel’s Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game. He wrote about how it encourages players to even out resources over on his own Mechanics & Meeples blog, then he wrote here about how its solo play differs from true cooperative play. When we realized that we hadn’t yet published our…
Case Study: Pandemic Legacy — Season Two
Pandemic Legacy was innovative enough that it’s worth talking about twice, so here’s a look at the second entry in the trilogy. And, whereas we played just a few games of Season 1, we played through the entire Season 2 campaign, with a win-loss pattern that resulted in 21 total games(!). Definitely a top co-op…
Case Study: Pandemic Legacy — Season One
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 was an amazing innovation when it was released in 2015, and it continues to be one of the newest foundational games in the co-op hobby. What made it so great? It’s not just that it broke new ground with its Legacy-campaign play, but also that it integrated that fully into its…
Team Study: The Resistance
The Resistance by Don Eskridge Publisher: Indie Boards & Games (2010) Cooperative Style: Hidden Teams Play Style: Voting Overview In The Resistance players are secretly divided into one team of rebels and one team of spies. Though the spies know which team everyone is on, the rebels do not. Gameplay centers on missions that are…
Team Study: Saboteur
In October we discussed a few hidden-teams game. We’re back this month with two of the best known ones, starting with Saboteur, which followed in the footsteps of Bang! (2003) and is another of the foundational games of the hidden-teams genre. Saboteur actually gets some attention in Meeples Together, where we talk about its relations…
Case Study: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Dead Men Tell No Tales by Kane Klenko Publisher: Minion Games (2015) Cooperative Style: True Co-Op Play Style: Action Point, Adventure Overview Dead Men Tell No Tales puts the players in the roles of pirates looting a ghost ship. Their goal is to recover sufficient treasures before the boat goes up in flames or the defending…
Case Study: Sprawlopolis
This week’s case study is about what may be the most minimalist co-op that I’ve met: 18 cards, and less than 15 minutes play. Nonetheless, it’s an enjoyable and intriguing game. Sprawlopolis by Steven Aramini, Danny Devine, and Paul Kulka Publisher: Button Shy (2018) Cooperative Style: True Co-op Play Style: Card Management, Tile Laying Overview…