|
I'll
just state it right up front. There are zillions of card games
out there. There are far fewer in the Christian market but
still there are a bunch. Some,
like Redemption stand out because their game play is as solid as
anything on the market and yet they present a solid
Christian world view. After playing Unity I must say that it's
one of the more unique and fun Christian card games on the
market. I expected a decent game but Unity surprised me. It's a great game.
It's
built around biblical ideas, people, events and subjects so the
game intends to teach about biblical subjects by integrating the
concepts into the cards. For instance, the "Root of
Bitterness" card allows an evil attack to get rise up after
being defeated, dust itself off and attack again. Ever had an
old spiritual battle rear its ugly head again even though you thought you'd
dealt with it? Yeah, yeah, and if you said no, you're either
not yet born, you win the lottery every week or you're in denial. I've
been there done that, re-fighting spiritual battles I thought were
already won. Not fun.
While
most cards don't carry such a clear parallel to real life struggles,
Dan Olds (the designer of Unity) put a great deal of thought behind
the meaning of each of the cards in the Unity deck. For a good
read (and essential), check out his player's
guide on the web. Not only does it give some nice tips on
strategy and resolves some sticky issues with certain card combos,
it also comments on the meaning behind many of the cards and game
play concepts.
The game
itself is deceptively simple. The goal is to get rid of all your
cards before anyone else. To do this you must play evil cards,
good cards and Feast cards. The good and evil cards are broken into
several categories. When playing these cards you must play them in
unity...that is you can't play cards from two different categories
but you can play as many cards from one category as you want or
can. There are, of course, exceptions to this. Some
cards allow you to combine cards from two or more different
categories. Some cards augment other cards and some cards are
unique and can only be played under special circumstances.
Even
though the
basic idea is to get rid of all your cards to win, there is a catch. The last two cards
played must be good
cards or the special Unity card. Bad (Evil) cards must be
gotten rid of before you can win, but they can't win the game for
you. A good Christian principle that also makes for some
interesting game play.
And
that, in the final analysis, is what made me fall in love with this
game (Hmm, love is probably too strong a word. Maybe "really
really like" is better. After all I've not played enough
games to confirm it's love, but I got this strong feeling it's going
to turn out to be that way). Anyhoo, it's simply the way the
game plays that drew me to it so well. The way drawing cards
is integrated into game play makes it unique among other card games
I've played. The special ability cards are reminiscent of
collectible card games but they don't dominate game play.
For
instance, if you can't follow with the correct cards, you end up
picking up cards as a penalty. Or is it a penalty? After
all, you want to get rid of all your cards and picking up cards is
the last thing you want to do? Right? Often that's not
actually a
problem. In fact drawing a bunch of cards is often downright beneficial. Since you can play more than one card at a time, when
your hand is in a bad state picking up a bunch of cards can get you
right back into the game.
Since
your hand can have evil cards, at some point you're going to have to
get rid of them. The only way to dump them is to attack with
them against another player. They, in turn, must defend
against the evil attack and defeat it. If they are unable to
defeat the evil with the cards in their hand, they must draw one
card at a time until they are able to defeat the evil attack.
Now I'd
originally thought of drawing cards as being a penalty so it seemed odd to me
(and to those I was playing with) that the person who initiated the
attack didn't risk getting a penalty (draw cards). In fact, at
first it seemed that the good guys got the penalty and the bad guys
got off scot free. Well, at first I wrote this off to
necessary balance for game play. But I was missing the obvious.
In
Unity, every evil attack is defeated. This is the whole point about
drawing cards until you are able to defeat the attack. IE, in
the end evil loses and good triumphs. And what about having to
draw cards? If you're unable to defeat an evil attack, then
chances are you need those cards. So, is drawing cards a
penalty or a bonus? Since I've seen very large hands win very
quickly, I know it can be a bonus. But it can also ruin your
strategy right when you were about to win. However, the point
is that the evil attacks are always defeated and drawing cards is
not necessarily a penalty.
The
group I played with did have some game play problems. All of them
centered around how certain cards could be played. The
instructions that came with the game really need to be more
detailed. We had some trouble understanding what "Free
Turn" meant in the context of the game for instance.
However, I don't know of any game that I've played that didn't have
some problems. Making short, understandable and comprehensive
rules is an art form. Unity has enough to get you started but
once the more complex play issues come up you'll want to get the online
handbook. It's a free and quick download. (Note: there is an
addendum to the handbook here.
It should also be part of a future version of the handbook.)
The
biggest problem we encountered was when we came up with some "interesting" combinations of cards. Now, the group I played
Unity with are all game designers and they tired to stretch the game to its
limits. It was something like getting a bunch of theologians
in a room to discuss how many angels fit on the head of a pin.
We spent
a good deal of time discussing certain game questions that probably
wouldn't have even been on anyone else's radar. We would sit around
analyzing a particular strategy, referring to various passages in
the rules and the player's handbook to back up our particular
position. Eloquent and passionate arguments carefully crafted
and presented would often interrupt the game. That means
we
really got into it.
After our gaming session, I shot off an
email to Dan about our stickiest question and he replied almost
immediately with the correct solution (btw, all our well crafted
arguments were wrong). For those interested, we were trying to
figure out how to use the Strife card in combination with cards in a
different category in an evil attack using the Asherah Pole
card. The solution we came up with was that the Strife card
modified the normal evil attack so that only the Strife card needed
to be resolved. The real answer was that the Strife card can
only be used by itself. Heh. That particular card
situation will be added to the online player's handbook.
Get the
player's handbook (and the addendum here). It's a great bit of help and will answer
nearly any question you can imagine. And, if you come up with
something not answered in it, Dan's very happy to get you a
solution. Just drop him an email explaining your game
problem. He'll also thank you and add the solution into the
handbook.
Now what
really bugs me is why this game isn't in all the various Christian retail
outlets. It's high time they took notice of this game and
started stocking their shelves with it. In fact, every Church
with a youth group could add a unique and fun element to their
program with Unity.
Recommendation:
Buy
it. Now. Don't wait. Go to the website
and order as many decks as you need. We're not kidding.
You won't be sorry you got it. If you like collectible trading
card games you'll enjoy Unity. If you don't like the
complexity of collectible card games like Redemption, you'll enjoy
Unity.
The
group I played with was a mix of Christians and
non-Christians. Some were hard core MTG (Magic the Gathering)
fans. They expected a stuffy and boring Christian game but
instead found that it was engaging, original and fun.
Final
Score
Highlights: Original
game play that's engaging and very fun. Lots of unique strategy.
Lowlights:
Some confusion in understanding the rules and some ways cards
combine with other cards. Player handbook
clarifies most of the confusion.
Hints:
The feast cards are the hardest to get out of your hand. Never
miss an opportunity to use them. Get rid of the evil cards as
early as you can. Save special ability cards for later in the
game.
Recommendation:
This one is well worth the purchase.
Age Appropriateness:
10+
Christian
Sense (CS): 4
Game
Mechanics (GM): 4
Game
Play (GP): 4
Overall:
4 |
