Stonemaier Games: Red Rising | A Competitive Strategy Game Based on The Novels from Pierce Brown | Craft a Hand of Powerful Characters from The World of Red Rising | 1-6 Players, 60 Mins, Ages 14+

I'm currently reading the Red Rising series of books, so when I saw this game drop to an astonishingly low price for the holidays I couldn't resist. After playing multiple rounds with my wife, and multiple games solo, here are my thoughts.-----The Good:The production of this game is amazing. I purchased the base game - not the collector's edition that I've seen around - and the components are still great. The cards are heavy duty and feel great in hand, and the artwork looks fantastic. All of the character cards (112 I believe) have unique artwork, and even the "unnamed" characters look interesting. House markers & the game board are heavy cardboard with good artwork, and while nothing fancy, the plastic cubes & various other markers are bright and acceptable for what they are. Even the instructions are heavy duty, look great, and are easy to follow.Once you know how the game is setup, you can do so fairly quickly, and it looks great on the table. While appearing complicated, the rules are super simple to follow. After only a couple games, the only thing I need to refer back to the manual for is endgame scoring. The expansive card roster creates countless hand combos, and so far every game has felt like a new strategy.Speaking of strategy, you will need it to beat the solo variant of the game. That's not a bad thing... the AI in this game is very well done. In fact, I like the solo variant equally as well as against a second person.-----The Bad:Until you get really familiar with the different characters and colors (castes), you'll spend a good deal of time reading the different abilities and post-game actions of cards. This can lead to a bit of analysis paralysis for some as they try to determine what their best option is.As with any game relying on card draws, randomness & luck will play a part. You could start off the game with a great hand and not need much hand management, or you may feel like your whole game is just trying to get two cards that really work well together. A large majority of your end-game points come from your hand totals, so that can make games seem really one sided at times. However, there are other options to score significant points, so you may need to shift your focus.While the game looks great, it's also a huge box for what it contains. I'm not sure if they used the same box for the collector's edition (which has card holders and maybe some other extras), but I feel like the box could have been half the size and held the components just as well.-----The Indifferent:When it comes to the theme, you can take it or leave it. Since I'm reading & enjoying the books, I love seeing the different characters and how they synergize (good or bad) with other characters. However, at the end of the game, I'm going to base my hand purely on how the cards combo and score points, regardless of who I assemble my "team" from. On the flip side, my wife has had no problems playing & enjoying the game with zero knowledge of the books. So while I'm sure fans of the Red Rising series will get a bigger kick out of the theme, it can be played equally well by non-fans. It's fairly light-weight, plays quickly, and just enough strategy to keep things interesting without bogging it down. You'll have to decide if that's for you.-----Overall I am really enjoying this game. It has enough strategy that when you put together a great hand combo, it feels really good, but it doesn't turn the game into a slog. I also really, really enjoy the solo mode of this game. Whether playing the AI, or other players, every game seems to necessitate a different strategy. Just one more game...

To be honest not my type of game, but the friend I bought it for loved it. It seems to be a strategy game and it only seems to take one try to nail down the rules. It looks beautiful and a great gift for lovers of red rising. My friend screamed when receiving it not realizing a game came out for their favorite series.

Amazing fun game that allows for quick play and deep strategy. I love the color schemes although id love some easier way to distinguish orange and brown but since it is written it will just take a minute to learn what each color is.

Great game. I could see an expansion coming, but good variety and replayable with all thr cards.

Bought the game b/c it was on sale for Prim Day and more importantly b/c I LOVE the book series. My husband is more of a gamer than I am, so he played it with me and had to explain how it all worked. I think this will be fun, but if you haven't tried a game like this and are more into Monopoly and Clue, there is a learning curve. Bonus points for the game being short, under an hour when you figure out what you're doing.

Great board game based on the red rising books , its fun to play even for those who have never read the books , one of our go to games and its cheap compared to many others

I have only played a few times and I am already hooked! It seems simple at first, and you quickly realize it is more daunting than that. However, it isn’t complex enough to keep away casual players. It is easy to learn, hard to master, and each game feels unique thanks to the amount of cards.

So fun. Love introducing my husband to all the characters from my favorite series. Also love that it’s less than an hour to play a whole game. Perfect to fit in after our toddler Howler goes to bed.