This reprint of the Deluxe Edition of Crisis is HOT off the presses of the LudiCreations second-print-run Kickstarter campaign!!! Some small card verbiage clarifications and rulebook typographical adjustments have been made, but this is the same AWESOME game that was originally Kickstarted by LudiCreations back in 2016.
[If you’d like to see all the finer details of what’s included in the base game box, or take a look at the rules, you can do that here]
This sweet bundle includes the Deluxe base game, The New Economy Expansion, and the Spies and Inventors promo worker tiles (from the LudiCrestions Diesel Demolition Derby and Long Live the Queen campaigns respectively) as well as The Designers promo worker tiles!! These promos are no longer available on the open market separately from the Kickstarter editions of these two games.
What is Crisis?
“A gritty, dystopian economic game set in a nation on the brink of ruin. Tough decisions & premium components in a dieselpunk setting!”
This is the two-line description that ran at the top of the original Kickstarter campaign. I didn’t think I could sum it up better myself, so I went with a quote. 😉
Add in “worker placement” and a game that beautifully handles up to 5 players, and I was hitting PLEDGE as fast as I could!
Do you own this game?
Yes! And I LOVE it! Back when I was first getting into this hobby in mid 2016, my gaming group would often mock my endless backing of Kickstarter projects.
“How do you know the game will be good?” “What if it doesn’t get printed?” “You don’t know anything about board games, how can you even know what qualifies as a good board game?” Etc. etc.
Of course, a fair bit of the jabbing was just good-natured fun, but on the other hand, they had some good points! 😉
Still, I pressed on….
All of this stopped when I brought Crisis to the table.
Within 2 rounds of game play my group started asking where they could get a copy. I contacted the good people at LudiCreations to see if they had any extras, but all the games had been sold by that time! There were virtually no copies in the after-market universe.
My friends were not alone in this dilemma.
LudiCreations heard the call and ran a second, successful Kickstarter… but again, we find ourselves in a situation where there are very few brand-new games out on the open market. Of course, this time around I bought a few copies for the shop… uh… because there is a shop now 😉
There is a Crisis! Investment opportunities abound!
At its core, this is a really SOLID worker placement game. Throw on some resource management, a bit of cash-generating engine building, and the pressure of ensuring the game even lasts until someone can be declared winner and you have a SERIOUSLY fun game on your hands.
During the game you are trying to survive (and possibly thrive) in an environment of economic collapse. Get a little too aggressive with your investing or use the black market too frequently (with no concern for the overall economy in Axia) and the game will end early! What’s more – if that happens, only players who are above a certain level on the Axia Financial Status Track will even be considered in determining the winner… and well, no one may be above that line if everyone gets greedy!
Mind you, if someone at the table is the only player past that mark, they may race to collapse the economy so they can be declared the winner without having to worry about anyone even getting second place! 😉
Yeah… that has happened!
Components and artwork
This is a beautifully illustrated, diesel-punk, dystopian world!
[That may be the first time those exact words were formulated into one sentence in all of human history! ;-)]
But seriously, the dark artwork of the game board and the somewhat lighter, slightly less “dystopian” company cards that you purchase as you attempt to rebuild Axia really fit perfectly into the game’s theme. And, the wooden components are INSANELY wonderful!
It is exceptionally satisfying to see piles of bread and I-beams and gears sitting amidst your not-so-shiny new buildings (on the company cards) as you plot your way to victory! Well, if you’re like me anyway…
Worker actions are activated in order…
One nice twist to the worker placement mechanic in this game is the timing of when those actions take place. You go around the table placing workers onto numbered placement spaces, but you don’t execute those actions until all players’ workers have been placed. What’s more, you activate workers on those spaces in number order!
This creates some really interesting interplays and strategy.
Let’s say you really want to purchase a certain company card this round, but you need to take a loan to have enough money to purchase that card during the worker activation. In order to pull this off you need to have a worker on the loan space that will activate BEFORE you get to the part where you are activating your company card purchase! To make the decision even more painful, there is a negative effect for placing a worker in a location where you cannot afford to actually take that action! So, if you don’t get on the company card AND the loan spaces… you are in trouble.
This really gets the heartrate up!
If you were the first player during this example, you would be torn between locking in that sweet company card straight out of the gate (knowing that all of your competitors are looking at that same card) and locking in one of the loan spots you desperately need to afford that company card. If you choose to go for the card, and then your compatriots take all of the money-generating spots that activate before that section of the game board; it’s time to pay those penalty fees.
The tension is at the perfect level in this game – believe me!
The New Economy Expansion
This expansion brings 15 new company cards to the game. These cards are designed to replace existing companies, but you can mix and match which companies you actually replace – leading to increased game-to-game variability!
Wrap up commentary…
Crisis.
Get it.
Now.
Otherwise, the only crisis in your life will be that you don’t have this amazing game on your shelf!
Class dismissed.
Ages: | 14+ |
Players: | 1 – 5 |
Play Time: | 45 – 120 minutes |
Designers: | |
Artists: | |
Publisher: | LudiCreations |
SKU: | LUDICREATIONS 001 |
MSRP: | $100 on eBay without the promo tiles |
Our Price: | $80.25 |
Links to BGG: |
6 in stock
Description
This sweet bundle includes the Crisis Deluxe Edition base game, plus The New Economy Expansion, and all the Promo workers tiles – Spies, Inventors, and Game Designers!! These promos are no longer widely available!!
Axia… is experiencing a Crisis… of the Deluxe variety.
A land with a glorious past, a most uncertain present, and an even more unpredictable future.
The goal in Crisis is to survive (and even thrive) in business while everything else is collapsing around you.
Set in a struggling nation rife with social unrest, a handful of industrialists see opportunity in the midst of economic crisis. Players send their managers to bail out struggling businesses, recruit employees, raise capital, and produce goods for export.
Additional information
Weight | 6.1 lbs |
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Dimensions | 12.5 × 9 × 3 in |
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