'Mechanica' play review that assembles a production line of a cleaning robot, earns money and works for a computer
The board game 'Mechanica ', which became a hot topic by collecting more than 130,000 dollars (about 14 million yen) at the target amount of 40,000 dollars (about 4.4 million yen) on the crowdfunding site
Mechanica | | ANALOG GAME INDEX
http://hobbyjapan.games/mechanica/
◆ Contents
The mechanica package looks like this. The number of players is set to 1 to 4, and the play time is set to 45 to 60 minutes.
An instruction manual with rules, cardboard containing coins and 'Armand-0' cards, 15 blueprint cards, 4 quick reference tables
Since there is a cut from the beginning, coins and cards can be removed quickly.
4 factory boards.
The shop board has a spinning mechanism.
There are four safes, and by combining the lid and the cylinder, it looks like a piggy bank.
And there are three types of bots that are the protagonists of this game. From the left, a matte white basic bot that 'continues to suck the floor of your home 24 hours a day, 365 days a year' , a bright orange plus bot that allows you to hold tools with additional hands, and anti-gravity technology are installed. It is a purple deluxe bot that has become excellent. If you look closely, it is very cute that the face is attached. The goal of this game is to produce and sell these bots and make a lot of money.
And the parts for assembling the production line to produce bots are the panels shaped like the following jigsaw puzzle pieces.
There are four types of panels: 'branch', 'giant truck', 'heavy truck', and 'device'. The opened kit contained all of these parts in one bag, but you need to sort out the four before you start the game.
◆ Preparation for play
The feature of Mechanica is that the inner box becomes a component of the game as it is. Of the device panels (27), 21 are stored in the 'device' and 6 are stored in the 'additional'. In addition, store coins and bots as shown in the image below.
In addition, coins and bots are a little difficult to remove from the inner box, so it is recommended to prepare a flat plate separately as it will make the game progress smoothly.
Branches, large trucks, and huge trucks are stored in the space with stickers. The number next to the sticker's name indicates the coins needed to buy a branch, heavy truck, or giant truck during the game. Shuffle the 15 blueprint cards well, divide them into two piles, place them face down, and then turn only the top card face up.
Install the shop board, take out one by one from the top of the 'device', and place it in the spaces '5' and '7'.
Players will be given 1 factory board, 1 safe, 1 5 coin, 3 1 coin, and 1 quick reference table. In addition, place one basic bot in the center of the left edge of the factory board.
The factory board is divided into three areas from the left: production area, factory area, and shipping area. Bots are produced in the production area, pass through the lines built in the factory area, and reach the shipping area to ship the bots.
The 'Armand-0' card, which indicates the position of the start player, looks like just a robot arm, but Armando-0 is the personnel manager of this factory, and all factory operations are controlled by Armando-0. Humans (players) work for Armando-0, get paid for it, and spend all the money they receive on building factories for Armando-0, creating a wonderful labor cycle.
The place where the preparation is completed is as follows. This time I played with 4 people.
◆ I tried playing with 4 people
First, decide the start player with rock-paper-scissors, etc., and place the 'Armand-0' card between the start player and the last player.
The start player presses the Armando-0 button that supervises the site, and the business day starts. The game repeats the round of business day start phase → player phase (counterclockwise) → business day end phase.
During the business day start phase, the factory production line moves. During the first business day start phase, the basic bot that was in the production area moves to the shipping area along the conveyor belt in the production area.
In the player phase, you will proceed through the four steps of 'selling the bot, ' ' purchasing equipment, ' ' manufacturing the bot, ' and ' rotating the shop board.'
'Sell Bot' allows you to sell the bot in the shipping area first. For example, this basic phase can be sold for 2 coins per unit.
Return the sold bot to the inner box and get coins. It is important to produce more and more bots and sell more and more bots because the coins collected by the player will directly lead to victory points in this game.
In the next 'Purchase Equipment', you will purchase equipment from the shop. Equipment panels placed on the shop board can be purchased by paying the coins with the numbers written on them.
Place the purchased equipment panel in the factory area of the factory board. You can arrange them in any way you like, but follow the principle of 'arranging them so that they mesh like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle'. Also, the number written on the upper left of the equipment panel is the value of the equipment panel, and it will be the victory point at the end of the game, so it is a victory to purchase the equipment panel with coins that sold the bot and place it on the factory board more and more. The key to.
The equipment also has a panel called a 'manufacturing machine' that is placed in the production area. If you don't own a production machine, it's difficult to produce a new bot, so if you line up in the shop, you'll want to give priority to purchasing the panel.
Next, in 'Manufacturing bots', bots are manufactured on the manufacturing machines located in the production area.
Finally, 'Rotate the shop board' is performed. Turn the shop board clockwise by one ...
Take one from the deck of the equipment panel and display it at 7. As you turn the shop board, the price of the equipment panel that was not purchased will go down steadily as you turn the turn.
Equipment panels that no one bought will eventually make one lap and fall into the 'recycle' area. If the equipment panel falls into the recycling area, the player who dropped it can get the bot written in the lower right. For example, in the case of the following electrostatic load machines, you can get two plus bots and place them in your production area.
By default, only one bot can be shipped on each production line, and if you get sick, you need to dispose of the one you don't need. However, purchasing heavy trucks and huge truck cards will increase the number of bots that can be placed in the shipping area.
Also, bots can not only be sold, but also used as materials for new machines. For example, the rather noisy 'tickling manipulative machine' that gives humanity an eternal smile can get 30 coins by shipping two basic bots and two plus bots.
Return the material bot to the inner box ...
Rotate the blueprint card sideways and place it. Anyone can use the blueprint card in the same round, but the blueprint card that has been used even once and placed next to it will be sent to the bottom of the deck during the business day end phase, and will be the new top. Blueprint card will be released.
Blueprint cards bring you a lot of coins instead of specifying the bots you need. However, this profit will be kept in the safe until the end of the game and cannot be used to purchase equipment panels.
The branch panel can be purchased at any time with 1 coin if it is your turn. By branching the conveyor belt of the bot, you can build a more complicated conveyor belt to which the bot moves.
Some equipment panels increase the number of bots and convert bots to higher-level ones, and it is important to build a factory that can efficiently produce as many bots by combining branch panels. ..
In 4-player play, all 27 'equipment' and 'addition' cards are gone, and the round ends with no panels on the shop board.
When the game is over, add up the 'safe coins', 'coins on hand', and 'value of the equipment panel placed in the production area' to calculate the victory points. Keep in mind that bots that couldn't be produced and sold are of no value.
The factory of the player with the highest victory points looks like this. Although the manufacturing machine could not be purchased, it is a complicated factory that can ship a larger amount of bots than the production amount while converting or increasing it on the equipment panel. The winning player commented, 'We have to build such a complicated factory to serve a great computer.'
On the other hand, the player's factory, which ranked second by a slight point difference, has few equipment panels, but the production machine is placed in the production area, and the manufactured bots are sold more and more and used as the material of the machine in the blueprint. It is a factory that boasts.
The player who was at the bottom was the last turn, so he couldn't buy enough manufacturing machines and equipment panels, and the production capacity was low due to the poor factory, and it seems that the victory points were really low. In addition, one play is about 90 minutes in actual measurement. Since each player tends to think long about purchasing and arranging equipment panels, it seems that it will take longer than the set play time of 45 to 60 minutes.
In the expansion, with a guard card that can be added to victory points as a condition ...
You can play with the more peaky and powerful inventor panel. Depending on how you use the inventor panel, it is possible to overcome the disadvantage of the second turn, so it may be more exciting to introduce it when playing 4 players.
◆ I tried playing alone
Mechanica can be played alone. In the case of one person, it will be a single combat between the player and Armando-0. Depending on the difficulty, you can insert additional coins into the Armando-0 vault, but this time we will start at the easiest level without inserting additional coins into the vault.
Armando-0 does not use a factory board, but its behavior changes with coins for solo play.
The procedure of the game is the same as the 4-player game. First, after the business day start phase, proceed with the player phase.
When the player is over, Armando 0 comes into play. First, turn over the coin for solo play. If you turn it over and it turns yellow ...
5 coins will be added to Armando-0's handheld coins.
Then buy the tallest panel of equipment parts on the shop board.
Armando-0 does not have a factory board, so purchased panels will be stacked next to the 'Armand-0' card.
If you turn it over and it turns blue, 1 coin will be added to your coins ...
Buy the cheapest panel of equipment parts on the shop board. The business day ends when the Armando-0 phase is over.
The over-type production machine is a panel that produces bots on the factory boards of other players at the same time as it is produced by yourself.
Armando-0 doesn't have a factory board, so coins will be added to the vault instead. The overkill machine is a powerful equipment panel that can also produce deluxe bots, but if you use it too much, Armando-0 coins will increase.
Then, more and more equipment panels are piled up beside Armando-0. Armando-0's victory points are the sum of the coins on hand, the coins in the vault, and the sum of the values of the stacked equipment panels multiplied by six. The more the equipment panels are piled up, the more the victory points of Armando-0 will explode.
The game ends when there are no more equipment panels available for purchase. Using a 'flight tester' that allows you to get coins while jumping over the production line to the shipping area, you can earn coins while building a factory that ships and assembles blueprints, and the victory point is 105 + 1 + 16 = 122 points.
On the other hand, Armando-0 was close to the limit with 6 + 3 + 18 × 6 = 117 points, and if the difficulty level went up, he would have lost.
Mechanica is a fun game where a lonely factory that doesn't have anything at first is enriched as the game progresses. It is a big attraction that you can create your own factory by connecting the lines with combos and branches of the equipment panel. Also, the dystopian world view of 'following a computer that only sees humans as things' is an interesting point with black humor. Playing while laughing at the text flavor written on the panel and talking about 'I am a computer-like obedience servant' and 'What is the dignity of human beings to work and serve such an evil computer ...?' Is exciting and recommended.
However, if the number of players is 4, the number of tracks and branch panels may be insufficient for some reason. Since the trucks and branch panels are infinite in terms of settings, it is possible to deal with it by arranging some other item instead of a mark when it disappears, but if the amount that is not enough for 4 people is contained from the beginning, it will be solved. I wonder why the amount is slightly insufficient.
In addition, because it is easily affected by the pull of the panel, it may be forced to develop a little disadvantageous in the second turn. However, depending on the combination of equipment panels, it is possible to reverse the situation. I played with 4 people this time, but I got the impression that playing with 2 or 3 people is more comfortable.
In addition, Mechanica also supports AR, and it was said that the movement of the bot on each equipment panel can be confirmed with AR, but the operation could not be confirmed with the full Japanese version and the iPhone X at hand. You can see what it looks like using the AR app by watching the following movie.
Mechanica Augmented Reality-YouTube
Mechanica can be purchased at Amazon.co.jp for 7070 yen including tax.
Amazon | Mechanica Japanese version | Board games | Toys
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