Infiltration - An In-Depth Review

Infiltration by Donald X. Vaccarino

Preface

The name of the designer for this game should be familiar to anyone who has any semblance of a hobby with board games.  Donald X. Vaccarino is the famous designer of the ever-popular card game, Dominion, as well as Kingdom Builder.  Infiltration is, however, a game that in no way, shape, or form intended to play like Dominion.  Anyone who has gone into a game of  Infiltration with the expectation of a Dominion-like experience has been nothing but disappointed; so please, look at  Infiltration as an entity completely void of correlation to Dominion - despite the same designer.


*NOTE* I will, from this point forth, implement a system for game reviews that I quite simplistically call the 5C's.  Each category will highlight a specific part of the game that I feel is necessary and paramount to a great game.  Each category will get a rating on a scale of 1 to 10, equaling an overall score out of 40.

Comprehensiveness of Rule Book

Arguably the most important part of any game is a well-written rule book.  As I approach a new game, I spend 90% of my time with my nose buried in the crease of a rule book as I try to commit each and every rule to memory for the sake of those to whom I wish to teach the game.  In so doing, a rule book that is well-organized and well-written is a necessity that cannot be overlooked!


The rule book for  Infiltration certainly is one of the smaller, more concise rule books I've experienced.  The rules are more-or-less sufficient for the lack of complexity in game play that exists in Infiltration though, a lot of the rule book is dedicated to depictions of the Android: Infiltration world.

The base rules, from my experience, were too dry and laymen for my taste as well as the taste of my gaming collective.  The consensus was that the rules proper felt ideal for players younger than 8 years of age; since the youngest in my group is 22, that doesn't quite fit well with us.  Instinctively we have implemented a house rule that almost all of the "variable rules" are now to be considered the base rules.

The enjoyment of the rule book is that these variants ARE at a group's disposal should they feel the game is too easy, simplistic, or anything else that would make a game less appealing.

Comprehensiveness of Rule Book: 7 of 10

Components

There's not much to mention here, honestly, this game is typical FFG fare.  All cards are of above average quality with a linen coating.  The room cards are quite large, picture two standard playing cards next to one another, while the item cards are FFG's ever-so-annoying favorite of the miniature cards (roughly the size of a matchbox).

I quite honestly don't know why FFG insists on using such small cards, for normal Euro-sized playing cards would work quite well with this game.  Perhaps the miniature cards cut down on materials cost, or speed up production, but I HATE games with such small cards.

My personal tastes aside, the quality of the components is great and they will withstand quite a lot of wear.


Components: 8.5 of 10.

Cohesion of Theme

Layout of a Game of Infiltration

This is where the game gets a little wishy-washy for me.  I am a self-proclaimed sci-fi/fantasy nerd.  I can't choose which of the themes captivates me more, but I have always been drawn toward Orcs, Trolls, and Elves all the same as I've been drawn to technology and the idea of what will happen in the future.


I cannot say that I have played any other games that are submerged in the Android world, but the theme of Infiltration caught my eye from the first day I read of the game.  The ONLY way that the theme stays cohesive with this game is if, and only if, the operative-specific items are assigned.  This gives a feel that every operative brings a unique set of skills to the facility and has ways of being better, and conversely worse, than other operatives when fraught with certain challenges.

The items themselves, fit with the theme of being futuristic, but their utility seems 2-dimensional.  Either the item helps you get to data file (DF) tokens quicker, or it helps you hinder the progress of your opponents.  There are parts where the theme works incredibly well with certain items and situations and other times where the theme appears to be pasted on through an item that really doesn't make sense (a gun that can be used to kill lab workers, but not to wound other opponents...really?).

As a whole, I don't think that the lack of cohesive theme ruins the game completely, but it does detract from my overall appreciation for the Android: Infiltration world.

Cohesion of Theme: 5 of 10

Compatibility of Mechanics

Well, the mechanics of movement and game interaction could not be any more simple: move forward, move backward, interact with the room, and collect DF tokens.  In addition to the basic action cards (broken up into 5 different cards of: advance, retreat, interface, and download or extract) there are item cards that are distributed to players dependent on what rule set has been implemented.


Each item is unique, but after 6 plays, no bizarre interactions of items were encountered.  That is to say that we did not encounter a few items during our plays, but since all item uses are solved in turn order, no two items are resolved simultaneously, interactions are not complicated and turn phases progress rather rapidly.


Compatibility of Mechanics: 10 of 10

Conclusion

As a whole,  Infiltration  is not a very beefy game in any respect.  The game plays quickly, easily, and does not involve too deep of decisions so groups plagued by analysis paralysis (AP) shouldn't have too much difficulty.  The average game length is 15-30 minutes for 4 players, and solution of who wins is quite easy - the player with the most DF tokens when an end game criteria is met wins.  Should the value of DF tokens be shared by more than one player, those players share in victory.


Infiltration should never be the center piece of a game night, but it is a great wind-down game or a filler game.  For a fast-paced, somewhat Android-themed card game, Infiltration fits the bill.

Overall Score:  30.5 of 40
Grade: C

Board Games - Who likes them? Who hates them?

Preface:

Ever since I was a child, I have enjoyed board games of all varieties and it is only recently that such an enjoyment has turned into a hobby.  My dilemma doesn't come from my new-coming to the category, well at least a few generations' worth, of board game enthusiasts; rather, my difficulty with my hobby is the never-ending battle to find people who are not only willing to try a board game that they have never heard of before.

The Gateway Game:

The largest issue that I find with non-gamers is a hesitance toward all things related to board games due to a childhood scarring from the evil, and ever-repetitive, Monopoly.  First and foremost, I have found that the best introductory game to any and all hobbyist board games, is not Monopoly - in fact, it's chess!  If chess is too deep of an intellectual game (that is not to say that prospective players are too daft to comprehend the game, though some players may not enjoy an intellectual bout) then checkers is a very close second.  I mention these two age-old games because they introduce concepts that permeate through all games today - clear, concise, and finite rules that translate into an insurmountable possibility of movements and actions.  Again...ERASE ALL CONCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS OF MONOPOLY AS THE GRAND-FATHER TO BOARD GAMES!  This game was great in its day, but has long overstayed its welcome in the board game "world".

When I say "No Monopoly", I mean it!

As a self-proclaimed nerd, I can say that my largest personal complication with playing games in my collection sits within the challenge of finding friends/family that are willing to venture out for an hour, or more, to play a game.  The single most difficult challenge in this venue is finding games that my wife-to-be will enjoy as well as myself!  My fiancée enjoys the occasional game of Guillotine or Fluxx; she RARELY enjoys a game of Arkham Horror (admittedly, it's a stretch to even state that for her attention span is gone after the first hour - with a game that takes AT LEAST 2.5hrs to play, the lack of attention proves a problem).  That being said, any and all party games we have in our collection are instant favorites of my fiancée's and though they aren't my favorite genre, I'll gladly take any game she enjoys!  With my passion for horror/fantasy themed games and my fianceé's passion for fun party-type games, I feel I need to mention various types of "gamers" I've encountered during my journey to growing a group of fellow hobbyists.

Types of Board Game Players:

Enthusiast - People with this type of personality welcome any opportunity to try new games (board, card, or party alike).  They often find themselves not only trying to play every rule perfectly, but also attempting to commit such rules to memory.  Board games aren't so much of a collector's hobby for this gamer, they are a passion - an escape.  The Enthusiast does what he/she can to broaden their game collection in an attempt to have games that all groups of friends/family will enjoy regardless of the occasion.  I would categorize myself in this group.

An Enthusiast's Game Collection

Hobbyist - This is an interesting group of personality for their interests lie not in playing the games, but in collecting them.  These gamers will spend hours upon hours painting their Warhammer miniatures to their perfect expectations.  Many will theory-craft (a term used to express the process of reviewing and running scenarios of game play in ones mind over and over to try to establish meta-strategies to trump the mechanic of a game) their favorite games, or even run real-life scenarios in a single-player setting.  Hobbyists don't play games for the social aspect, they play it for the enjoyment of the game itself - games are a direct interaction between the game and player.

A Hobbyist in his natural habitat

Casual - Any and all games serve one purpose and only one purpose, to serve as a medium for social interaction.  These players do NOT enjoy games with heavy rule books, complicated play mechanics, or deep strategy.  What is needed for this disposition toward games is a set of easy-to-learn/easy-to-play games such as party games (i.e. Quelf, Why Did the Chicken...?, or Apples to Apples).  A casual views games as a way to fill the awkward silences that are bound to happen during any social exchange, but the game, itself, is to be more of a background action.  My fiancée is categorized in this group.

A Casual gamers' go-to...especially when alcohol is involved

Scrooge - Plain and simple - this person will not play any game other than their absolute favorites (even then, getting them to play is a challenge).  From my personal experience, this personality tends to exist in the older generations when Scrabble and Monopoly were "les pieces de resistance".  A variation on this personality is a person who will play games with which they are unfamiliar, but once the game begins, complaints about rules, actions other players make, or severe over-thinking (known as analysis paralysis by the hobbyist regime) ruins the game for all others who partook.  My parents are both in this category (my father being the latter variant).

An artist rendering of a Scrooge shortly after hearing the rules of Arkham Horror

Conclusion:

I know that people cannot be categorized and compartmentalized into the finite descriptions provided below, but the list is that of extremes, not mediums.  At times I find myself meshing between an Enthusiast and a Hobbyist while my fiancée, pending a good/bad day at work, can be a Casual/Scrooge.  The important thing to note, and the purpose of this Blog, is to say that not every friend or family member is going to enjoy the same games as you, nor you, they.  A great game night host will recognize such a fact and will implement a variety of games, perhaps even several games going at once, to satisfy the needs of all guests regardless of their board game disposition.  In so doing, you can expect your game collection to grow infinitesimally, meaning your pockets had better be quite deep!

What gamers have you had the privilege, or dishonor, of joining on the "battlefields"?

As always, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!