Reviewed by Joe Huber
LIFT OFF (Hans im Gluck/Z-Man Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 60-90 minutes; $59.99)
For me, one of the joys of the board game hobby is looking through the new releases for Essen. It’s really a unique pleasure – the only other convention I find of comparable interest to window shop for is the Tokyo Game Market, and there’s so much less information available in English that it’s not the same. Now, it seems like many take the shortcut of simply seeing what others have thumbed on the BGG Spiel preview, and pulling their shopping lists from there. To be fair, if your tastes align with BGG, that’s a very reasonable approach. But mine don’t, so I take the time to look at everything, at least briefly.
As I was actually going to Essen this year, I was able to leave more games on my list to investigate. And, with one exception, these games were all in English – not for any lack of willingness to pick up a game without English rules but because, in almost every case, there simply were English rules available or an English edition. The one example – and one game which survived my investigation and came home with me – was Lift Off.
Lift Off (which will be published in English by Z-Man Games, though the date hasn’t yet been announced) designed by Jeroen Vandersteen is a game about the early days of space exploration. Players choose specialists to help them develop the technologies and infrastructure necessary to launch missions while also contributing to the international space station.
Lift Off is played in two phases, each with four rounds. Before the game starts, however, each player drafts three end-game goals. Each round then begins by having each player receive their income and draw to a hand of three mission specialists, which are then drafted. (Other than in the first round, you’ll have one card left over. So you draw two cards, and then draft from among the three cards. Each player then chooses two mission specialists to play, each has a built-in capability which is always received and one or two optional actions which can either be taken or forgone for two credits. Optional actions include contributing to the international space station, upgrading your base, and acquiring technologies.
Next, each player draws missions – usually draw three, keep one – from those available which they qualify to take. Finally, each player may make a launch, including any missions they have sufficient technology and space for; with some specialists, multiple launches are even possible. Each launch scores points – in general, the weaker the reward (technologies, mission control upgrades, rocket upgrades, end game victory points, space station upgrades) for launching the mission, the more points.
After the first phase is complete, players have the opportunity to sell any end-game goals for five credits, and more complex – and more valuable – missions become available. Play continues through the final four rounds, at which point players score their end-game goals, their missions which score end-game points, their food technology (there are four technologies in the game which are generically referenced but only food provides victory points) and any leftover credits. (Credits are not directly victory points; you do get points for leftover cash, but only a few. Money is spent for technologies, space station contributions, and launches.) The player with the most points wins.
As I’ve been playing through the new releases from Spiel, very few of the games have stood out from the first play. Some have grown on me with more play and many of them have been enjoyable enough to explore further. But only one struck me very positively from the start: Lift Off.
Lift Off really takes advantage of a good theme. While space exploration is not an uncommon topic for games, most of the games on the subject have either been significantly more involved (such as High Frontier, featured in the Winter 2011 issue of Gamers Alliance Report) or less well connected to the theme. While Lift Off is not difficult to pick up and there certainly is some abstraction, the mechanisms really do support the theme; the use of mission specialists to enable various actions, the tight money situation and the various technologies all help to give a feeling of the subject; the 50’s artwork then really sells it all. But the mechanisms also make for an interesting game.
There are trade-offs to be made everywhere and many different paths to take. Players can focus on improving their mission control, on launching as many missions as possible, on launching as much on each mission as possible, on preparing for the more difficult – and valuable – missions only available in the second phase or on the international space station. From my experience so far, any of these directions can be correct.
The components are of the quality one would expect from Hans im Glück – both nice AND functional; they even provide components for a space station for players to build as it’s developed, an unnecessary but welcome addition. There is an error on the game board with a sticker provided to correct it which works just fine but which may bother some. The German rules seem to be clear if not always logically organized; on the whole, though, a better rule book than average these days. Those who cannot work with any foreign text should wait for the English edition, as while there are only a few critical words, not anything that will stop those who recall when the possibility of an English edition was remote, they will slow some players down.
I should note that while I’ve greatly enjoyed Lift Off, the reaction of those I’ve played with has been more mixed. What’s not clear to me yet is what will make those who enjoy German games more or less attuned to Lift Off. It is encouraging that I’ve not seen any truly negative receptions but enough neutral receptions to be hesitant in my recommendation.
Lift Off is my favorite release from 2018. I’d say “so far”, since there are certainly thousands of 2018 releases I haven’t yet tried but Lift Off is enough ahead, and there aren’t any 2018 releases either of sufficient personal interest or sufficiently well received elsewhere that I think it’s likely that I’m missing something. The game hits all of the things I’m looking for – it’s a good length for the subject, the theme works for me, there is plenty to explore in the game, and through six plays the game has been a little more fun each time. As much as I’d like to recommend folks rush out to get a copy for most, waiting until it’s out in English is probably the best option. For the impatient, however, there are much worse games to take a chance on importing. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Joe Huber
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