Red Rising Collector’s Edition - A Solo Review
Image: Stonemaier Games
INTRODUCTION
“Man cannot be freed by the same injustice that enslaved it.”
Seven hundred years into the future, mankind has finally slipped the surly bonds of Earth and ventured forth beyond the stars to colonize other planets. In order to maintain order and to fund this expensive endeavour a colour-based caste system is implemented, where the genetically modified and physically superior members of the Gold caste reign with an iron fist over the lower classes. This is the premise for Red Rising, a hugely popular series of novels penned by Pierce Brown. It also happens to be a passion project for Jamey Stegmaier, who after several failed attempts is finally bringing this dystopian science-fiction tale into a board game format along with co-designer Alexander Schmidt. I am currently in the process of listening to the first audiobook in the series and so far I am thoroughly enjoying it, so I was really excited for the opportunity to take a closer look at the board game adaptation of Red Rising from a solo player’s perspective.
Full disclosure: In addition to being provided a review copy of Red Rising Collector’s Edition courtesy of publisher Stonemaier Games, I am also credited as lead play tester for the included solo mode. As a board game reviewer this puts me in a rather awkward position, as my collaboration with the creative design team at Automa Factory on this project makes me unquestionably biased and something readers will need to bear in mind when reading this article.
COMPONENTS
I am reviewing the collector’s edition of Red Rising but there is also a retail version readily available. It is worth emphasising that in terms of game play there are no discrepancies between the two versions, the key difference being that the collector’s edition offers several cosmetic upgrades to the included game components. And on the surface, this spruced up version of Red Rising certainly looks and feels rather luxurious; the plastic tokens are replaced with metal ones that have a really nice heft to them and gold foil adorns the character cards belonging to the highest level of this dystopian hierarchy, creating a glowing effect that makes them the literal pièce de resistance of this version of Red Rising in my eyes at least. The collector’s edition even includes card holders for each player and a custom insert to neatly store all of the components.
Unfortunately, for all the good aspects of the component quality that is on display in the collector’s edition of Red Rising there are an equal number of frustrating design decisions to be had the biggest culprit being the aforementioned metal cubes. I am not colour blind, at least not according to my optician, but I had the devil of a time trying to differentiate several of the colours from one another especially the red and purple player pieces that when viewed in a particular light look near identical. Likewise, although incredibly aesthetically pleasing with its retro sci-fi look I found the main board to be a tad too small to house both the draw deck and the wolf shaped container that stores the helium tokens. This issue becomes even more evident if you sleeve said cards, resulting in a draw deck that obscures a significant portion of the board creating a usability issue aching to the Everdell tree. Now, are these component issues ultimately to the detriment of Red Rising collector’s edition? For me, the answer is no simply because I think the pros outweigh the cons. That being said, personally I would have been just as happy playing the retail version of Red Rising.
Photo: Fredrik Schulz
GAME PLAY
“The world is soundless. We cannot hear, but a pack of wolves does not need words to know that it is time to hunt.”
When solo playing Red Rising you will be competing against Tull Au Toma; the latest artificial opponent designed by Morten Monrad Pedersen with Lieve Teugels, Israel Waldrom and Ben L. Montgomery from Automa Factory. Similar to her predecessors (the solo rules designate the artificial player as she) Tull Au Toma plays by simpler rules whilst still preserving the essence of the core game design. Rather than utilizing the effects of a character card, she instead opts to collect as many cards as possible over the course of the game. This is achieved by implementing a solo mode that is unquestionably one of the most streamlined designs I have ever encountered.
On her turn Tull Au Toma will play two cards, fully resolving one before proceeding to the second. The cards are divided into three rows which determine the actions of the artificial player. The first designates where she will deploy or rather add a character card from the draw deck to one of the four locations on the main board. The second row indicates from which location a card will be gathered and added to the artificial player’s hand. Finally, if there is an icon on the third row then Tull Au Toma will either gain the associated bonus of the location from which she gained the card, alternatively she will discard the top card of the draw deck simulating a multiplayer session where card rotation would be more prevalent. The result is a solo opponent whose actions, once you have internalised the iconography, takes mere seconds to execute. Literally, you can perform Tull Au Toma’s turn in 10 seconds.
Photo: Fredrik Schulz
Because the artificial player is collecting character cards en masse simply to convert them to end-of-game victory points based on difficulty level, you would think that the solo mode in Red Rising is a rather arbitrary affair. Fortunately, Tull Au Toma does not operate completely at random thanks to the implementation of a priority system which is used to determine which locations on the main board the artificial player is gunning for. For example, if the A card is designated to the Luna location which has an associated bonus of advancing on the fleet track well then you know that you are facing stiff competition from Tull Au Toma for supremacy over the celestial sky. Likewise, a location that is designated the D priority card is less likely to be targeted thus allowing you to take calculated risks regarding leaving potentially valuable character cards on the board for future turns. Mind you that the artificial player will not forgo entirely the low-valued priority cards due to how they are paired with the Luna location.
When a human player activates the Luna location bonus, they gain the Sovereign token which grants ten victory points at the end of the game to the player who is in possession of the totem. But Luna also allows the human player to activate their special house ability, for instance House Mars gives you one helium token whenever activated whereas house Jupiter allows you to advance one space on the Fleet track. Since Tull Au Toma does not have a house per se, the solo mode instead allows her to gain a bonus from one of the lower tier priority cards when she activates the Luna location. Not only does this mechanism provide a bit more dynamic structure to Tull Au Toma, but it also serves as a way to balance her from going completely mental in a single location on the main board.
Photo: Fredrik Schulz
FINAL THOUGHTS
Initially I intended to conclude this review by stating that Red Rising is pretty much devoid of theme; a game based entirely around hand management which reduces the characters that populate this fictional dystopian universe into nothing more than a means to an end for you to achieve glory and influence. And then the realisation hits me: this is the mentality of a Gold, members of the highest caste who rule supreme. To them people are nothing more than colour coded livestock, expandable assets with a single purpose in life and that is to be exploited by the elite either through slavery or manipulation of the mind. In my mind this notion translates quite beautifully into Red Rising the board game, as you are constantly evaluating your options where even gold cards can be sacrificed for you to fulfil your lofty ambitions.
It may not be the deepest of games in terms of complexity but then again not every game has to be a three-hour intellectual yoga exercise, what is important is the quality of the game itself and in my eyes Red Rising is a solid and enjoyable solo board game experience.
