First Impressions of The Networks

I’ve now published a full review of The Networks, that you can read here.

What’s on the TV tonight… Oh God there’s a purple faced racist grinning inanely over a pint (maybe I shouldn’t be writing this on EU referendum night…). It’s all so awful! Maybe we need to make our own TV. Or just talk about board games. Wait! Maybe we can do both!

In The Networks everyone gets to be the executive of an awful TV network (what they call channels in the US). Starting out with fine but dated shows like “The Wide World of Forks” or “You Too Can Play The Recorder!” (Educational!) you’ll buy exciting new shows (like “Awesome Industrial Accidents”!) with which to revitalise your viewing numbers and start to bring in more cash. You’ll also want to hire stars to boost the viewing figures, and sometimes you’ll need them, or screen adverts to boost your income and help you put on ever grander shows! The player with the best viewer ratings for their channel will win!

The Networks Player AreaThe coolest thing about The Networks is the clever way the shows you buy age as the rounds go on. After each game year, the viewer marker slides down the side of the cards to indicate the next year’s viewing figures. As with all shows those numbers tend to plummet after the show’s second season forcing you to constantly cancel shows and put them into re-runs (Firefly!! NAAAOOOOO!). This keeps you constantly on your toes and ensures the central card market feels consistently tense.

Except the actual coolest thing is trying to organise your purchases to ensure the best TV shows get placed in their preferred time slots, nobody wants to see “Chainmail Bikini Warrior” while eating their tea after all. Or maybe they do… anyway! It doesn’t matter because the coolest thing is the bizarre combinations of shows, stars and adverts you end up creating that have you pointing at each others shows and laughing.

Honestly there is a lot of cool stuff going on in The Networks. The elegant mechanisms make it reasonably simple for new players to pick up and features a unique and extremely well integrated theme. This is just a first impression (and based only on a short demo at that) but there is a lot to like about this game and there’s nothing I’ve seen to make me think this is anything other than a great game! Be sure to check it out when you get chance!

 

Is The Networks a game that has caught your attention? Did you manage to play it at the UK Games Expo or at Origins recently? What did you think of it?

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