My copy of The Agents came in the mail the other day, and I couldn't have been happier to see it. The Agents is a cardgame created by Saar Shai, and illustrated by Danny Morison. It started out as a Kickstarter project, and was funded in late August. Typically, I prefer to see a little pedigree when it comes to funding Kickstarter projects as risk with boardgames is especially high. That said, Danny Morison's vivid art style (I'm no expert, but Peter Chung meets Mike Mignola is what I got) grabbed me right away. If I'm totally honest, the price was also right, and the stretch goals were pretty enticing. Some playtest rules were published at some point after the funding, but I did not take advantage. Saar Shai's ruleset was going to be a total surprise for me. The concept was neat though, and it seemed to promise a great deal of player interaction, so I was onboard. More on the rules as I get some playtesting done (initial feelings are super optimistic, it seems to fall somewhere between Dominion and Innovation in terms of card interaction and complexity).
Three and a half months (surprisingly quick, I felt) and a string of encouraging Kickstarter updates later, The Agents showed up at my house. The future is here, amirite? Digging it out, the promise of Danny Morison's art style was totally fullfilled, and all the extra art bits included (custom safehouse art, supplemental art cards, etc...) are super impressive and individualized. On the whole, every card is full of character, and based on card descriptions, the art really jives with the card descriptions. The cards are printed on a plastic material that is super rugged, and shuffles surprisingly well. After seeing the Kickstarter update video where they raced to punch the card orders, I was wincing the whole time, but after feeling the cards, I can tell it wasn't a problem (forgive me my lack of faith, I'm sure it was disturbing).
The nifty black box it comes in (I didn't spring for the fancy box add-on) was a stretch goal, and is super pretty to look at. In terms of portability, I do have a gripe. I normally love super compact boardgame boxes, as I'm never at home when I'm gaming. The Agents does this in spades. The only problem is that there was absolutely no give for the expansion packs. I know, I know, first world problems (*waah, my free expansions don't fit in the box*), and I could've sprung for the fancy box, but now I've got loose expansion envelopes. Sigh. So yeah, sweet box, great cover art, and nice matte material.
The box itself has three packs of cards on the inside: one containing the agent cards, one containing the points cards, and the last one containing the missions, commanders, safehouses, and a couple of bonus agent cards for Saar and Danny. Again, pretty slick, and it all fits perfectly in the box. The card packs themselves have more of the same art on them. Once you crack them open, the cards themselves are great. Printed full-bleed on the aforementioned plastic material that somehow makes both preservation a non-issue, and shuffling a dream. Saar, you magic man, how do you put the caramilk in the caramilk bar?
They look great, they feel great, they've got a satisfying weight to them, and I find myself taking a minute with every draw to appreciate what I'm looking at (this will hopefully not slow down gameplay to a significant degree). These are going to be cards I like to break out again and again.
The rulebook is just as pretty as everything else. The art is great, it's printed fullbleed on a glossy cardstock, and the design/fonts are visually interesting. I do have a slight issue with the formatting of the rules, which may clear itself up with more games (I only have one under my belt at the moment). The book leads with some cool art, the fluff and goal. This is great. It then, however, lost me entirely as it broke down the cardtypes rather than going into setup/gameplay. I might be spoiled, I might like to have things a little more visual, but I like to be able to setup the game as I read. I find it allows me to do a testrun as I read the rules. When the setup/gameplay are put at the end, it forces the gamer to read the whole book first (which I am usually too excited to do). The rules themselves are probably just this side of intuitive. The terms are clear and uncomplicated, but how they interact is not always evident, and I usually prefer to save my listed exceptions for the end. On the whole though, them seem relatively clear, and I'd be lying if I said it took me any more than a few minutes to get setup and playing. This was no Powergrid, to be sure.
Put in with the box was a cute little note from Saar thanking his kickstarters. The dude clearly has a sense of humour about things too.
So that's it for the main box. I'll get in to the expansion card sets and some gameplay once I've had the chance to digest it a little more. On the whole? This is a premium cardgame, and I will not be surprised to see it do well once it hits shelves. I think Saar has crafted himself a tight little game that's going to have some great player interaction and fast gameplay. I think he also found himself a gem in Danny, as the art is something to drool over. This is probably the most fun I've ever had just looking and touching game components. If the rules give us a game that's half as balanced and fun, it was well worth the cash. Saar had my curiosity, now he's got my attention.
