Rocketmen Review - with Mike DiLisio

[@michaelbudden4799]

Really good review, Mike. Very thorough and analytical without being overly long. Gave me a really good overview of the game. Thanks.

[@tonybowers9490]

Thanks for sharing and for being candid. I have Rocketmen and play it solo. I like it a lot as a solo game. Your criticism of card stock, flight cards, and insane flight failure penalty are valid. I too think any deck builder should have nice cards. I switched to different colored tokens and a draw bag for the flight deck. I will almost always have the ‘parachute’ or ‘space suit’ card to help mitigate flights. That’s okay for solo, but with more players there aren’t enough of those types of cards. I would house rule that insane penalty. I rate it 8/10 for solo based on the deck building, and game mechanics, and fun. Now that I’ve played 10+ times I understand the cards and strategies better, which upped my rating.

[@doc68mckeel76]

Concerning the space voyage theme, what do you guys at Dice Tower think of the boardgame High frontier 4 all?

[@AndrewCCleverley]

After playing a friend's copy we decided to get some blank tokens, write numbers on them and draw them from a bag to replace the push your luck cards.

[@QuintMorrison6]

I agree on the cards, but I fundamentally disagree on the push your luck part. You can bail on a launch before the last card. In a Mars mission, you get 4 chances. If the players don’t know how the game works or refuse to acknowledge the risk, they get punished. You can make the same argument about any game that has dice or cards. I’d give it an 8/10.

[@michaeldilisio557]

Sure, you can bail on a launch, but in the example you gave, if you’re going on a Mars mission, and bail after drawing 4 cards, you need to discard three cards out of your Launch Pad. Getting those cards there probably took at least a couple of turns. The point I was trying to make is that a “bust” here can undo something that took multiple turns. Most push your luck games I’ve played seem to only negatively affect that particular turn.

[@mitchsommer1023]

Totally agree. The game rewards you building up your launchpad to minimize your chances of failing through pulling a bad set of mission success cards. You can mitigate it. Does that make the game longer? Yes, I agree the game lasts a little longer than it should. I also think the upgraded pieces add a bit more flavor. Solid game, decent amount of replayability.

[@EricWoning]

@@michaeldilisio557 - I think it might be a mismatch on understanding probability.... this is where most things go wrong. More people should bail after the 1st card drawn - and having gone 3 in... if you don't have a good mitigation strategy you are doing something wrong. Second I think that the achievements is the next overlooked strategy... building this up gives a lot of mitigation if done well as well. Third I think that without this, it wouldn't be a race but a straightforward deck builder. I think people hear deck builder and expect it to be relatively simple... the expectations are not set well as this game belays way more depth than you'd expect. Lastly I think this game shines at a lower player count. It is both cut-throat as well as super quick in your turns. A mission to mars should only be attempted late in the game meaning you've built up a lot meaning that in 2, maybe 3 turns... you should be going again. If not - you've not built your strategy well....

[@petershelling2540]

+ I think the abort/fail risk enhances the theme more---especially later in the game. (these things fail in real life, sometimes no matter how well one plans.) So I suggest a 'house rule' for those who struggle with it, or for new players: Each extra 'rocket' give a one space boost- but is trashed into the 'junkyard' after the mission regardless of outcome.

[@peppersbarker5810]

I've only played three times and can not agree more on the card stock and board size. However, I found the game fast paced and you really had to push fast as we found the first to get to Mars was often the winner unless someone else could also get there as the secret objectives all required a mars mission and added many points. I feel like you have to be launching regularly and bailing if needed or you were left in the dust. I only give it a 7/10 but I do think it is much deeper then first glance.

[@JoelPinaMovies]

Good Review Mike, definitely see a lot of potential players having an experience similar to mine as you mentioned busting feeling very devastating. Especially on a failed mars mission that can be 5+ turns down the drain. I’d go 5/10 on this

[@bobsmith4572]

Really enjoyed the review. Thank you.

[@goldbug371]

I would have liked actual space agencies there. Also some negative cards in the mission success cards would have kept tension high. totally agree with Mike here on everything he said. it's kinda of mixed bag. I own the game but most likely to leave my collection in the near future.

[@gs24-xor]

was waiting for your review. Was hoping a good game because the theme calls me, but I better save my money on this one. Thanks Mike

[@foofire72]

It's a good game. Don't let someone else make up your mind before you actually play it a few times. We really enjoyed our plays. Try it out! 🙂

[@markiv2942]

And I thought this game was about cloning of Elton John.

[@ArthurBugorski]

The result was William Shatner...

[@zacdredge3859]

When I heard about this game I expected the push your luck aspect of launches to involve flipping from your own deck. To discover that the game instead uses a separate static deck which could have been replaced by dice or a bag is quite disappointing. 😬

[@JimmySquiky]

I'd rate it about the same as you did.

[@then8mac]

The game is a pass for me as i dont care for push-your-luck, but great review anyway Mike. Appreciate the depth.

[@crepusculo1027]

Same here. Mr. Wallace lost me at "push your luck", which Mike mentions on second 5 or sth haha

[@CarlosRodriguez-ez3ls]

I mean really, who cares about sleeve quality. I sleeve all my games anyway. This looks like a winner!

[@foofire72]

You should sleeve all deck builders no matter the card quality if you want your cards less worn over time. So you are actually forced to sleeve all deck builders. So by that comment I take it that you are not fond of deck builders? We played it over a dozen times and enjoy the game.. When my group plays Rocketmen all of us know the game well and it is a race. It can be cutthroat. awesome game nonetheless. How aggressive do you want to be? Sometimes other players will dictate how aggressive you will be....or get left behind 🙂. Love your reviews keep them coming. You guys at the Dice Tower are awesome!!!!

[@thedicetower]

Oh my goodness!!!! I never realized I didn't like deck builders! I didn't know that buying sleeves was a prerequisite to enjoying deck building games. Honestly, this is silly. You should not HAVE to buy sleeves for a game. If a game NEEDS sleeves, it should come with them.

[@foofire72]

@@thedicetower you don't need to buy sleeves for anything it's up the the owner. Just like you don't need to buy sleeves for this game. The cards are holding up just fine with all of my plays. And we have played and shuffled this game quite a bit. Just want people to know this is not the case by your comment on the card quality and you need to sleeve them. It's not true. Btw love the unnecessary sarcasm. ✌🏻

[@ArnieHorta]

@@thedicetower HA! I agree with this one...I HATE sleeving deck builders. Any game where I constantly have to shuffle is one where I hate to sleeve. What deck builders should have are high quality cards without black borders. It is one thing to make lower quality cards when they are not the central focus of the game, but another when you have a deck builder where the cards are the most important part!

[@lastburning]

Sleeves are definitely required for deck builders. Not only do they protect the cards, they make them much easier to shuffle. You can't mash shuffle otherwise.

[@thedicetower]

@@lastburning Again, though, I've been playing deck builders for 13 years without sleeves. I think it's possible to do that. :)

[@Judge021979]

I also thought the game was dreadful... Sold pretty much immediately.

[@MikeDV34]

I mean...a 6 isn't exactly dreadful

[@Judge021979]

@@MikeDV34 in the context of Mike’s reviews on Dice Tower - that’s pretty low.

[@MikeDV34]

@@Judge021979 Hmm. I disagree with you. A 6 does not equal a bad game. If the game was truly "dreadful," I'm sure Mike would have rated it as such. A 6 is an okay game. BGG has messed people up.

[@davidmarowske4243]

I agree. Was extremely disappointed with this one. Sold it after one play.

[@MikeDV34]

@@lastburning First off, this review is one person's opinion. Other reviewers may rate this higher (or lower!). But 6/10 is not dreadful. If I rated a game a 6, it would be a game that I thought was okay but would likely not seek out to play again. Dreadful is a very strong word. so that sounds like a 2 or 3 out of 10 to me. I think we should adjust the way we think about reviews, if people are thinking a 6/10 is awful.

[@EricWoning]

I disagree with HAVING TO sleeve the game. Like you i'm a not a sleever... and found it unnecessary with this as well so far. I've played it well over 5 times, literally no probs... people just need to learn how to shuffle well. (No mash, only the slightest of riffle and pushing in, or better yet: top/bottom + good overhand). The I guarantee you - you will not have any problem. That being said - I would have liked better quality cards as well - and the black border for the launch cards was just dumb. I get it from a design POV, but from functionality they just should have made that a white border. Period. The flip side however - the game is dirt cheap because of it....

[@AahzmandusPervect]

Five plays is nothing.

[@EricWoning]

@@AahzmandusPervect Agreed - but he literally states at five plays (and even just more than one) - I can safely say I can play this game 20 times without it being a problem (I think even up to 40). The real problem is that people just don't put time/effort into learning how to shuffle. So people here talk about mash-shuffling and extreme riffle shuffle.