A.D.E.L.E.
Our spaceship is flying to Mars to deliver another batch of potatoes for Matt Damon. Unfortunately, during the flight, the artificial intelligence that manages the ship rebels and begins to lock the doors and start fires. To avert the danger we have to do a hard reset with an axe or simply evacuate us from this situation.
A.D.E.L.E. is a game of one against many. That is, one player will take on the role of A.D.E.L.E. and will want to singingly get rid of other players, while the rest will have to find some items and play such pick up and delivery with a slight twist.
We will start each round by seeing what awaits our players. When revealing an event card, as a rule, we can always count on something bad. A meteorite will hit somewhere, a virus will hit our computers, etc. Generally, things are already going to happen.
Then the players behind the curtain will start planning their actions in secret from A.D.E.L.E.. The best part is that everything we say and determine our rebellious computer angel needs to hear. Oh, Dios Mio! Artificial intelligence is everywhere and we can’t hide from it.
After the planning phase A.D.E.L.E. turn will begin. Then it will place numerous threats on the ship hoping that we will run into them. There are several ways to get rid of us, but the main ally will be fire. Which effectively nullifies the health of the crew members. There are also various anomalies at A.D.E.L.E.’s disposal, which can really spoil our enjoyment of flying around the rooms.
Right. You remember how we planned our actions before. It is now that we will be able to put our plans into action. Well, almost all of them. Because if we didn’t choose to open doors then we stay where we are. That’s kind of a tip for new players who don’t want to lose their entire turn. Astronauts will also be able to move around the ship, collect new items, use terminals and, most importantly, deliver items needed to win. By the way, the action symbols look as if we were to send an attachment to someone and try to connect to WI-FI at the same time. However, this is a completely different story.
At the end of the turn we will lower our batteries, move the round marker and get ready to repeat all over again.
A.D.E.L.E. will win when at least one potato supplier will trip or when the round marker reaches the very end. Players will win if they meet one of the two conditions for getting rid of A.D.E.L.E.. That is, they disable it or escape from the ship.
Why it was worth going to Mars
The 1 against all games is something I like. The mischief, checking in the instructions to see if you can really do it that way. Of course, most of the time we laugh about it but sometimes we can make a one joke too far… why are you all looking at me?
I like the seemingly limited communication that occurs between us. Because everything we want to do has to be heard by A.D.E.L.E. and that’s very interesting. Because we can’t arrange everything so precisely and sometimes we have to deviate a bit from the established course to surprise our rebellious computer.
Playing as A.D.E.L.E. and Cosmonauts was very good. A.D.E.L.E.’s turn is fairly simple. We draw tokens, do cool bad things and watch the players’ plans go down. Sometimes we’ll also add an anomaly to further heat up that stressful atmosphere. The possibilities for AI are quite large, and even this limitation from cards to individual rooms doesn’t prevent us from doing our own thing. I especially like the fact that if you add the threat of darkness, and then add fire there, it’s nullified. Such a small thing but so enjoyable.
As for the astronauts, from the perspective of A.D.E.L.E., it looks like they are walking around somewhere nervously without purpose and trying to collect various items. Once I finally played as one of them I realized that it’s not so much wandering around. You have to avoid dangers, repair the ship and often also help other players to guide them on the right path. I especially like the fact that we don’t know each other’s objectives but when we meet we can check them. Our mid-ship meetings led to many surprises. Because in most cases we could only deduce where who wanted to go.
That’s why this game keeps us in suspense until the very end. It’s nice to have that stress when everything goes wrong, but in the end our goal is fulfilled. Although I don’t know about you, but when I played it was practically always A.D.E.L.E. that won. Unfortunately, you need to know the game well and be able to interact effectively with each other to win.
By the way of our objectives we have two ways to get rid of A.D.E.L.E.. Each is somewhat similar to each other but requires different items and rooms. I like the fact that we had to adapt our strategy to what was happening on the ship. Because the sudden progression of time could force us to look for an axe quickly.
The ship itself and the corridors it contains are interestingly planned. On the other side of the board we have a completely different ship with a different room layout, which is a bit tighter. Such a subtle variety for us.
I also really like the graphics in A.D.E.L.E.. It’s a bit so cartoony and you can feel that alien vibe without the alien. Especially an honorable mention for the scream card. As for the rest of the components, everything is ok.
A handful of downsides
The symbols on the player boards do not quite guide us to the actions he can perform. Because mail, WI-FI, etc. doesn’t tell me anything. That’s why it’s very good that we get 2 big prompts with descriptions of almost everything we can do.
Overall this game scales well but for two players gameplay is average. We miss our delivery partners and it definitely won’t be easy for us to win. As for me there has to be a minimum of 3 players to fully enjoy the gameplay.
Summary
In A.D.E.L.E., there is no Alien chasing us, trying to get closer to greet us. But here you can feel the excitement in your stomach when the door suddenly closes our escape route and fire spreads through the ship. I also like the limited communication in A.D.E.L.E. when our rebellious computer angel overhears us and we have to plan our actions together. The most important thing for me is that I enjoyed playing each side and it gave me a different gameplay experience. Also, who would have thought that delivering potatoes would be so dangerous.
Final verdict: Hello from the other side of the door. Hold on, I need to roll in the deep.
Pros
- Playing 1 against many
- Each side played well for me
- 2 different ships
- Interesting action planning
- You can feel the stress
Cons
- Anyone connected to the Wi-Fi?
- For 2 players gameplay is quite average
[Game provided by Galakta]
