Well we cant be dull analysts all day long. This game is supposed to be a fun solitaire game. I just skimmed the rules looks pretty straight forward.
Component quality is high, rules are well written and short (11 pages for basic game)
I’m going to record a game session and see what happens.
You really found the component quality high? I just got this game for $60 and found the map and enemy sheet quality extremely poor. The counters are pretty good, but the rest is aweful in my opinion. The sheets are on about 60lbs paper it seems. Not even glossy. The hive tiles were warped, the manual is not even in color, and the manual has quite a bit of things left out and added clarification needed from the online living rules and faq/errata. This is pretty poor quality for the price in my opinion.
I’m wondering if I just got a bad copy or if we just have different quality standards. I’m very curious to know.
I bought mine p500 so it was not 60. I think the entire thing could be upgraded for sure. However as you play (once you sort rules out) it plays very well. So far it has worked out to be about $3 a play, and dozens of hours of enjoyment.
I really like the narrative that comes from this game. My tiles were all fine, the character card would be nicer with counters for them perhaps.
I have paid the same for much worse from bigger companies. Very few manuals are in color except GMT, and of course big Euro companies who make 2-3k runs. I imagine this was a 500-1000 unit run. I know you have spent a lot of time on BGG and now here complaining. I’d suggest you sell the game for what you can and move on.
I intend to buy the expansion. It retails for $54.99 on the the publishers webssite with updated rules. Oh and there is a set of free expansion materials on the designers site. Its a pity you did not like the game, unfortunately we have winners and losers eh!