Stonemaier Games: Red Rising | A Competitive Strategy Game Based on The Novels from Pierce Brown | Craft a Hand of Powerful Characters from The World of Red Rising | 1-6 Players, 60 Mins, Ages 14+

Great game! It did take me a while to read through the instructions and figure out what all the pieces do, but the gameplay is actually very straightforward. Knowledge of the books isn't necessary. In a group of 3, 2 of us were familiar with the books (okay, we were geeking out), and the 3rd did not know them, but we are all able to enjoy the game. If you are familiar with the books, you're in for a treat. The card art is amazing! The overall quality of all the materials is also fantastic. Even the manual is printed on high quality, textured paper. Great value for the money, and the replayability is definitely there.

This game can take a minute to grasp because it is slightly more complicated than your average family card game, but once you do, it becomes wildly competitive with a dynamic and fairly deep strategy element.While initially you may be tempted to focus on the non-card elements of the game (Helium, Fleet Track, Institute) these are present to a: Trigger the endgame b: Supplement your endgame hand score - and not be your primary source of points. Once you understand this, the real game begins.Highly recommended, especially for what you get at the price point. Good Quality, Great replayability, lots of fun.Players do not need to have read the books for any element of the game, those in the midst of the series will not have anything spoiled, and regardless of where readers are in the series, they will enjoy all the references.

So fun. Love introducing my husband to all the characters from my favorite series. Also love that it’s less than an hour to play a whole game. Perfect to fit in after our toddler Howler goes to bed.

This is based on one of the best sci fi book series I ever read. If you like the books, try the game. If you've never tried the books, do yourself a favor and try them! The game itself isn't the best game in the world, but is a fun tie-in for fans. It's easy to learn, and has comes with lots of great work. I paid $12 which I thought was a steal. But at the current price of $8.99, it is a no brainer.

Bought the game b/c it was on sale for Prim Day and more importantly b/c I LOVE the book series. My husband is more of a gamer than I am, so he played it with me and had to explain how it all worked. I think this will be fun, but if you haven't tried a game like this and are more into Monopoly and Clue, there is a learning curve. Bonus points for the game being short, under an hour when you figure out what you're doing.

I'm currently reading the Red Rising series of books, so when I saw this game drop to an astonishingly low price for the holidays I couldn't resist. After playing multiple rounds with my wife, and multiple games solo, here are my thoughts.-----The Good:The production of this game is amazing. I purchased the base game - not the collector's edition that I've seen around - and the components are still great. The cards are heavy duty and feel great in hand, and the artwork looks fantastic. All of the character cards (112 I believe) have unique artwork, and even the "unnamed" characters look interesting. House markers & the game board are heavy cardboard with good artwork, and while nothing fancy, the plastic cubes & various other markers are bright and acceptable for what they are. Even the instructions are heavy duty, look great, and are easy to follow.Once you know how the game is setup, you can do so fairly quickly, and it looks great on the table. While appearing complicated, the rules are super simple to follow. After only a couple games, the only thing I need to refer back to the manual for is endgame scoring. The expansive card roster creates countless hand combos, and so far every game has felt like a new strategy.Speaking of strategy, you will need it to beat the solo variant of the game. That's not a bad thing... the AI in this game is very well done. In fact, I like the solo variant equally as well as against a second person.-----The Bad:Until you get really familiar with the different characters and colors (castes), you'll spend a good deal of time reading the different abilities and post-game actions of cards. This can lead to a bit of analysis paralysis for some as they try to determine what their best option is.As with any game relying on card draws, randomness & luck will play a part. You could start off the game with a great hand and not need much hand management, or you may feel like your whole game is just trying to get two cards that really work well together. A large majority of your end-game points come from your hand totals, so that can make games seem really one sided at times. However, there are other options to score significant points, so you may need to shift your focus.While the game looks great, it's also a huge box for what it contains. I'm not sure if they used the same box for the collector's edition (which has card holders and maybe some other extras), but I feel like the box could have been half the size and held the components just as well.-----The Indifferent:When it comes to the theme, you can take it or leave it. Since I'm reading & enjoying the books, I love seeing the different characters and how they synergize (good or bad) with other characters. However, at the end of the game, I'm going to base my hand purely on how the cards combo and score points, regardless of who I assemble my "team" from. On the flip side, my wife has had no problems playing & enjoying the game with zero knowledge of the books. So while I'm sure fans of the Red Rising series will get a bigger kick out of the theme, it can be played equally well by non-fans. It's fairly light-weight, plays quickly, and just enough strategy to keep things interesting without bogging it down. You'll have to decide if that's for you.-----Overall I am really enjoying this game. It has enough strategy that when you put together a great hand combo, it feels really good, but it doesn't turn the game into a slog. I also really, really enjoy the solo mode of this game. Whether playing the AI, or other players, every game seems to necessitate a different strategy. Just one more game...

Great game and great price

I bought this on Black Friday sale for $9 and man was it a steal. The cards are a great size and have a very nice texture to them, with engaging mechanics and memorable artwork. The gameplay is simple, but not simplistic, with plenty of room for depth (though it skews to a wombo-combo style of play). And it is blessedly short to play.I highly recommend Red Rising the boardgame, even at full price. It's just that good.