“3.. 2.. 1.. let’s jam.”
It is time to let the needle drop on the Real Folk Blues once more. Cowboy Bebop is my favorite anime of all time, so good in fact, that I jumped on playing the board game version, even if my friends have learned not to invite me to game night anymore. It is hard to pass up a chance to jump onto the Bebop once again, but especially when so much attention and care was put into making an experience that made me feel like I was ready to race off to Jupiter in search of the latest bounty.
As someone who has lost count of how many times I’ve seen the show, it was incredibly cool to see how much from the episodes actually appear during the gameplay. Not only is it with the characters that show up, but the situations and obstacles that feel like they belong in that universe. The tone is captured with how the creators perceive the members of the crew: low on time, broke, and hungry, but still the best.
There is some amazing artwork straight from the show that graces these pieces. Seeing the box art for the first time was mesmerizing, holding my gaze for quite a bit. Everything is wonderful to look at, with even the less artistic board segments still looking bold and welcoming, but some of the cards and other pieces do have some negative space. Every card has something on it that puts me right back into the mood. There are lots of parts and they do not feel cheap, featuring some good cardboard stock. This thankfully doesn’t take up too much table space either depending on how players stack their cards and the planets are aligned. The Bebop is a big ship, but she doesn’t need much room to maneuver.
The gameplay is fun but quite involved with a lot of fluctuating elements and numbers to keep track of. Thankfully everything is represented well and many small tokens will help mark relevant bits. There is also a nice nineteen-page rulebook that is informative with a component overview. The majority of the rules are straight forward and those that aren’t are figured out with some simple logic. In all of the times we played there was only one rules question we couldn’t answer in some way. Though it was a small thing, the outcome did hinge on us beating the game and I could see it happening to a few groups. I did contact Jasco for clarification and was happy to see that they had the rules even more thought-out than what was in the booklet.
I love that the game can be played solo, but up to four players can participate and that is what I would recommend here. I enjoy games that are meant to be co-op. Boardgame Boogie is an example of one that not only requires cooperation but feels rewarding when the players sync up to tackle a problem. Like many board games, once the players are more experienced with the system, things will go smoother, but the luck of the draw and the murderous Vicious is always waiting to cause problems.
This is another resource management title where the crew will have to juggle food, fuel, and woolong (money). Spike, Jet, Faye, and Ed are no slouches though (okay, arguable), they thankfully have abilities to help keep their resources from slipping away and to track down leads. This is a game about being a space cowboy (bounty hunter) and tracking down criminals after all. Catching them isn’t easy, as the crew has to have three correct leads to find them and then the chase is on to seal the deal. That’s when we jam. The whole process reminds me of the Carmen Sandiego game show where the suspect could not be arrested until a player had the loot, warrant, and crook. These delinquents won’t always be available to track though and given enough time they will make their escape. This element puts a serious timer on the game as catching the deviants is the main way of earning woolong and acquiring more resources. When the crew runs out of fuel they can’t move around space and when the food is gone, that’s game over.
Winning requires each player to finish their sessions. These are personal character missions that are divided into two parts, but any crew members in the same area can help out with them. Something a bit harder than a bounty that offers up no reward, other than putting the group one step closer to success. It becomes a matter of working together to judge when is the best time to chase after a bounty or to try and win, creating a balancing act.
Boardgame Boogie is a challenging but fair game. For anyone who feels differently, there are rules to adjust the difficulty. I enjoyed my time with it a ton and will most likely play it again soon, which is huge praise coming from me. There was one misprint we noticed on the Jovian planet piece in my review copy, but I was told that has already been addressed and will be corrected after the first run.
I think the randomness of the different bounties and other decks will keep it interesting, but I hope there is some sort of expansion planned. I think there is more the designers and Jasco could add while keeping it pure to the show (maybe take from the movie?) and I might buy it for new characters and artwork alone after seeing how well the core game was done. I picked on my wife for turning the soundtrack to the show on the first time we played the game, but when she didn’t do it the next night I had to—hoping she wouldn’t notice and call me out on it. Cowboy Bebop: Boardgame Boogie was incredibly easy to get into as a fan, but even those who aren’t familiar with the show can enjoy it for the mechanics and cooperative play.
“See you space cowboy…”
Stephen Wilds 