Last night streamed some new to me game play of Trek 12 by Pandasaurus Games. This is a mountain climbing roll and write game where the theme maybe comes through. But how does it work as a solo game? Because, even though it has a solo mode, not all solo modes are created equal.

The Game – Trek 12

My initial impressions are that Trek 12 is a fun game, but maybe not one of the best roll and write games out there. I do think that the challenge packs, things you can unlock, will keep the game in my collection for a while. I want to unlock them or open them and see what they are. And I do think that this game can move up higher as I do an expedition, not just a single trek. And as I play with other people.

Solo Mode

Some of what just keeps Trek 12 in that fun range is that the solo mode on the game is fine. The issue with the solo mode, and I mention it, is that you are basically playing two characters or two times. The mechanics work well enough for the AI, Max, but it’s also extra work. And when I do something, I want to make it good but not too good for Max. So it feels like more of a balancing act.

I don’t always want a beat your previous score, but compared to this mechanic, I think I prefer that for solo game play. And in all fairness to Trek 12, I do think I could just play it solo as a beat my own score. There is nothing that Max is doing that really pushes me at least in the trek style of game. Maybe the additional rules will make more sense for an expedition.

Different Mountains

I do think that the mountains in the game are interesting. The first one that I played is very basic. Most things connect nicely together so you can get those groups or those runs of numbers. Then the other two in the base box, they start to stretch that out a little bit further by making the difficult spots to go. And the expansion one, I like how it changes up the numbers on things. It makes you have to plan more.

Is there enough difference overall, I am not sure. I think that is one of the things about this game. It feels interesting, but the different maps don’t feel interesting enough. Or maybe like they could do more with them. Or even, maybe just make people start in the bottom corner and build out to make it feel more thematic like climbing a mountain.

Upcoming Streams

I think my plan for next Monday is to continue with roll and write games. Most likely looking at Isle of Cats: Explore and Draw. Or maybe one of the other roll and writes, I still have Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write to play as well. That is likely going to be the plan of attack for the next few weeks, though I know that some crowdfunding games that I likely will unbox aren’t too far away. So those will get slotted in when they show up.

And on Wednesday I am going to be playing some more Stars of Akarios. This week it won’t be more space combat. Instead, it’ll be time to get down onto a planet and start exploring. I am excited to show off different mechanics than the ones that we’ve seen so far. It does mean that I need to brush up on the rules as well.

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