New board game hitting the table in my quest to play through a lot of my unplayed games. This time, Project L by Boardcubator just came in from the Project L: Finesse Kickstarter. I haven’t played with the Finesse expansion yet, but I have gotten in several games of Project L. And at least on the table, the game looks like a lot of fun with it’s colorful pieces, and striking aesthetic. Let’s talk about how it plays.

How To Play Project L

Project L is a game about basically playing Tetris, or with Tetris pieces. You are trying to complete shapes by filling in pieces to it. At the start of the game, you have two pieces a single square and two squares, but you get more as the game goes along.

On your turn you have a number of actions that you can do. And you get to take three of them per round. You can pick up one of the shape cards that you need to fill in and put it in front of you. Next you can upgrade a piece, and they have different levels which determine how you can upgrade. Or you can take a basic piece. You can clear a row, or one important one is you can master. Master you can do once per turn, but allows you to put a piece in every shape that you have.

The game continues until you get down to none of the harder tiles left. After that you finish out the round plus one more. That way each person gets a similar number of turns. Then you count up points on your shapes, and most points wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

The base game is a lot of fun, and I have more positives than negatives. However, I am concerned about how the base game will play over a lot of plays. I expect it to stick in my collection because the game is very accessible, more on that later. But for me, without the Finesse expansion or Ghost expansion which I want to get, will it be interesting enough.

The game play itself is simple, and after a handful of plays. I feel like it doesn’t change up too massively. Now, I think it can change up with different players because if I go for the higher scoring cards and push the end game faster, that will make it feel different. But if I build up a really strong set of pieces and go from there, it’s going to feel like what I’ve done before.

What Works?

The ease and time of play are great on this game. In a two player game, turns are snappy. And while there is decision space with what shapes you take, how you allocate your pieces, things like that, it isn’t daunting. I felt like I could sit down and play this game with anyone.

The game also looks great on the table. The bright colored pieces that you are fitting into the black and white cards makes the game pop. It makes it feel easy to get to the table and play. And the pieces are a lot of fun, very high quality game.

Who Is This For?

I think that this is a great game for gamers to teach people getting into the hobby. Or to teach players who gravitate towards that Splendor, Ticket to Ride, and Smallworld weight of game. I don’t know that this will work for a group of heavier gamers. It might work a few times but it won’t be one that sticks around because the decision space and strategy for the base game is a bit limited.

But more casual gamers, I highly recommend this game. Project L is a game that should be in Target and sell a million copies or at least one hundred thousand, because it is fun, it is easy to learn, and it looks great. Put this on a shelf next to a lot of games and it’ll stand out.

Project L- Final Thoughts

I think that this is going to be one that sticks around in my collection. And I think that even though it won’t be one that I always want to play. Because while the game play is fun and easy, I’m not sure the base game has the level of strategy that I want.

I am hopeful, with looking at the expansion, that will improve the game for me. This is a game that should have staying power on my shelf for a lot of people I game with. And I don’t think it is going to be a game where I will turn down playing it. I also think that the expansion is going to make that even less likely that I’ll turn down playing it. Mainly because it looks to add to the puzzle of the game.

Finally, this isn’t part of the review, but there is a insert or Game Trayz for Project L. I’m not sure if it’ll be something you can buy later, but man, is it nice. Takes what could have been a bit of a messy table and a slower set-up and makes an easy game easy to get to the table.

My Grade: B
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: A

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