How To Play Dedale

Dedale is a card playing game where you overlap the cards to create different rooms to trap the minotaur in. This is a cooperative game that is able to be played solo. And the turns are very simple, as you play one of the two cards, overlapping other cards in the labyrinth. If you complete the goal before all the cards are played, you win the game. If not, you can restart that level and try again.

Now, that is the vast majority of the game. But I want to touch on the one rule of playing out cards. The first thing is that when you play out a card, you must overlap. And while you still have cards in your draw pile, you must overlap a square that matches the color of the square on the back of a card. So the game controls where you are able to play cards. When the draw pile runs out, you place your card however youw ant.

And let’s talk really quickly about what a level looks like. In one level you need to get torches in a row and then that room closed off. Another one you want to have only a single color in the room with the minotaur. And as you go up in level the difficulty level gets higher.

What Doesn’t Work

The difficulty is inconsistent in the game. And I don’t just mean with the leveling up. I think that the new levels are basically always more challenging. And I haven’t beat all of them yet. But because it is card draw there is a higher element of randomness to the game. And the more players you play with, the more random it is going to get. So as a solo game the first five levels might be extremely simple, but at three or four players way more challenging.

And I don’t think that the challenges are all that fun in the game. So each level provides something but it’s really a lot of variation on the same themes. And I think there is a missed opportunity. Everything is always, trap the minotaur in a room with a certain condition. Why not make it, give the minotaur a single path with a certain condition? It is possible to have more variety than the game has.

What Works

Now, there are some elements that does work. Firstly, the challenges while not super exciting, they do level up nicely in difficulty. As a two player game, myself and another player on BGA were able to comfortably handle them going up to about level 6. At level 7 it became much more of a challenge. Though, see what I said about where the challenge comes from above.

The game is also simple and fast to play. A turn won’t take long at all. You know your objective so you simply go for that. And the limit on where you play is going to mean that you are limited in what you do. Even as the labyrinth gets bigger it isn’t too much.

Who Is Dedale For?

I think this is a fun game for people who like a puzzle of a game. If you want a challenge of a puzzle that isn’t an escape room game, but is a good puzzle, Dedale is strong that way. It is a bit more random than something like Relics of Rajavihara a solo puzzle game that I love, but it is going to give you that sort of feel.

Final Thought on Dedale

So, I want to compare Dedale to Relics of Rajavihara. And I think the big thing is that I sold Relics of Rajavihara and I bought it back because I want to do the puzzles again. It is just a fun experience to set-up the challenge and see if I can figure it out. Dedale on the other hand, having to replay a challenge starts to feel like a slog. The puzzles don’t do enough for me to generate a ton of interest in what’s happening and that’s a flaw for the game.

For a game that is a puzzle to try and solve, having randomness is not a good thing. And I also look at it as I think about games where I overlay cards. I own Grove and Orchard which I love. This one tries to do more with the levels and puzzle and just takes the fun out of the fast game.

Now, this is all pretty negative. And I don’t love Dedale. I don’t think it is a horrible game either. I think that it is mainly just a pretty boring game. And I think that there are better puzzle games out there or card layering games out there. So while I had some fun with it, the more I played it on BGA the less interesting it became.

My Grade: C-
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: B-
Strategy (out of 10): 3
Luck (out of 10): 7

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How To Play – Relics of Rajavihara

The concept of the game is not too challenging. On floor one, you push around blocks to get it so you can reach up to the treasure. It is kind of a sliding puzzle as you push those blocks around.

You pick the level you want to play, generally playing in order, and set-up the board so that the crates, at least for the first floor, are all in the right spot. Then using your adventurer meeple, you move the crates around. You can push them, for whatever level you are on. That can cause them to drop or move around the board. But be smart about how you do it, once it goes down a level, it can never go back up. And if you push it to the edge, it can’t go away from the edge. Basically you can only push it from an available side.

If you make it to the treasure or your goal, you win. If not, reset the board and try the puzzle again.

You can see more of how to play below.

What Doesn’t Work?

Firstly, each puzzle is a single solution. There might be ways to get to that solution, but once you solve it, you solve it. You can maybe try and optimize the number of moves, but that isn’t the point of the game. It is to solve the puzzle. So the game is limited on how often you can play it. There are 50+ puzzles in the core box. That is a lot of content, but once you are done, you likely will be done with the game.

Also, how well are the components needed for this game? I find myself looking at the card that tells me how to set things up to start to figure out the puzzle. Once I get a good idea, I’ll mess around on the board. Now, sometimes I’ll do both, start to mess around on the board and consider the card when I feel I messed up. But is this production needed for the game?

Mainly, when I stack crates five high and remove from the bottom is that the best way to do it? Now, sometimes I will remove from the top if everything is the same crate type. It is the same thing, but sometimes it isn’t an option. So I’ll be removing it from the bottom of the pile.

What Works?

I talked about the production and if it is needed. But I will say, the production is great. The quality of everything is amazing from the insert, to the blocks, the gems, the meeples, and especially the game board. It all works together to make it easy to play. And it is fun to play around with that toy factor.

Also, the puzzles are well done. How you set them up is clear and while most don’t take too long, 10 minutes maybe if you have to reset once or twice, there is variety in what you do. Setup for each level is fast, so the balance and ratio of time in what you are doing is right.

Add in that as you progress you unlock new things. So I mention crates, and they are what you get at floor one. Floor two offers new pieces that you add in to the game. Same with floor three and floor four, so the challenges escalate as you play. I appreciate that, I also find that first floor was easy to pick-up and set down, as you add in more, it takes longer to get back into that puzzle mindset. That is in a good way.

Who Is This For?

Firstly, I think it needs to be someone who is fine with playing a game and moving on from it. I have played it over several evenings or days. So it isn’t a one sitting and done game like Unlock or Exit. But when you finish, you pass it on to someone else. And for some people, they want a game that will sit on the shelf for ages, even if they aren’t playing it because it is playable and a “new” experience when they play it.

Also, this is a solo only game, but that is only kind of true. It can be a joint effort to solve the puzzles. But probably one person is going to be better at solving the puzzles than another person and end up being the one who does solve them. But it makes the game one that you can pass between people because of the time and speed.

I think mainly this is for someone who wants to solve puzzles. If that element of gaming is what you love, you will enjoy it.

Final Thoughts on Relics of Rajavihara

This is an odd game, meaning, I get why it won’t be for everyone. It is not super cheap, nor super expensive, but you only play it a limited number of times. I talk on my stream about how it is a game that I’d give away versus sell. If someone I know wants it, it is worth it to me to pass it on to them. Or it is a game that I sell for cheap because of the limited replayability. I consider it like the Unlock games that way.

On the flip side, I really enjoy solving the puzzles. Some of them take longer as I get my brain into it. Some of them are harder for me for some reason as I play them, even in the middle of it. But each is fun to do, and a challenge. And I like this sort of puzzle. I have previously mentioned it, but it reminds me of a game from Windows 95 or 98, Chip’s Challenge. That didn’t have the 3D aspect to it, but it is a sliding puzzle as well. And I really liked that game.

So for me, this is a game that is worth the cost. And when I am done, I won’t mind passing it on to someone else. Hopefully they get as much fun from it as I do and can also pass it on. And I think most people, if they can play it for a low enough cost, will enjoy it. The cost is just the barrier of entry to worry about for some people.

My Grade: B
Gamer Grade: B
Casual Grade: B+

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In The Mind, you are playing through levels trying to, as a group, play down your cards in numerical order. In the first level, you each have one card, so it shouldn’t be that hard. The next round two, and so on and so forth. But there’s a twist to the game, you are playing down these cards in order without communicating, and you have a limited number of times that you can mess up. The good thing is that by beating levels you can gain more lives or you can gain ninja throwing stars (it makes no thematic sense). These throwing stars allow you to all discard your lowest card without having to play it, that gives you an idea of what everyone’s next lowest card is to get the game moving again if everyone is afraid to play. Then you try and make to the highest level where you can unlock a secret new way to play the game.

If you read yesterdays article on game versus activity, you would have seen that I used The Mind as my primary example (check it out here). And, I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone that I consider The Mind to be more of an activity than a game. There technically is a point where you can win, if you beat all the levels for your player count. But to do that, there isn’t really skill, unless you are all able to count silently at the same speed, and then the skill really doesn’t come from the game. In the Mind you really are just waiting around until you feel like you’ve waited long enough, then wait a little bit more and then play the card in hopes that you’ve waited long enough. They pitch it as this quasi mystical connection that you can get by all being in sync and playing cards, but that doesn’t make it a game, it makes it an activity that has been gamified.

Now, with all that said, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It can be a fun activity/game. However, compared to a lot of other games, I think that this one is quite group dependent. If people aren’t able to sit still through this game and just enjoy the experience of the guessing aspect, the game is going to fall flat. And for people who play quite a number of games, the concept of this game can be hard to wrap your head around. All you’re doing is trying to guess when to play a card, there are no tells really and the game says no communication, but does that mean if I have a 2 and a 99 in round two and I play the 2, can I then lean back in my chair to show that I don’t have a card coming up for a while or is that communication, that’s something that the rules don’t tell you, so if you want to know the rules, you’re going to have to guess for that. However, if people can get into the silly nature of trying to guess and just have a good time and silently cheer when you can play numbers at lightning speed in order because you have the 46, 47, and 49 between the group, that’s fun. But even then, it’s more muted than it should be, because the game doesn’t allow for communication.

And then there are the ninja throwing stars. That could have been anything, I guess the idea of a rabbit with ninja throwing stars (yeah, I forgot to mention the rabbit), is silly. But the game itself when played isn’t that silly. Why not go with a carrot instead of a throwing star? Or, if the idea of a throwing star is that you cut off the bottom cards or throw away the bottom cards, it seems like there’s a better option or maybe a ninja instead of the rabbit ninja. This is clearly an abstract idea that you could do with any set of cards that increase in numbers. But the theming off it is odd, but in the end, I guess doesn’t matter. Again, though, for people who play more thematic games, the weird theming could throw them off versus just being a more simple completely abstract with no theme game.

Overall, for me, The Mind is a miss more than a hit when it’s made it to the table and for my playing experience. This idea of being connected and feeling when you can play cards seems to be the excuse people give for playing the game when it’s just hoping you’ve waited long enough before playing your next number. And the fact that the mind is supposed to hit that kind of filler and light style of game that can often border on party style game, it just doesn’t work for that. There are plenty of other simple and silly games where when you have that moment that you want to cheer about, you can actually cheer about it and it causes the excitement around the game to grow. Eventually with The Mind, I feel like I’m just forcing myself to play more as are the people I’ve played with, not because we’re having fun, but because we want to get over whatever hump we’ve been getting stuck on. Would I play The Mind again, sure, if people wanted to, but I’m not going to pull it out myself and I’m not going to play it 5-6 times in a row, maybe 3.

Overall Grade: C-
Gamer Grade: F
Casual Grade: C

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