Firefly

 

Firefly

Let me start by saying that I am so very happy that we finally, after something like 4 years of talking about it, got around to playing Firefly. We had talked about it for a minute, but it became more relevant the moment I started designing a pick-up and deliver (PU/D, for the purposes of this post) game. It wasn't until I started working on that design idea that I realized I hadn't actually played that many PU/D games, weirdly! I had played Pandemic a whole bunch, as well as different versions of the game, but I couldn't really think of many others. I had played Great Western Trail once and enjoyed it enough to buy my own copy, but haven't managed to get it to the table since. I bought Flash Point and Dead Men Tell No Tales because I needed some more examples of PU/D games, but it took me awhile to get to them. Meanwhile, I had picked up my own copy of Firefly for the same reason, but I simply wasn't getting to it, so I resold it. That worked out for the best, because my buddy Roger ended up purchasing the 10th Anniversary Edition Big Box version of the game for himself. So we were good to go...if we ever got around to it, that is. 

Welp, we did! Roger and Ted had played it before, Cushman and I hadn't. Meant we had some sherpas to help set the game up, and then teach it, which is always welcome. Ted and Roger did a good job of incorporating some of the expansion stuff without creating a complicated monster that wouldn't really give us a feel for what the game is *really* like. That is to say that the game didn't need to be bigger than it already was for our first foray into it. As always, Ted did a good job of teaching the game, and Roger did a good job of distilling Ted's teach down into immediate and not-too-distant goals. Though the game is competitive and everyone was trying to win, there was a lot of table talk about objectives and strategies that made sense versus some that were perhaps a bit of a reach. We always play the first couple of games in this manner, because as Roger so often says, we play a game once or twice, then say, "Okay, NOW I know how to play." At that point, we can start trying to subvert each other without being nice or transparent about it.

The game is fairly straightforward overall: go to places, select jobs, fly to other places, and complete said jobs. The rewards from those jobs will help you acquire gear, crew members, and ship upgrades. Then there are bigger goals that all players are pursuing in order to win the game. Depending on the story interwoven into the game, some pre-reqs need to be met before certain missions can even be attempted. Additionally, just like any game in which you're trying to collect gear and level up, it's advisable to collect extra gear and such before attempting certain feats or missions. Just because you meet the bare minimum doesn't mean you're necessarily ready to tackle a mission, since the smallest setback could actually push you back beyond your ability to compete. A point I'm definitely making for no reason in particular, and not because I have direct experience with it.

Before really getting into it, I'll say that the components are all lovely, and the neoprene mat makes for an enjoyable playing experience. Not all games need the nicer components, but I think Firefly is one that benefits from the ones we get, like the fancy dice and the neoprene mat. Additionally, some games feel inconsistent in design choices when they feature a cool game mat, but crappy art or flimsy cardboard tokens. While this game does have cardboard tokens, they're not flimsy, and they don't need to be fancier than they are. I think the game, across the board, feels good the way it is presented above.

The next thing I'll say is that I like the amount of customization a player can do in this game. I went with a basic ship, so nothing too fancy to start with. But I liked snagging the Emissions Recycler early to get a little more Burn Range, as well as getting some free fuel when I lucked into drawing 2 "Big Black" nav cards (basically, cards that you draw while traveling, and these are 'nothing happens; keep flying!'). The next time I play this game, I'll have a better idea of which parts of space are safer than others. Ted and Roger kind of explained it to me and Cush, but until you play the game and kind of know your odds of drawing different threat cards in different areas of space, you kind of don't know what your odds are of uneventful travel versus travel that all but invites a shit-storm down upon your head.

As a result, I maybe didn't pick the missions most likely to keep me in areas where I drew "Big Black" nav cards more frequently. Which would end up hurting me more than I anticipated. In any PU/D game, movement is key. The longer it takes you to get a mission, get what you need for it, then deliver it, the more time there is for other players to either complete their missions more efficiently, or read your ambitions, and make your life even just a little bit harder. And while there are only so many ways to sabotage one another in Firefly, there are a couple of ways to make the lives of other players more complicated. There is also, I believe, ample opportunity to pivot within your own plans once you've recognized what someone else is doing.

I, on the other hand, mostly didn't understand what other people were doing. I was pretty focused on running my own missions. But I was fairly direction less, as can be seen from my board above by the time we scooped the game. We scooped because Roger was running away with it, even if he hit some setbacks. Ted could maybe catch him, but would require some pretty bad luck for Roger, and some pretty good luck for himself. Cush and I were very simply out of it, and with lots of game left.

The thing is, I wanna revisit this game. I'll be honest and say that I didn't have a ton of fun playing it the first time around. This isn't like when I played Kutna Hora for the first time and immediately wanted to set it up and play it again. I actually think there's a decent chance I don't really like this game all that much. I think it's too long for a PU/D game and wears out its welcome. It starts to feel less like a game, and more like work. Or, at the very least, it starts to feel like a puzzle to solve rather than a game to win.

So why bother giving it another chance? Well, first of all, a lot of people seem to like it. Secondly, it was only my first play, and that first play was disrupted by my having to leave the game for about 45 minutes while I picked my kiddo up from a kids' night out at his dojo. So that disrupted the game, for sure. Finally, I'm curious as to whether or not it really is too long for a PU/D. That's what my instincts say. But I also developed a game that easily slides into that territory of "I'm working at this rather than having fun," and that's part of the balance problem I need to address when I revisit that particular design. So I want to play Firefly again in the hopes of maybe answering some questions that are pertinent to my development as an amateur game designer.

Insert popular Firefly meme here I don't know, y'all, I just never really watched the show. I know "shiny," and that's about it.

I think all of those are decent reasons for giving the game another chance. But beyond those, my buddy Roger owns ALL OF THE GAME, so I'd like to at least try playing with some of the other content he's got. And I'd also like to see if I really did figure out some stuff about the game, and if I can implement that to play it better. The two things that I think I learned are that I need to apply the next time I play are thus:

1. I need to have a stronger focus while buying upgrades. In this first game, I bought the best (relatively) stuff that was available. But it meant that I kind of became decent at several things rather than turning a strength into an obscenity. It also meant that I was spending a decent amount of money on one or two cards instead of purchasing three or four. Not that more is always better, but sometimes, numbers are superior to quality.
2. I need to over-prepare for the endgame so that instead of stopping and starting as I either make bad decisions or suffer from bad luck, I don't stall out, but can keep on rolling instead. I watched Roger do this, because even as he lost crew members to mission requirements, he was good to keep rolling instead of needing to call a time out in order to go get more crew members.

I still think the game runs too long for the mechanics it uses. But nonetheless, I'm honestly looking forward to this again. If nothing else, I can see if the things I learned are actually the things I was meant to learn, or if I still just *don't get it*!