Quackalope has covered Red Rising, the latest game from Jamey Stegmaier and Stonemaier Games, multiple times already. I’ve published a First Impressions article, Jesse and guest Alex Radcliffe from BoardGameCo discussed the game at length in a collaborative video (embedded below), and then I joined Jan (the distinguished Goose) and Will Lippincott in a podcast episode of Played It Once to chat more in-depth about the gameplay experience (also embedded below).

But, I try to be thorough when I’m reviewing games, so beyond the first impressions I had of the fast-paced game, I think it’s also important to revisit the game and discuss it further once you have more plays under your belt.

So, here I am today, trying to help you determine (if you haven’t bought and/or played the game already) if it’s right for you!

Red Rising is a game based on the book series of the same name from author Pierce Brown. Set in a dystopian, stratified class structure among the stars, it is full of colored castes ruled with a golden fist by the Golds. In the book series, a fractious resistance builds and threatens the stability of the Society at large and that conflict is borne out in the card game too as players discover combinations of cards that bring different colors together against other groups in a rainbow-patterned struggle of hand-management.

Designed by Jamey Stegmaier and Alexander Schmidt, with art from Jacqui Davis, Miles Bensky, and Justin Wong, Red Rising marks the newest board game release from established publisher Stonemaier Games. For 1-6 players, this game will take about 45-60 minutes, though it can go faster at lower player counts once you know the game.

I’ve talked about it at length, though, so I’m Red-y to go…

Overview

As I mentioned before, you’re going to be moving between the two major mechanisms of hand-management and combo-building. At the beginning of Red Rising, all players received five cards in hand. Then, players will alternate turns deploying cards to the board and activating the deployment ability when doing so. Afterward, players will pick up the top card from another location and receive the location benefit when doing so. That’s the heart of the game and where much of the action will take place. There is an additional action by which players can introduce new cards to the game from the deck but those cards don’t activate their deployment abilities. They only give the player the resulting location benefit. Over the course of 45-60 minutes, players will use these two actions to slowly create strong combinations between their cards and cull any cards from their hand that don’t synergize with the rest.

Theme

As someone who has read the books, Red Rising does an excellent job of creating deployment abilities and combo-scoring that makes sense for all of the characters and the fractured world from which they originate.

The Blues (consisting of the ships and pilots in space) pair well together and are also important for the Gold fleet commanders that were involved with them in the books.

Reds shy away from the HighColors and tend to fare best when only around other LowColors.

Grays and Oranges mix well with all of the colors and characters and are able to blend in, except in particular cases with characters that might have preferences or outright enemies.

Golds have high starting point values given their status in Society but don’t always play nice with other colors.

Everything seems to connect well with the story from the source material and I can see elements of the entire trilogy reflected in the design of the board game characters.

For someone who hasn’t read the books, the thematic connection will almost certainly fall flat, and then it will be a matter of whether the mechanics and quick gameplay are enough to persuade you. I’ve seen comments on both sides of the spectrum, but I believe I’ve heard enough people discuss their feelings that I can say it’s not necessary to have read the books to appreciate what the game is doing.

Accessibility

This is a game in which you’re reading a lot of cards. And the board is oriented in one direction. This means that for the most comfortable experience, you’ll want to be directly in front of the game as new cards are revealed and as you consider the combo possibilities between what’s in your hand and what’s on the four locations on the board.

For that reason, I think this game plays best with 2-3 players. It’s comfortable at 4 players, but you’ll be packed in a little tight.

If you’re at a round table with the board on a lazy Susan, then you might be able to improve the experience for players not all crowded together, but the design of the board and the mechanisms at play in Red Rising mean that ready access to the cards is essential.

I played it once with 5 players and I wouldn’t do it again. And I certainly wouldn’t want to play with 6 players. Beyond the physical obstacles of having all of those players looking at one small board, it also means that the length of time between player turns guarantees that any strategy you had as to your next play would be invalid by the time it got back around to you.

The collector’s edition will offer both the best options as well as the biggest headaches regarding the physical components of the game. The cardholders that are provided will give anyone with arthritic ailments or other nerve issues the chance to lay out their cards without having to hold them. They are somewhat flimsy, though. And then the bigger concern is the slight variations in color between some of the metal cubes, which will almost certainly inhibit players who struggle with color blindness of any degree.

To finish on a strong note, though, the rules of the game are very straightforward and with the right player count, this can pass by like a breeze on the table. It’s fast-paced and fun with a lot of replayability. And its connection to the Pierce Brown books means that the game might even attract players who aren’t normally in the board gaming space, giving them an opportunity to join the community and enjoy this solid card game.

Gameplay

There are two main actions that direct player action in the game: Leading and Scouting.

Leading involves deploying a card and resolving its ability. And then it concludes with a player retrieving a new card from a different location and receiving the subsequent benefit.

Scouting involves taking a card from the top of the deck and placing it on a location, not resolving the deployment ability but gaining the location benefit.

Leading changes out the cards in your hand while Scouting introduces new cards to the game.

Figuring out which one to do on your turn is part of the strategy in Red Rising.

If you want a more comprehensive examination of the gameplay, be sure to check out the embedded video and podcast, as well as the linked first impressions article.

Modes of Play

There is solo play in Red Rising, thanks to the Automa Factory system.

But most people are going to experience the main mode of the game, which pits 2-6 players against each other.

Every game functions the same. There is no variant that will introduce complications or additional rules, but the size of the character deck will mean that each of these games plays very different in the abilities that players use when deploying and the combos that are scored at the end of the game.

Innovation

Fantasy Realms, the game which, in part, inspired the mechanical design of Red Rising features 53 cards. It’s a smaller game that plays faster but still has a lot of fans in the board game community.

By contrast, Red Rising has 112 character cards, which lend an absurd amount of depth to the possibilities of every game. There may be really tempting combos that you want to create by finding the right characters, but they will never come up and you will have to work around that, adapting and devising a new plan.

That’s the best part of Red Rising to me—seeing the cards out on the table and not hoping for something amazing to come around by creating that amazing combination on your own by exploring the options of every card in play.

Along with the thematic connection to a book series that I love, that’s what makes the experience for players of all types when they sit down with the game. Plumb the depths of the character deck and extract the best combo you can.

Pricing

Unless there is a reprint of the collector’s edition, the best value for the game is going to be the base retail version. And I say that as someone who has the collector’s edition.

Here are some of the production issues that might bother you if you opt for the more deluxe treatment of the game:

1. The metal cube colors can be hard to distinguish, even for people without color-blindness. The color disparity in the retail version is much more pronounced.

2. The cardholders, while helpful for individuals with arthritis or other ailments that might deter holding cards for a long time, are pretty flimsy and fall over easily.

3. The shiny foil design on the Gold cards is easy on the eyes, but you can also see it from the backs of the cards in certain lights, which could reveal someone’s hand inadvertently.

That means that three of the nicest aspects of the upgrade in components all suffer from some quality concerns.

Ultimately, I don’t think it detracts from the overall gameplay experience, but if you spend the extra money thinking that you’ll get a marked improvement in component quality, then you might be disappointed with how it all comes together.

So, if this game interests you (and to be clear I thoroughly enjoy it despite those problems), then I’d recommend the $40 retail edition of the game unless there is a 2nd edition or reprinting announced that addresses these issues.

Red Rising is…