Gen7 Crossroads Storytelling Adventure Game Review (Age 14+) Sent by Asmodee

Gen 7 is a mainly co-operative 'crossroads' game, where players decisions affect the outcomes and change how gameplay and the storyline progresses. Made by Plaid Hat Games, we've been sent a copy to review for the Asmodee Blogger Boardgame Club, and it's brilliant.

Suitable for 3 to 4 players aged 14+, you are the 7th generation to exist aboard a huge colony ship fleeing Earth for a fertile new home planet. The journey is around half way through and everything has gone well so far, until now. The entire mission and lives of everyone on board are threatened and it's up to the crew to find the clues, solve the puzzles and save humanity.

There are more elements included in the Gen7 box than just about any game I've played. It makes it seem very exciting, but it also seems much more complicated than it actually is. The secret nature with lots of hidden information adds to the anticipation.

Storage will be back in the box and Plaid Hat Games have kindly supplied lots of resealable bags to make it easy and keep everything separate. You'll need an extra few minutes before first play to press out tokens and familiarise yourself. The box is also shaped to hold some of the cards and other parts during gameplay.

The basis of the game is the Plot Book and the story cards. Gen7 is told in chapters, each with their own introduction, and advancement through the game is by solving clues. Whenever a choice is given, players decisions can reveal different story cards or clues, collect resources needed or a number of other actions, rewards and penalties.

The whole game is cooperative, but you also compete to be the top crew member of the week game. Extra bonuses are earned along the way and you can use a little strategy to raise your score, including making the most of your crew member's own special skills and those you earn during play.

The choices often have clearly different moral standpoints and because they can incur individual rewards as well as co-operative game advancement, it can bring out quite a competitive streak.

All of those game elements mean that Gen7 requires a full table space. For 4 players and our first play we even ended up pushing 2 coffee tables together... It's well worth it though. It's an excellent game and very immersive.

Gen7 is language heavy and involves a lot of reading (or listening), and a good memory is helpful. Gameplay is so much easier than you think it will be before you start, but it still isn't a quick game. We easily took 90 minutes to play first time, slightly quicker subsequently. Because of the complexity and gameplay, our 10 year old games expert really liked Gen7, but our 9 year old found it too slow going. I would recommend you play with children 12+ unless they're really competent gamers.

Gen7 is excellent. We really enjoyed it. Best game we've played in ages frankly. The storyline was intriguing and we wanted to solve the puzzles and save the human race. Once you know what you are doing, gameplay really speeds up and more complexity comes in as you go on, so there's a nice learning curve, and of course you are unlikely to ever play exactly the same game again!

We reviewed Gen7 for the Asmodee (formerly Esdevium) Blogger Boardgame Club. You can find all of our other Blogger Boardgame Club game review posts here...

Gen7 is available now rrp £89.99. The amount of work and elements involved, and the level of quality of the story make this fair value. It's a special game and feels it when you see how heavy the box is. From good independent games stockists, instore and online, including from Amazon - here's my affiliate link*.

We were sent Gen7 to review for the Blogger Boardgame Club. *Amazon links are affiliate, which earns me a few pence if you buy through my link, but you never pay any extra.