Get to the Choppa! A Preview of World's End

Help each other through the monster infested city, but only for as long as it is in your best interests. There’s only room for one person on the last helicopter out of town and you'll want to claim it for yourself!

World’s End is a semi-cooperative competitive board game, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.

Gameplay

The board is laid out on the table, players place their character tokens at the start point, and everyone draws five supply cards. The "Abyss Ghool" boss card is placed underneath a certain number of cards (depending on the player count) in the Situation deck. The goal of the game is to be the first player to reach the helicopter space on the board.

On your turn you roll the die. The result can be from one to four. You move your character that many spaces forward on the board. Whenever the path diverges, you can always pick which direction to take. After you have moved forward the correct number of spaces, you draw a situation card.

Situation cards might have you drawing a new supply card. Or you might be robbed (in which case one of your current supply cards is randomly chosen and returned to the supply deck). Or you may face a threat. Some Situation cards will have one or more icons at the bottom, which represent the types of supply cards you have to discard in order to defeat the threat. If the Situation card shows a medical symbol, you have to discard a medical supply card.

If a Situation card demands cards and you do not have the necessary cards (or just don’t want to play them), if you can give an Assist supply card to another player and ask them to help. If they have the necessary cards to help you, they may choose to do so (or lie and say they can’t!). Finally, you can play a Thief supply card, in which case all players lay their cards on the table and close their eyes. You may look at one player’s hand and take one card (not necessarily from the same player).

On the board there are Medical spaces and Creature spaces. If you fail to play the necessary cards for a Situation card, you are sent back to the nearest Medical space. When you land on a Creature space, you may ask one player to play a Medical or Weapon supply card. If that player does, he gets to move forward two spaces; if he refuses, you move back four spaces.

There are also boss cards in the Situation deck. When a boss card is drawn, all players must play the necessary supply cards (or obtain assistance to do so), otherwise all players move back five spaces.

If no player has reached the final space and won the game by the time the Abyss Ghool card is drawn, all players lose the game.

Review

The artwork of World’s End has an original style and the game itself has a great deal of atmosphere. Each situation card has engaging flavor text that really helps to create your own unique journey as you travel from start to finish.

As a game with roll and move mechanics, there’s always the risk of just sheer bad luck keeping you firmly in the rear and this can be frustrating — but the game introduces a couple of mechanics to make up for this. Some Situation cards will let you push your luck, letting you choose whether or not to roll the die to move forward or back. Players are also more likely to request assistance on Creature spaces from players who have fallen behind.

The player interaction is the game’s strongest element. With limited supplies, you need to work together. It’s important to offer assistance so that when you need help players will give it. But it’s also important to know when to stop assisting and leave every man for himself. This particularly comes through in a three or four player game. You can play World’s End with two players, but it’s not recommended.

The time mechanic, the fact that the Abyss Ghool will end the game as soon as it’s drawn, also forces players to work together. It’s a clever addition to the game, which nicely increases the tension the further down the Situation deck you go.

World’s End is easy to learn and teach. It blends semi-cooperative and competitive gameplay in a way that perfectly fits its theme. The player interaction is strong and brings a unique addition to the roll and move genre. Check it out on Kickstarter to see for yourself.

Pros: Great player interaction, fun flavor text, distinct atmosphere

Cons: Not recommended for two players

Disclosure: this preview is based on our evaluation of an unpublished prototype of the game, which is subject to change prior to publication. While a modest payment was received to expedite the review process, our thoughts and opinions expressed here are honest and accurate.