Frantic Feline Flow

 Schrödinger's Game

Color is observable.

I'm a big nerd and I say that with pride. I am not enough of a nerd to have memorized pi past half a dozen places, but I do know enough to enjoy a good science joke, or a game that wears it's scientific references loud and proud on it's cover and in it's theme. Cat in the Box not only takes the thought experiment of Schrödinger's Cat and runs with it, but also makes a really fun game of the idea.

For those unfamiliar with Schrödinger's cat and the thought experiment that it entails, I'll provide a brief rundown of the idea behind it so I can better explain how clever Cat in the Box is:

In what would eventually be used to act as the basis of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger used the following experiment to explain superposition: a hypothetical cat is contained in a box with a jar of poison, a hammer, and a Geiger counter that is tied to the hammer. If the Geiger counter detects any source of radiation, the hammer is dropped on the jar of poison and kills the cat. However, because the box itself is sealed without any way to observe the cat, because the detection of radiation is random, there is no way to determine if the jar of poison has been broken, thus the cat is determined to be both alive and dead, resulting in a result of the cat being in the superposition of alive and dead.

The thought experiment stated that until the cat was observed, it remained in the superposition of being both alive and dead at the same time. Once the box was opened, the hypothetical cat contained within could then be observed to be either alive or dead, but would lose the status of it's superposition as it was observed in one state or the other. It was a clever way to describe the initial idea of quantum positioning and went on to pave the way for much of what we know about quantum mechanics.

This card is considered to be a yellow 5.

Cat in the Box takes the concept of superposition and cleverly applies it to your cards. While your cards are in your hand, they are considered to be no color until you lay them down by your player board. Once you play a card by your board, that card then is considered to be that color for all intents and purposes. Players utilize the tracking board to note what numbers and colors have been "observed" by the players, further cementing the theme based on Schrödinger and his thought experiment.

I had the chance to play the game for the first time on Friday last week and was immediately enamored with the clever usage of the theme. While I only played the two-player version of the game which had slightly different mechanics than the game while played with 3-5 players, I still found it extremely entertaining. Each player attempted to play their cards from their hands without causing a "paradox" by duplicating numbers and colors, resulting in each player attempting to determine what the other player had in their hand. At any time, a player can announce that they no longer have any of a certain color, which then allows them to play other colors aside from the led suit, but also leaves them with less choice for where to place their tokens.

It's a really clever game that plays with the idea of quantum positioning and immediately after playing, I knew that I had to get a copy for myself. Not only because it was a clever implementation of the idea of quantum positioning and wore the Schrödinger thought experiment on it's sleeve, but also because it was a quick, easy game to play, and well put together. I was able to grab a copy for cheap and happily added it to my collection since I know that it will be an easier game to teach and play with non-regular board game players.

Welcome To... A Clever Solo Implementation

Perfection is approachable, but I have yet to attain it.

While I have not necessarily played Welcome To... in the last month or so because I have been lending the game out to a friend for him to play with his family, I have been having multiple discussions about the game with him and his thoughts on how it plays. I thought that I would discuss it today since it's one of the games that really opened my eyes to what a well-designed solo mode and flip and write looks like.

I initially became aware of the game after perusing several websites regarding recommendations for both Roll and Write (or "Flip and Write" in this case) games that were also able to be played solo. Because I currently have two kiddos under the age of four, most of my game sessions tend to be solo. Not because my wife doesn't want to play games with me, but because by the end of the night after they both have gone down to sleep, she usually is mentally exhausted and doesn't have the bandwidth to play games. My hunt for potential solo games led me to the Welcome To... series and after reviewing the game here on BGG, I was convinced that I needed to pick up a copy for myself.

The game itself was touted as a very streamlined game that played well with any number of people. Additionally, the included solo mode was very well done and even had variable AI levels that would increase or decrease in difficulty based on what AI Card was utilized for the game. Plus the game itself sat highly rated here on BGG and while that's not always the determining factor of whether or not I purchase a game, it does play a part in what I do add to my collection. I find that my tastes sit reasonably well within the top 100-1000 games here on BGG.

I was able to snag a copy of the base game and all expansions for fairly cheap due to the kickstarter overflow having not been cleared from an online retailer. After spending far too much money on getting player boards laminated (ironically they are coming out with a "Collector's Edition" later this year that has all expansions and base boards laminated...) upon receiving the game, I began to explore the new world of Welcome To... and the neighborhood that I was building in the game.

I initially was very unimpressed with the included solo mode in the base game because it used a "beat your own score" mechanic that many games include as their solo mode implementation. While not necessarily bad, solo modes like that do leave more to be desired and tends to lose their novelty after a few games. With a game like Welcome To... that could happen far quicker because there's only so much that one can do in the game, despite variations in the cards.

A clever use of the name "AlexIs" to denote the AI player.

However, it was when I utilized the updated AI opponents (Thematically titled "AAA Developers" after one of the designers of the game) that I really found that Welcome To... shone. The new AI opponents used your unused cards to make their own "neighborhood" and scored varying points based on the level of the opponent, forcing the player to be strategic with what combinations of cards were used and what cards were given to the AI opponent. The game introduced another level of puzzle to be solved in addition to placing house numbers in ascending order on the player boards.

As the AI Opponent level increased, so did the number of overall points that were awarded per card that was given to the opponent by the player, encouraging players to balance out completion of the main overall objectives and earning enough points to beat the AI at the end of the game. It becomes a delicate balance for the player to choose cards that not only support their own efforts to build a perfect neighborhood, but also don't give the AI too many points for their own neighborhood. The player is often forced to make a tough decision of choosing between a benefit for their neighborhood, a good number, or giving the AI opponent additional points in the hopes that the benefit chosen would outweigh the cost.

It's an extremely well-balanced system that only increases in difficulty as the AI level increases (obviously), but does so in a way that challenges the player to complete different objectives each increase. Players are forced to take different upgrades or changes to their neighborhood, resulting in often, very different-feeling games despite playing with the same AI opponent. Add in the expansions and there's even more replayability for the game, especially with the new objectives added in.

The dry erase cards are really nice for scoring.

Welcome to the Moon, a sequel to the game, takes the AI opponents and even streamlines them further, adding in dry erase scoring to the opponents. They are paired with specific objectives that are added in with each board and again, feel very different based on the objective that you are attempting to accomplish on the board. It's a really nice reimplementation from the original game that is taken one step further and adds in some quality of life updates for future replays of the game.

Several games of Welcome to the Moon and Welcome To... have helped me appreciate the AI opponent even more as it plays fairly close to a regular player. I enjoy playing Welcome To... both solo and with others since there's such a unique dynamic with both and despite it feeling like a "solitaire while playing multiplayer", I would argue that there's enough player interaction with objective completion to meet the requirements to play with others. Granted, the game doesn't have you actively sabotaging other's boards like in Cartographers, but it does allow for table talk and connection with others that are playing the game.

After I lent Welcome To... to my friend, we've had several discussions about what good solo play looks like. He tends to like having an objective-based game, especially with solo play, like Friday, which allows him to work towards and complete a win condition. He tends to enjoy shorter games, so Welcome To... ended up being a big hit for him, especially with the AI opponent offering different win conditions. I tend to like solo games that have an AI opponent that feels alive, so Welcome To... hit that right on the head for me. Other games that I've enjoyed the AI Opponent with have been Mistwood, Apiary, and even Castles of Mad King Ludwig (albeit the final one being with an updated solo automa built by Steve C) because the AI opponent plays like another player. Having a set of base rules that the opponent plays becomes boring to me as people are unpredictable at best and these games do a fairly decent job of mimicking what it's like playing with others.

Thoughtfully Concluding

With a recent trend building in solo modes being added to games, it's absolutely worth it to think about what kind of games intrigue you. While I would love to be able to play games with others 100% of the time, the reality of it is that I'm generally more interested in playing games that most people, and those that would be up for playing with me are often busy. Solo modes offer a nice balance for me to play with others when I am able, and to play on my own when I am not.

With that in mind, I'll be discussing solo mechanics a bit more on Monday's blog post, so keep an eye out for that when it drops. There are so many ways implement a solo mode into your game and there are some developers who do it well, and others who leave a bit more to be desired with the implementation.

What are some games that you've played that feature clever implementation of their theme, not only in the rules, but also in how the game is presented? Are there certain genres of games that you find yourself gravitating towards (i.e. racing, science fiction, fantasy, etc.)? Do you like games that match their theming with gameplay, or is that less important to you?

As always, have a wonderful weekend and see you again on Monday! Keep on playing those games everyone!

*Originally Posted 1/3/2024 on BoardGameGeek*