PULP INVASION (2020)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
1	20-40 mins	Todd Sanders	AVStudioGames

In this Sci-Fi solo bag builder, you are the only one who can save the galaxy from a cabal of villainous alien races who plan to invade our peaceful worlds with tactically placed Super Weapons.

I was immediately drawn to the Pulp era art that had been utilised for this game. The cards and the box cover give off a vintage feel, and every image would look great hung on the wall.

Each round you battle your way through a line of cards, using resources where needed, and hoping to get some decent rewards.

If you make it through, you can then carry out a search of the planet. Based on planet symbols, you’ll draw a certain amount of cubes from a bag. Yellow is what you’re after, anything else is either recharging your skills, helping the bad guys, or a waste of a turn.

And that’s the main issue I have with this game. As well as being tough with how fast your resources can dwindle, it’s all based on luck.

Sure, you can mitigate a little by controlling the contents of the bag. But the enemy is fighting you back on that. And no matter how many cubes you have in there, who knows if you’ll grab a yellow cube at all.

I also found myself struggling from early rounds as the enemy can hit hard, and there aren’t many ways to recharge your abilities.

The dice too were a little disappointing as they only get used to track your Special Captain Ability. And their faces are so busy I have to keep referring to the manual to remember what each icon does.

I wanted to like this game more than I did. The theme and the artwork are fantastic. But it feels a little unbalanced even on the easy setting.

PULP INVASION is a solo game that looks like it travelled from the 50’s. The classic art is its main selling point, but if I wanted to be beaten up by a solo game, I think I’d prefer ONE DECK DUNGEON.