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Quick Look: Star Trek: Lower Decks – Buffer Time: The Card Game
Design Team:Andrew Douthwaite, Nathan Dowdell, Jess Gibbs, James Hewitt, Justin Talsma, Dom Werterland and Sophie Williams
Publisher: Modiphius Entertainment
Year Published: 2024
SPACE… THE FUNNEST FRONTIER!
Explore strange new worlds, they said… but it’s hard to appreciate the wonders of the Galaxy when you’re stuck lubing the turbolifts. But hey, it’s not like Captain Freeman knows how long any of these assignments really take…
In this push-your-luck card game, 2-6 players work together to complete their assignments while also making time for some well-earned rest and relaxation. Can you squeeze enough fun into your duty rotation before the bridge crew figures out what’s going on?
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Review:
Initial Reaction:
I really enjoy watching Star Trek, and thought Lower Decks was a good addition to the universe. So, when I found myself able to play a game based on Star Trek, I jumped at the chance. I know that games based on a particular IP can be hit or miss, and I’m not the biggest fan of co-op games, but this one seemed like it might be worth it. I wasn’t sure how they were going to put Buffer Time, the effect of over estimating the time it takes to accomplish something, into a game, but I wanted to find out. When I opened the box and found only two decks of cards, I was really intrigued. After pulling everything out and reading through the rules, I felt like this game would suit me just fine.
The rules are fairly simple, you are trying to accomplish work to obtain prestige points and end your shift early before the Deck Officers find you and assign you more work. The rules for the game are fairly simple and the rule book does a good job of explaining them. I was able to read through the rules and learn the game, to the point where I could teach it, in about 10 minutes.
Because the game is primarily a card game, the setup is really simple and does not take up much room. You shuffle each deck of cards, randomly deal 5 Assignment cards to the center of the table, give each player 2 Side Project and 1 Alpha Shift cards. Turn over the top Assignment card and the top card of the Shift deck. You are now ready to play.
For the game you play as a member of a Lower Decks crew performing maintenance actions. While your focus is the Assignment made by the lead officers, you also want to get your own projects accomplished. You have overestimated the time it will take to finish the main Assignment and are working to finish as many side assignments as you can before too many officer checks happen and you get busted.
The game is simply card based actions. Each turn you play a card, either from your hand or the Shift deck, or you log the Leisure points. The game includes a bit of co-op on which action to take or which card to play or not play, so your actions can affect the whole game for others.
For Get to Work you simply draw the top card of the Shift deck and place it in the Shift Stack. This adds to the Effort total, which you are trying to get as high as possible. The card may also be an Officer coming to check on your progress; too many checks and you are busted.
For Start a Side Project, you play one of the Side Project cards from your hand to increase the amount of Leisure points you can earn for the round; however, this also increases your target Total Effort.
For Do Something Special, you play an Alpha Shift card from your hand. Each Alpha Shift card is different and has different effects. You’ll just have to play to find out.
For Log a Completed Assignment, if your Effort total in the Shift stack exceeds your Target Total, you can claim a shift end and bank the Leisure points for the assignments you have completed. This ends a round, the Assignment cards are set aside, and you set up for the next round.
If you can earn enough Leisure points, you win the game.
I really enjoyed the flavor text and images from the show. It really let me feel like I was one of the Lower Decks crew. They did a good job of separating the Assignments from the Side Projects based on the show. While I got to watch the show, this made me feel more like I was a part of the show.
The game involves a bit of press-your-luck in that you are trying to get enough Effort points to win the round, but players can add to the Target total, meaning you have to keep getting more Effort points. Or, a player can perhaps log the Leisure points before you are wanting to end the round. If you are coordinated players, the game will go well. But if you have a player that likes chaos or wants to work against the team, it would be easy to muck things up.
I was happy to find this was not a miss on an IP based game, and while it was a co-op game, it didn’t really feel that way. On my turn I felt like my decisions were my own, and while we were working together, I didn’t just have to follow the leader. The game was really fun. It didn’t feel tight or as if we were going to lose with each player’s turn, but it very much felt like a press-your-luck game. I really like that the game is simple enough, and small enough, that I can take it with me as a travel game that I can get friends and family to play, particularly if they like Star Trek. So, if you like Star Trek, or themed games that are quick and fun to play, give Star Trek: Lower Decks: Buffer Time a try.
Co-Op games, card games, press-your-luck games, and quick and easy games with a bit of strategy
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Thomas Shepherd – Reviewer
Grew up loving to solve puzzles, play games. In younger years he had fun playing pencil games, playing D&D with friends, and hanging out with others. His favorite thing to do was to make puzzles, mazes, word games, picture games, etc. Sadly his career took him in a different direction. Gaming came back into his life, though, about 15 years ago & held onto it since. He enjoys designing games and has 9 published titles, through, Toresh Games. Sadly he wasn’t able to sustain the company. He would love to see a return to games as the best social media platform for the masses.
See Thomas Shepard’s Reviews HERE.
