Cry Havoc

Before we sat down, I gave the kids a little introduction to balance. Hida, as always, was ahead, so we gave him the Humans. Pef took the machines, and I chose the Pilgrims, whom I had not tried before.

The game had us make use of our factions' very different strengths. With the Pilgrims, I managed to quickly collect more than ten crystals in my pool, unlocking scoring through skills. It was a path that showed me the faction has things to do and can hold its own.

The more aggressive side of the game was present at the table too: with the machines, Pef set up an impressive genocidal “knot,” making use of the shredder drones. Even so, the conflict between us and what we could achieve with our factions were not enough to create any real balance against the Humans.

The Human won easily, effortlessly, and by a large margin, thanks to the two wonderful skills that half of BGG complains about. Even if the Pilgrims and the machines had their moments, this game left me with no desire to give it another chance as a three-player game.