Firefly: Misbehavin'

Fresh meat from Gen Con, and I admit I was fairly wary. The designer does not particularly inspire confidence in me, and GF9 has dropped in quality lately. On the other hand, as an honest Browncoat, if Firefly released an Olympiacos shirt, I would probably buy that too.

Misbehavin’ is a faction-based deckbuilder, with each starting deck having its own style of play. You do not begin with the usual 8-2 or 7-2-1 setup of most deckbuilders: every starter deck already has one or two small engines in place, so you get into the action faster and each side has character from the start.

Your goal is either to fulfil the win condition of the episode you are playing—there are quite a few—or to manage to keep enough power down for a turn. Interaction is intense, and the game does not let you quietly build your engine in a corner. With four players, in particular, it can really fray your nerves: everyone gets close to winning quickly, and chaos keeps breaking out.

Despite my initial reservations, I found it quite clever, attractive, and honestly thematic. It is not always the calmest experience, especially with four players, but that mess suits both the theme and the game's intensity. A pleasant surprise.