Jagged Alliance: The Board Game

I did not expect a co-operative game to carry this much of Jagged Alliance’s particular smell. It captures the computer game’s feel without burying it under needless complexity, and anyone who remembers its old moments will have plenty to laugh about here.

The game unfolds as a campaign to liberate Arulco, with the team tackling missions against an AI. The systems are fairly streamlined, and dice are present without taking over the whole affair; they can become wearying later on, but they do not turn the game into dice theatre.

Co-operation needs watching, because the alpha leader is waiting in the wings. You will discuss the right move, try to coordinate the team, and discover that one player issuing instructions to everyone can turn a mercenary squad into an office meeting. The rulebook, which earns a passing grade of “could be much clearer”, makes the AI particularly laborious to understand, and that is the least pleasant obstacle on the table.

Even with that friction, the campaign is an honest one and the shared operation comes through strongly. It is not chess, and it is not always elegant, but it is a co-operative Jagged Alliance that remembers to be Jagged Alliance. 7/10.