Llamas Unleashed

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 1 out of 10

   Murraculous

   As one who tries to be a champion of the hobby, I just can’t condone designs like this that tend repel and deter folks from board gaming for a cornucopia of reasons. Of course, I say that with big rotten egg on my face, because Unstable Unicorns and its spinoff boxes have made millions of dollars on Kickstarter and beyond. Meanwhile, L.A.M.A. Dice can’t even manage to earn itself a timely North American version. Sometimes, the world is just a sick joke, but at least it has llamas in it. Full thoughts here: https://bitewinggames.com/1st-impressions-of-mille-fiori-merchants-of-the-dark-road-brian-boru-furnace-the-crew-mission-deep-sea-more/

2. 2 out of 10

   attackofmilk

   ==2022/03/27== I refuse to support this publisher because they published Happy Little Dinosaurs. Selling a cute game at Target with a terrible rulebook is really really awful -- you're spending all these resources (material of the product, fuel to ship, etc) to create a tiny terrible game that clutters up people's homes and their time. In other words, buying this game support a publisher who is making the world worse, not better. ==2021/05/05== As I'm turning the game over in my brain, I think the high-level play patterns have some similarity to Race for the Galaxy. There are cards for particular strategies in the deck that you /might/ draw into, but you might not. So, how do you adapt your own strategy based on what you've drawn? I think that choosing your baby animal /after/ drawing your starting hand would add a lot to the game. It's basically the "choose your starting world" rule from Race for the Galaxy. Probably choose your starting animal in reverse turn order? ==2021/05/04== I have an irrational love for this game, let me explain. I first played Unstable Unicorns a few years ago in a large group (5 players?). It became a long slog, maybe taking as long as a couple hours. Also, the game was... fine? It wasn't good enough to make up for the overlong play time. A couple local friends now own a local game store, and their store has a demo copy of Llamas Unleashed (and also Exploding Kittens). My negative sentiment for Unstable Unicorns has remained throughout the years, even though the specific memory of the game has faded. So, hear me out. I have a thing for Llamas. They're one of my favorite two animals (alongside hummingbirds), but I don't own any hummingbird stuff. I already have quite a bunch of Llama stuff -- things like magnets, mugs, and whatnot. I /had/ to try Llamas Unleashed, just because it's so on-brand for me. I'm also starting to favor the play /experience/ more than an objective quality measurement of a game. A "bad" game is often the right game if I can play it and have a good time in that particular setting. And my third thing: I'm looking for a game to teach text effects, which I can use as a next step above Lost Legacy (think Love Letter). So I picked up the demo copy of Llamas Unleashed... and I had way more fun than I was expecting. I played two games with 2p, and the 2p format made the game go by much faster. I like this as a faster game, because losing has less weight. I also kindof love how swingy the text effects are, because it means that a good play can put you back in the lead. You're never /really/ out of the game. The "herd" mechanic (gain a bonus if you own three animals of the same type) added just enough crunch to make the game truly sublime. Basic animals now do two things: They add another creature into your tableau (moving you closer to winning) BUT ALSO they move you closer to the herd bonus. Looking through my hand and planning for a herd bonus --- this was the special sauce that made the game truly sing. I was /also/ playing with the same friend that I love playing Smash Up with, so this game was very on-brand for our friendship. I really adore that this game is perfect off-the-shelf. It doesn't need sleeves, and the box is already perfect. My one gripe: No icons on the opposite card corner! This is the one thing that Unstable Unicorns 2nd Ed does better.

3. 5 out of 10

   Mashpotassium

   Rating based on 4 players. Cute art and puns, but not a fan of the gameplay. Seems a fine choice for those who like take-that casual card games, though.