Title: Logic and Lore
Designed By: Jason Hager and Darren Reckner
Art By: Jason Hager
Published By: Weird Giraffe Games
Released: Coming to Kickstarter February 27, 2024
Player Count: 2
Time to Play: 30 Minutes
Ages: 8+
Overview:
Logic & Lore by Weird Giraffe Games is a deduction game that can be best described in three words: elegant, streamlined, and clever. In Logic & Lore two players race to be the first person to align their star cards in the correct order. Players take turns deducing information about their cards to learn what position they belong in. If you are a fan of cozy games that make your brain work, you will love Logic & Lore.
Logic & Lore is coming to Kickstarter on February 27, 2024. You can check out the Kickstarter here.
What's purr-ty cool:
Simple Yet Complex
One of my favorite things about Logic & Lore is how elegant the gameplay is. I love logic puzzles but had never played a logic puzzle-type game before. If you are like me and haven't tried one yet, you are going to need to get on it. This game reminds me so much of puzzles I enjoy but in a game. It was a really cool experience for me to get to play and those I played with equally enjoyed it.
In concept, it is a really simple game, but you still really need to use your brain in order to win. Your goal is to align your facedown cards in order from numbers 1-9, matching the order of the cards in the center. How hard can that be, right? Wrong. You never look at your cards, and can only learn about what number they might be based on questions you ask and answers your opponent gives. This is where the brilliant game design comes in. Players take turns claiming questions they can ask about their cards and then deciding which questions to ask. Players can ask any question they claimed until they get a positive response, at which point their turn is over. The catch is, that questions can only be asked in sequential order. Players can skip say question 1, to start at question 4 if they have claimed it, and then keep going from there, but cannot then go back and ask question 1 later in their turn. This means that a player must decide if it is worth it to ask a more optimal question or hope to ask a greater number of questions to get the information they are looking for.
Cards can be rearranged at the beginning and end of a player's turn but they can only make a guess if they think they are correct at the start of their turn. This allows a player who knows their opponent has everything lined up to try and get it right, instead of instantly losing. We actually had several games come down to this and it's a cool way to balance each player getting a shot at winning. In general, Logic & Lore is pretty simple to pick up but has solid thought-provoking choices to make. You can also increase or decrease the complexity of the game by adding black holes or playing on the Star Light mode. This allows players to get used to this style of game and work their way up to more complicated levels of gameplay.
Well Balanced
One other thing, I enjoyed is how tight the games were. During several of the games, me and my opponent were 1 turn off of figuring out the solution when the other person won. I appreciate how balanced this made the game feel. It was also interesting to experiment with which questions could get you the most useful information, as at first glance some appear to be much more useful than others, but as you start to figure things out, you realize that knowing if two numbers sum is odd can be super helpful. Because of how it is designed Logic & Lore makes you feel clever as you get closer to solving the puzzle. If you want a game to make you feel smart, this is a good one!
Art and Components
One thing to note is that I played a prototype copy of Logic & Lore. I was missing a few finalized cards and I have cat meeples in place of the pretty dragon ones that Logic & Lore will actually come with. With that out of the way, I like the use of tarot-sized cards in this game. While art is not essential in the game, since it is all about the questions and the numbers, Logic & Lore still looks super pretty when it's all set up. They did a great job making a card game look highly visually appealing. It looks celestial and the oversized cards make it easy for both players to read the questions on the alignment cards. The reference tokens take a minute to get a hang of, but once you figure out how to make use of them, they can be really helpful for keeping track of clues you learn about your cards. I do recommend practicing using the reference tokens because they really will help you out once you get the hang of what each token means. I can't wait to see how the playmat looks, because if it matches the game it's going to be awesome! If you are into pretty games, but also like games with mostly just numbers, Logic & Lore is a purrfect fit.
The cat's meow:
"I am 100% going to sit on top of the cards as soon as you put them out" - Solo the Spokescat
Disclosure: Pudgy Cat Games was provided a copy of this game in exchange for a review, however, this review reflects the honest thoughts of the author.