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Rating: 8/10 after 5+ plays
by Bruno Faidutti
art Bernard Bittler
published 2003 by Days of Wonder
players: 3-6
duration: 20-40 mins.
type: light co-op card game
PACE: QUICK. A turn consists of drawing a card, and possibly playing cards to 'Full-Blown Crises' and dropping sets of cards into a point-pile. Sometimes a Crisis card is revealed when drawing which leads to a sub-phase of all players having the option of playing a card to the Impending Crisis, but every decision is fairly easy to make, giving this a brisk pace that suits the game well.
COMPLEXITY: LIGHT. Actually scoring well takes a bit of cunning and a bit of hand management, but the game is certainly simple to learn the rules of. Even a 7 year old can figure out how to add up cards to solve crises. The beauty of the game is how sneaky you can be with such simple rules in such a co-operative game!
LUCK: LOW. Usually any card game has some luck-of-the-draw element, but Terra balances everynicely: small cards are fairly useless for solving Crises, but that makes them excellent candidates for 'hoarding' for extra points. The high cards on the other hand are very useful for scoring during Crises, but are quite risky to use for hoarding. So there isn't really such a thing as a bad hand.
TENSION: HIGH. Players are trying to balance their hands so they can hoard sets, while at the same time allowing themselves some wriggle room to help solve Crises. With the Crises random in the deck, you never know when exactly you'll need to break up sets and put a lot of cards to Crises, and all the while you have to balance your own desire for points with the overall co-operative goal of saving the planet Can you afford to hoard that 6 if it means we all may lose? But if you contribute it, it may give the leader a lot more points! Argh!
CONFRONTATION: MEDIUM. I shouldn't actually rate this "Medium", I should rate it "High & Low". After all, it IS a co-operative game, so confrontation is low. But on the other hand, players have separate scores, and it is very easy to hang out your opponents to dry by allowing them contribute cards, then withholding the key card they need to solve a crisis. Of course, that could end up destroying the earth...
INTERACTION: HIGH. We play that players may not reveal what they have in their hands,but the game stays interactive because players are constantly threatening to withold support, or to help contribute. And of course, the flow of the game requires players to often work together to try and solve Impending Crises.
VISUALS: EXCELLENT. I truly enjoy the graphics on this game. The cards are clean and easy to read, and the cheeful, cartoony artwork with positive environmental messages suit the light co-operative nature of the game.
THEME: HIGH. Sure, it's a light card game, so the theme only goes so far, but the nature of the gameplay really feels like an uneasy alliance of nations. Everyone wants to act in their own interests, and yet must help the group at large, hoping in the process to help themselves more. Try assigning nationalities to each player for added role-playing fun! "Look, you cheeky Limey! We need to avert this war!"
PLAYER SCALING: Best with 5-6. With fewer players, Terra loses its magic, becoming far less interesting than with more. The more players, the more the game swings on a tight pendulum between winning and losing, with players jumping in and out of temporary alliances. And that's the fun of the game.
GAMER APPEAL: MAYBE. I think maybe this game was written off a little too quickly by gamers. I've found quite a bit of tactical play and negotiation in this game. The best way to motivate the group to co-operate is to have a "UN boycott" -- if the group loses, whomever hoarded the most cards becomes the sole loser. It's tongue in cheek, but it helps keep the game relatively positive.
CASUAL GAMER APPEAL: YES. The cheerful graphics, the excellent and unique "earth-friendly" theme, and the "co-opetition" gameplay make this an absolute winner for me.
REPLAY: HIGH. After a few plays to get used to the possibilities, I've found this game tactical and chellenging, since the requirement for all of us to win for one of us to be the big Winner means players have to carefully balance horading, solving impending, and solving long-term.
RATING: 8/10 after 5+ PLAYS
- The earth is groaning under the weight of wars, poverty, and ecological disasters. The players team together, trying to save the Earth from dying, while at the same time trying to look out for their own interests so that their nation gets the glory. A competitive game that requires a great deal of co-operation and always teeters between failure and success.
My 2 cents: No doubt about it, Terra is cute. Cheerful eco-friendly graphics, co-operative gameplay -- the perfect "PC" game, right? The beauty of this game is that each player is also trying to look out for his own interests, leading to not only a good game, but a thematically realistic one. Sure, in an ideal world every nation would contribute selflessly to the collective good, but it is obvious that nations do look after their own interests first, very often to the detriment of all. This simple little card game does an amazing job of capturing this dynamic, while rewarding players with a unique and tremendously enjoyable game experience.