Family Game Day and Night happens around here a lot. I simply Love how snacks, a deck of cards or a board game can make us put our phones down for several hours and spend time with just each other. Recently we were given a Brand New Game called Commissioned from Chara Games to Review. We were so excited when it finally came in the mail....we declared that tonight would be Game Night because we couldn't wait another moment. And then we opened it and glanced through the direction booklet and instantly thought oh boy this game is intense. Luckily I remembered the video you could watch that gave the BEST explanation of a game I had ever seen. And we were even able to watch a quick round played so that was extremely helpful. It only took a few rounds of us playing before we felt comfortable and now after playing several times we don't even need the directions as a reference.
So, I'm picky when it comes to games and I just have to say right off the bat I LOVE this game. Let me tell you quickly why. First, I love that there are 5 Scenarios and 2 Difficulty Levels.....this makes each and every game different. When you play as much as we do that is a huge bonus! Also, the board and pieces are nice, I think it's very detailed and Historical looking. One of my Favorite things about Commissioned is that it's a Cooperative game. It's just nice to all work together as a team. Not a lot of games are like that and honestly Kaden gets really into strategic games and looses focus sometimes on the idea of we are just a family playing together. He takes winning to a whole other level....at all costs. Me being his Mom and birthing him and all mean absolutely nothing when he's playing a strategic game. I know it's his Autism that makes him goal motivated at all costs, but sometimes it can put a damper on a good night. So, it is something we work on and will probably still be working on when he is 30. :) So, with it being cooperative play we work together as a team and it's always good having him on your side. I'm embarrassed to admit that Kaden is 9 years old and when he plays Risk he always wins. I sooth my wounds by saying he has played since he was 4, so I should just be proud of him. :) This game is geared for Teens and Adults, but Kaden plays it with no problem, so just use your judgment with your Kiddos. My last favorite is the First Century Church theme and all the scripture peppered throughout the game and the jam packed Theme Appendix. That Appendix has been in almost every room in this house. Everyone has taken a turn reading it and it's even made it's way into our Bible Study. That being said because of the Historical Theme even Families that do not share my Faith would still enjoy this game.
Let me tell you how we played, there are a lot of moving parts....so I'm just going to give you the short version. You start out picking which Apostle you want to be. Each Apostle comes with a deck of Faith cards and a special action or skill. You will continue to build your deck of cards as you play the game. After you have picked the Elder and completely set the board up your ready to play. Each turn has 3 different stages...Arm, Live and then Mature. The Arm phase you collect your cards and then you start the Live stage. In the Live stage you have 5 steps the 1st is to pick a Trial card....that's were you deal with the persecution, trials and difficulties. Then depending on what number you rolled all the Apostles can talk over their strategy. But, sometimes that is prohibited because of your rolled number. No Charades to try and figure it out either! :) The other 4 steps to the Live stage is to Pray, Share Move and Grow. You Place down your cards, possibly grow your churches or build new ones. At the Mature stage you get to take your 2 remaining cards and buy new ones with the points accumulated and then reshuffle and ready yourself for the next turn. I know I am not doing these directions justice..... I apologize!!!! But, you are basically as a Team trying to prevent the churches from being extinguished. If they all get extinguished then the game is over.......Oh and I forgot that one of the fun things that Kaden enjoyed was the collecting of the Books from the New Testament. It is apart of the Live stage. He loves collecting and organizing and he has all of the Books of the Bible memorized so he wanted me to include how he liked trying to collect them all.
So, what did we think of Commissioned? We all enjoyed playing and look forward to playing this game a million more times. Right after I post this we are actually going to play again, this time with another Family. I think it's a great way to get to know each other better by working together and learning a little on the way. It's nice to have a game that's not geared towards little kids, yet still adult appropriate according to our standards. This cooperative strategic game will provide you with more than enough hours of challenging fun for your Family's next Game Night!!!
Make sure you check out Chara Games with Social Media today to stay up to date. They have a New Card game 3 Seeds in production right now....soon to be released!! I will be able to try this game out too....so look for that Review coming soon. Card games are awesome to take on the go, camping trips and picnics. The 3 Seeds game will be a light strategic game of using Time, Money and Labor to complete, gain bonuses and uncover your harvest. Can't wait!!!!
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