After Us

It’s the year 2083, and humankind has gone extinct. We messed it up somehow, and left behind a world for the taking. But what happens after us? Who’s going to rise to the forefront as the dominant successors? The apes, of course. Sounds familiar to a certain novel from 1963, right? And more recent, a Hollywood re-boot of the franchise starring Andy Serkis as a chimpanzee…

Yes, After Us (by Catchup Games) is very much a leaf out of Planet of the Apes. This post-apocalyptic world belongs to the apes, with you being their leader. They roam in tribes, growing in numbers and confidence, interacting with remnants from the past. Echoes of the human’s civilisation are still there to see. Can you use them to increase your apes’ intelligence and take this world, ripe for the plucking?

A Deckbuilder With An Ape Up Its Sleeve

After Us is a deck-building game for 1-6 players, where you aim to create a mini-tableau each turn. Like many other deck-builders before it, you start with a basic hand of cards that forms your initial deck. Throughout the course of the game, you’ll aim to improve it by purchasing new, better cards. Then you’ll use those cards to earn even more resources and points, to then buy more new cards… and so on and so on!

Deck-builders are positive snowballs; avalanches in the making. They increase in functionality turn upon turn in a satisfying, ever-growing manner. The rate at which you’re achieving resources and points in the latter third of the game is a far cry from the humble beginnings. But does After Us do anything different to stand out from the crowd? Does designer Florian Sirieix have an ace (or ape?) up his sleeve? Let’s zoom in for a closer inspection…

Players begin with an identical eight-card deck, filled with Tamarins. These are basic cards – nothing fancy, but they’ll get you going. At the start of each round, everyone shuffles their own deck, then draws the top four cards. Everyone then aligns their cards in their own personal row, in a simultaneous manner. In this regard, a larger player count doesn’t impact the game length. You play – in essence – at the pace of the slowest player.

What’s In The Box?

Each ape card in After Us has a series of bordered boxes on it, in three horizontal rows. Some boxes are complete and closed off, with a reward inside it. Most, though, show half a box with rewards or trades inside them. They sit on the immediate left- and/or right-hand side of the card. The only way you can get these kind of rewards or trades is by lining up your cards in a row, and closing off the box. (So the left- and right-hand side of neighbouring cards, when sat together, form a complete rectangle in that row.)

Of course, not all cards have convenient left and right borders on them. As a result, you won’t be able to get everything! This is part of a wonderful puzzle: trying to work out how best to utilise your four cards this turn. You might have a tantalising option on the left-hand side of a card! Problem is, it’s worthless unless you have something to place next to it on its immediate right. Once you’ve figured out your best arrangement, then you work your way through the three rows.

You start in the top row, top-left, going right. This row is all about gathering resources. There’s four different types of resources to earn: orange fruit, black seeds, blue flowers and batteries. (Eat the first three, by all means… but don’t eat batteries, kids.) Again, in theory, every player can do this, simultaneous.

Then you run through your middle row, again, left-to-right. The majority of the things in this row requires a trade. You need to pay the item on the left to earn the reward stated on the next-card-along. They’re separated by a guillemet/double-chevron to indicate ‘pay this » get this’. Many options here offer the opportunity to earn straight-up victory points (the lightbulb icon). Others allow you to earn different types of resources. It all depends on which combos you’ve created with your four-card tableau!

The strict rule is that you have to do these in chronological order, left to right. So while the trades are not mandatory, to trigger them you must already own the resources required at that time. Once you’ve done row two, you move onto the bottom row and activate complete boxes here, too. These can be even more powerful trade combos. It’s worth noting though, that your starter Tamarins cannot complete any boxes on the bottom row. (None of them have partial borders on the left-hand side, meaning you can’t link them up with a neighbouring card.) If only you had a card with such an option…

Come On And Rock Me, Dr. Zaius

After this phase, you then (in secret) select one of your four ape chits to play. (Every player has the same four chits: Mandrills, Orangutans, Gorillas, and Chimpanzees.) You all reveal which ape you picked, and then earn the free reward associated with that creature. Mandrills gift you 2VP. Orangutans gain you two Batteries, and Gorillas give you 2x Rage Points (more on that, in a bit). Chimpanzees are smart because they let you mimic a box within your tableau again this turn. So you could grab some more resources from your top row, or repeat a sweet trade deal if you can afford it.

You can also opt to spend any two identical resources to then copy any of your neighbouring players’ chit. Then, all players get to buy one card from the market, but it has to match the chit they played this turn. You can buy a standard card for three (of the same) resources, or a stronger version of the card for six. Mandrills cost blue flowers. Orangutans cost oranges. Gorillas are the black seeds and Chimpanzees are any three matching resources. You place the purchased card on top of your draw pile. Then clear your tableau into your discard pile, draw the next four cards in your deck, and start a new round! It’s formulaic in nature, so people will pick it up like that (*clicks fingers*).

New Cards Go On Top

After Us is a race to reach 80 points. Your deck isn’t worth anything at the end of the game, so it’s all about the journey to reach that milestone. Like any kind of deckbuilder, at first, progress is slow. But once you start improving your deck with bigger and better apes, your efficiency ramp increases turn on turn.

One thing I love about buying cards is you add them to the top of your draw pile straight away. This means you get to use them in the very next turn. Other deckbuilders, such as Clank!, for example, make you put purchased cards into your discard pile. This means you have to wait a while before you get the opportunity to draw – and then use – it. Not here! You see the fruits of your labour almost immediately. This means you know you’re going to get to enjoy that card and (fingers crossed!) get some cool combos ASAP.

One interesting feature is that all cards in the market are face-down. On first impressions, this might feel like a lottery. Why would you buy a card when you don’t know what benefits it provides? My take on this is that they’re all face-down to prevent analysis paralysis. Players can’t agonise over meticulous details, trying to figure out which exact card to buy. You know what kind of card you’re going to get – inasmuch, what sort of benefits it’s going to bring home next round.

Want to focus on repeating juicy combos? You’ll want lots of Chimpanzees, then. Their cards offer more opportunities to do exactly that. Prefer a nice-and-simple points conversion? Mandrills are the way forward for you. They focus on spending resources for points. What do Orangutans (Batteries) and Gorillas (Rage) provide, then?

Batteries Not Included

Each game you’ll play with three public Objects (out of a possible seven, for a modular set-up). These are older pieces of technology left behind by the humans. Mobile phones, ghetto blasters, pinball machines, and more! At first they were obsolete to the apes. But as your intelligence grows (as your deck improves), you find uses for them. Each Object has a Battery cost, which you can spend from your supply to activate once per round.

The Pinball Machine, for example, lets you draw a fifth card to add into your tableau. This could mean as many as three extra combos for the round! The Minibar, meanwhile, lets you swap one resource from your supply for a different resource. This could result in you getting rid of surplus goods to afford the third or sixth of a kind to afford your next card.

Batteries are handy, then, meaning you could consider going for Orangutans. After all, their whole shtick is that they help gain you even more of them. In that case, you’ll to ensure you have three oranges at the end of the round, and that you selected the Orangutan chit.

Gorillas provide Rage, which is a track that you mark on your player board. At any point you can spend 4 Rage to remove a card from your tableau out of the game. Theme-wise, it’s like the alpha Gorilla has scared away an ape not pulling their weight for the tribe! This is After Us’s way of thinning your deck. Chances are you’ll want to do this for the bland Tamarins. Plus, every time you remove a card you gain a minor, immediate reward for doing so. So not only are you cutting the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes this extra prize could be the last resource you needed to pull off a mega-move this turn!

Dutrait Artwork… But Do You Feel Like You’re In A Post Ape-ocalyptic World?

Vincent Dutrait has an impressive resume when it comes to board game artwork. Once again, he’s created a striking world filled with beauty and subtle details. The six player boards are glorified Rage Tracks, but they’re all unique and help paint the scene. They’re solid, durable cardstock.

There’s nine different types of card in the game (Tamarins, and then Tribe Cards for each of the four apes at Level 1 and 2). There’s no visual quirks that make, say, one Level 1 Chimpanzee stand out from another. They’re identical, art-wise. The thing you’ll care about are the positions of the frames and icons within them along those three rows.

Was this a missed opportunity? It feels like the potential for an amazing theme evaporates within minutes of playing. For all of Dutrait’s attempts, After Us is more about solving an efficiency puzzle and less about imagining apes taking over a vacant world. Not once while playing do you feel like the setting has gravitas or a hold on you.

But, I’ll admit, the iconography is neat and for the most part, recognisable in a flash. Some of the cards (not Tamarins) have a ‘- »’ cost. This means you’ve struck gold: you don’t have to pay anything for the frame that neighbours that box! Those are super-satisfying when you line them up with a plump reward. Likewise, you’ll howl with frustration when you pull a card like that, but have nothing to pair it up with. Three of the four resources are custom wooden pieces, which adds to a deluxe feel. The Batteries, meanwhile, make up the fourth resource and they’re cardstock chits in comparison.

Enough Monkeying Around: Final Thoughts On… After Us

Lining up two cards to get a reward for both reminded me of Wayfarers of the South Tigris. There’s an excellent incentive in that game (with the Sea Cards) where you also try to line up borders. It’s a wonderful mechanism for After Us, and when the rewards come home, you feel that ‘Eureka!’ moment. Games that make you feel smart trigger a nod of satisfaction.

There’s more than one way to build a deck, and in doing so, many paths to victory. I won one game by using Gorillas and Rage to thin out loads of Tamarins early on. I always enjoy trying to use Orangutans though, for their additional Batteries. Often, the pieces of Tech on offer help you out big time! Picking three (out of seven) seemed okay for a modular experience. They all offer unique temptations towards a different strategy. I liked the Moped (which rewards you with getting more cards for 6/9 Batteries for a Level 1 or 2 card), but that didn’t help me win!

The main issue I had with After Us is that it lacks somewhat with player interaction. The only time you need to look at what anyone else is doing is when it comes to paying two resources to earn one of your neighbour’s action chit. You are, of course, competing with them on the points track. You can see how quick or slow they’re moving, but there’s nothing you can do to impact their progress.

When people are triggering their tableaus, it all occurs at once. Up to six players scrabble to get their resources from the table’s centre, like apes themselves at feeding time at the zoo. When buying cards, they’re all face-down, so you’re none-the-wiser in case someone gets the top card of a deck and not you. One thing this achieves is it means less down-time between turns. But you could, in theory, play this game in silence.

The Ironic Solo Experience

There’s also a solo mode, which seemed rather tough. The AI player earns points at a frightening, almost-guaranteed pace. You cannot afford to be a slouch! In this mode, the resources you earn don’t come from the supply, but instead, they come from the AI’s personal stash. The key is trying to gather goods from this virtual opponent, to slow them down from buying Level 2 cards. The irony is, this is so much more an interactive experience versus the multiplayer game!

Part of me wishes that in After Us there was some form of second main board, besides the score track and face-down market. What if there was a derelict city, with more pieces of tech inside it, waiting for you to discover? Or what if your tribes of apes are competing over territory? That could introduce mechanisms such as area control/majority. That would amplify the interaction by a fair amount.

That sort of thing would, of course, add to the game length and complexity. (Future expansions, one wonders?) As it stands, After Us comes in at around 45 minutes. Now, that’s impressive for a game with up to six players. But it does sit in the borderline of multiplayer solitaire at times. Is that the kind of thing that would bother you?