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Rick and Morty: The Ricks Must Be Crazy Multiverse Game is a variable player powers card game designed by Matt Hyra and Cory Jones. The game was published by Cryptozoic Entertainment and it is based on a single episode of the popular Adult Swim show, Rick and Morty.
You don't need to be familiar with the show to be able to play the game. In the episode, as in the game, you are trying to create power for worlds you have created. Then you try to steal as much of it as you can!
As a 2-4 player game, you get to choose whether you play as Rick, Morty, Zeep, or Kyle and get their associated abilities. I played as Morty so I got to draw two cards at the start of each of my rounds instead of one. I got to choose which one to keep and I had to discard the other.
The Ricks Must Be Crazy - The Game
The object of the game is to earn the most Victory Points (VPs). You earn VPs by activating Contraptions you control. You control them only after you have spent enough action on them and you activate them by spending the power you have generated or stolen. Each round is made up of an Action Phase and a Power-Up Phase.
Components Included:
- 60 x Game Cards.
- 4 x Oversized 'Verse Tiles.
- 4 x Character Standees.
- 1 x Power/VP Track.
- 1 x First Player Token.
- 32 x Build/Control Tokens (8 for each player).
- 4 x VP Tracking Tokens.
- 5 x Action Tokens.
- 1 x Power Tracking Token.
- 1 x 20-page Rule Booklet.
Gameplay
Action Phase
During the Action phase you can place a Contraption, place a Power Supply, attach an Ability (to your character), add a Build Token, Move to an adjacent 'Verse, or Discard a card and draw another (or Gain a Free Action).
Power-Up Phase
During the Power-Up phase you start with the Power Track set at 0 and then check for completed Power Supplies in the lowest 'Verse and move the Power Tracking Token appropriately. Then, in turn order, each player that is occupying that particular 'Verse may play a single One-Shot card and activate any number of their abilities.
Then, also in turn order, each player activates any completed Contraptions (even if you aren't in that particular 'Verse at the time). Activating a Contraption depletes the Power Track and the Track cannot go below 0. A player can choose not to activate a completed Contraption. If you're wondering why you wouldn't want to activate a Contraption it is because any unspent power carries over to the next 'Verse where the Action and Power-Up phases start over. And in the Rick 'Verse - the final one - you can activate partially completed Contraptions.
In a two-player game you need to be the first to accumulate 50 VPs to win (40 VPs for three-player and 30 VPs for four-player).
After reading the rules and flipping back and forth to understand what I was reading several times I finally gave up on using the Action Tokens as I found they only confused turns. We were able to remember well-enough that we only got five actions each turn and that each move we made during our turn cost us one action (unless we discarded a card for a free action). It's not that game play was overly complex while using these tokens; more that we felt we eliminated an unnecessary step in removing them from play and could get into the game quicker.
Once we got going, the game went humming right along. The phases and turn orders are fluid and intuitive. Furthermore, the scoring method mixed with some of the 'Verse powers gave one player a sizeable lead early on but another player adopted a slower strategy that ultimately let him pull ahead and win the game. Your chosen character won't necessarily win or lose you the game but you'll need to adjust your strategy accordingly.
Should I Own It?
If you're a Rick and Morty fan this is probably a must-have, but if you abhor the show you may as well skip it. If you're somewhere in the middle then it's a little more difficult to say if you should have it or not. Do you like card games with variable player powers and action point allowance? If you do, give it a shot.
I wouldn't advise the game for younger children. While there is nothing overly explicit within the game it does have content that might make you uncomfortable sharing with children under 14 or maybe even older depending on your preferences. The game is actually not recommended for anyone under 17 according to the box.
