Flash Flood just a bit too simple

Having reviewed a number of games from prolific designer David McCord, and others published through his NewVenture Games (www.newventuregames.com) The Meeple Guild has come to expect solid games from them.

There have been several that have actually impressed quite a lot; Causeway, The Lychgates, Breakthru and GeeHaw coming immediately to mind.

However, not one hits a home run every time they go to bat.

With this week’s game Flash Flood! it’s a case where McCord doesn’t hit a triple, or a double, or a single. This one is really a soft pop out to the pitcher.

That is extra surprising because the game is a co-operative one, a game mechanic The Meeple Guild generally likes quite a lot.

Flash Flood! is a card game for one-to-four, that at least plays quickly.

The river is rising and players have essentially been assigned a section of the riverbank and a wagon-load of sandbags. You must build a levee before the river rises to flood the road.

This is a limited information sharing co-op, the rationale being your communication is hindered by the roaring river, which thematically does fit well.

Typically, players place a sandbag card – the art fits but is ho-hum – to stop the water.

But along the way you will have to play levee leak cards that must later be fixed, or you must take a rest (miss a turn), both slowing progress on the levee.

It sounds like a fine idea, and it works in terms of simple play, but we never found any feeling of in-game tension. It was sort of a mechanical process of card play which never gained traction for us.

River rising cards are seeded into the deck and should one come up it is immediately played. If it sits higher than a competed level of the levee you all lose. It can happen quickly.

Of the McCord / NewVenture Games experience to-date this is the one that we liked least – a situation where even fine designers sometimes fall short of expectations.