Northstar Game Studio Eila and Something Shiny Board Game | Adventure Game for Couples, Families or Solo | 1+ Players, 45+ Minutes, Ages 12+

Had so much fun. Really straightforward game mechanics, easy to learn. Story is surprisingly interesting and well built into the gameplay itself (instead of you having to read a whole book apart from the gameplay to know what’s going on). Also the game is a good mix of strategy and luck, making it replayable. Nothing really gets damaged after the game play so perfectly okay for you to hand it over to a friend once you are done.

A pleasant surprise. And no it’s not for 7 year old girls - the themes get deep very, very quickly.Give it a try if you’re looking for coop play with a great story line.

I have recommended this boardgame to anyone and everyone who will listen. The mechanics of the gameplay are awesome. The illustrations are spectacular!Waiting for more games just like this!

Delightful and Charming. Strongly recommend

I have never been a big fan of the old "Choose your own adventure" books. When I read about Eila and Something Shiny, I was on the fence until I saw that it was published by North Star Games. I am a big fan of their games so I gave it a try and I'm glad that I did.I won't give away any spoilers and will just talk about the gameplay high level. The game is a cross between a deck builder, resource gathering and choose your own adventure game. There is not a lot of reading and the artwork in the booklets that walk you through each scenario. The artwork is very whimsical and well done and definitely fits the story. Each scenario consists of 7 days and there are resource requirements that must be met by the end of the 7th day. Resources are gained through decisions made on each card played. Some cards are one and done, and some are used and then put in the "future". This means that they will be reshuffled and used for the next day.The game is marketed as a 1+ player game and you can definitely play with solo or with your family. When playing with more than one player, you can simply discuss which decision to make as a team. The age range shows 12+ and I think it's pretty accurate. While the game looks cute, there are some darker decisions and events that come up. There is nothing violent or adult themed, but younger kids might get upset at times.With a story driven game, I was honestly worried about replayability. I was at a large gaming convention this past weekend and North Star Games was there. I got a chance to speak to one of their reps (and play a scenario with them) and she let me know that she thought the same thing. At the time we spoke, she had played it through THIRTY FIVE times and never gotten the same playthrough twice. That definitely eased my worries about the game being unplayable after a couple of playthroughs.The components are nice. The tokens are wood and very colorful, there is a card holder that keeps the current "present" deck separate from the other decks in play. The card stock is just average, but as they aren't being shuffled or handled a lot, they should last a while. The cards might be a bit hard to sleeve as they are not a standard size if you are looking for that.My wife and I really enjoyed this game. I played it once solo and once with her. We are going to play again and include our two teenagers next. The game is very thematic, easy to learn and allows you to play in short bursts through a single scenario at a time. At the time of this review the asking price was $65 and I think it is worth it for what you are getting.

Received the updated version, which comes in a larger box with much more practical inserts for the components.This is a simple story-driven game for one player only, featuring a very cute theme—but with some dark plot twists that often lead to sad endings (not recommended for kids).The game includes great components, lovely artwork, and large, high-quality cards.Recommended for a mature solo gamer.

I really wanted to like this game. And maybe there would have been a payoff in the last two chapters, but I just didn't like it enough to continue. Your experience may be different, so I'll set out my issues and you can decide if this game is for you.Note that as discussed below, there are some production issues and problems with the rulebook that may affect how you feel about the game. They have certainly colored my willingness to press on. This is something I didn't expect from Northstar Games. Northstar -- you disappoint me and I feel like you really let the designer down on this one!OVERVIEWThis is a narrative adventure of a stuffed rabbit told in comicbook style. It is mainly a solo game, though it can be played by more than one player.There are five chapters, each introduced by a little booklet with a comic strip that sets forth your goal for the chapter. The goal consists of collecting a certain number of resources by the end of the 7th day. After the first two chapters, there can be different endings -- also illustrated with a little comic book -- depending on the items and powers you collected and whether or not you met your goal.This is not, however, a cute little heart-warming story. Without engaging in spoilers, I'll just say the theme is more mature that the cutesy artwork would lead one to believe. The rabbit can somehow wield tools, be bullied by dogs and cats and undergo some serious experiences.GAMEPLAYGameplay consists of drawing cards from a small deck one at a time and choosing actions from a short list. Some choices take the card out of the game, some add additional cards, and others get recycled. More on that later. When you run out of cards, the day ends and you must expend one energy resource if you have it, or lose one health. If you get to the end of the 7th day and haven't met your goal, or if you run out of health, you lose the chapter and have to repeat it.If you meet your goal, depending on how you meet it, you will advance to the next chapter.Because most cards get recycled, you will see them over and over. The upside of this is that you will know what's coming, though never in what order as they get shuffled in with any cards that get added to the deck. The downside is that it gives the game a lather, rinse, repeat feeling.THE COMPONENTSThere are definitely some production issues with this game. Quite a few. First of all, the components in my copy were warped. More importantly, the decks were all printed in the wrong order. The cards warning me that they were covering the front of the decks so keep them facedown were in fact covering the deck backs. The cards were in reverse order. I had to restack each deck. This is a huge production issue that should have been caught before finalizing the order with the factory.The organizer didn't quite match the diagram (for instance, there were no handles on the top plastic part for lifting it from the bottom part). The components weren't stacked in the right places and it was hard to figure out how to store things. It was hard to figure out where to start.The last issue I had was how close the colors of some of the wooden tokens are. Despite their different shapes, I kept confusing the brown tokens with the green and gray ones as they are tonally quite similar. They are nice quality, otherwise.The color scheme is quite mono-chromatic and, as a result, rather bland.THE RULEBOOKThis rulebook was a major drawback for me. It refers to terms before they are defined -- e.g., put a card in the Future -- and with no reference to let you know the definition may be coming up. (How hard is it to add "i.e., the rightmost empty slot on your player board"?)The win/loss conditions are not clearly stated. I had to look back at the rulebook WAY too many times for a game that isn't really that complex. I was able to work things out because I am a very experienced gamer but anyone who isn't may have a hard time understanding what is being asked, especially if playing alone.MEMORY REQUIREDA lot of this game depends on being able to remember what cards are in play and what you've seen in them. It helps if you find the art style engaging. This is as much a game of keeping track of things as it is a narrative adventure.FINAL THOUGHTSIt's clear that a lot of love and thought went into this design. If only as much care had gone into the production. This was a game that needed that extra something as it doesn't really do much that's new in terms of gameplay. For me, it wasn't enough. It might be for you.