The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, a cooperative trick-taking game that plays over a 50-mission campaign, has been a big part of my gaming life. As a great four-player game, it’s been a really nice way to connect with friends who we haven’t seen in some time, providing a pleasant, casual experience paired with a game that really rewards groups as they play through the campaign.
The Crew expounds on ideas seen classically in games like Bridge and Pinochle, with group objectives replacing the partnerships seen in more traditional games. Each mission has a distinct set of objectives, which ramp up in complexity and difficulty through the campaign.
The escalating difficulty makes for a game that is always pushing you to think a little bit harder than the last time you played, with the game starting with very few objectives and ending with considerably more. It requires creative thinking, a good team understanding and improvisational skills.
Trust your team
Just like your best way to communicate might be by playing a card, your team might be playing that way, too. Especially as you play further in the game and you and your teammates have multiple goals, let the goals they select guide you: They know what they have, and they know what they can win. Further, if you think there’s something you’d like your teammates to communicate and they aren’t, let their confidence guide you.
Know when it’s time to stop for the night
The Crew has repeatedly convinced us to play more games than were necessary, often to the point of exhaustion, and all because it’s just ridiculously fun. But as a cooperative trick-taking game, it’s vital to know what card you want to play, and then to play the card. It’s easy enough in person to roll things back if you make a tired mistake — playing the card next to the one you meant to play, for instance — but you can’t do that on Board Game Arena. Especially as missions ramped up in difficulty, that became an even bigger hurdle for us.
Playing a card can be the best way to communicate
Especially in missions where you don’t get to communicate at all, the best way to communicate your intentions is to play a card. If you want to make sure your group knows that you can win a necessary trick, why not play that card? If you need to play a high card out of suit, try playing a low card you know has a good chance to lose a trick.The cards in your hand are your tools — use them.
Don’t overthink things
In a four-player game of the Crew, you only have roughly 25 percent of the deck visible to you when you start. The game builds in a few ways to communicate during certain missions, but aside from that, you’re on your own. Your intuition becomes important, as well as your ability to figure out what somebody means when they use their limited communication.
It’s truly remarkable the number of times I hemmed and hawed about the card I wanted to play, only to discover I could easily have just played by my intuition with a better outcome.
Use your rockets
One of the most aggravating ways to fail a mission is when players hold on to rockets until the end of the game. It might seem appealing to delay their use, but remember: If you need someone else to win a trick in the final hand of the mission, rockets are always a trump suit, and if you are holding on to one at the end of the game, you’ll likely lose. It doesn’t have to be that way. Use your rockets early. Use them to win a trick. Use them to help other players get their rockets out of their hands.
Enjoy the journey
The Crew very quickly became one of my favorite gaming experiences. My wife and I have played in its interesting two-player version in colder months, then we played it with friends when it was warm enough to play outside. When it grew cold again, we played it with those friends on Board Game Arena. We played it with friends on the opposite side of the country. It’s been an enduring, exciting game for well over 100 plays. Games like this one don’t come around every day.
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