Publisher
Boardcubator
20
minutes
€35
cost
1-4
players
Game overview
Project L is a fast-paced puzzle game where you try to solve as many puzzles as possible.
The game consists of puzzles and puzzle pieces. The puzzles are divided into white and black puzzles. White puzzles are easier but give you less points. They do however give you new puzzle pieces, so ideal to get started off. Every time you finish a puzzle, you put it on a completed pile and you get the puzzle piece depicted on it plus you get the used puzzle pieces back. In this way you get more and more puzzle pieces and at a certain point you can also make black puzzles.
You may do 3 actions in a turn. An action is, for example, taking a puzzle (from a market of 4), placing a puzzle piece or upgrading a puzzle piece. So as the game progresses you get more and bigger puzzle pieces. When the pile of black puzzles is empty you finish the round and each player has 1 more turn before the game ends. At the end of the game you count the points of the puzzles and the player with the most points wins!
Our thoughts
Project L is a simple and fast-paced puzzle game that brings back the feel of classic mobile games like Tetris into a board game. Playing Project L feels like playing Tetris on your mobile in dark mode. It's relaxing, simple and quick. The perfect game for after a long day of work or on a Sunday morning.
All the times we put Project L on the table to play we played the game several times in a row. The game is very short. We would find it a shame to put the game on the table and be done with it after 15 minutes. Fortunately, it is not a punishment to play several games of Project L in a row. The game is very simple, but comes with many different variants. We play with the Ghost Piece and Ambassador expansion, but online you can find even more variants. This ensures a very high replayability. You can also leave out the expansions and variants, so you can also just play a very simple game. This is especially useful when playing with inexperienced players. Everyone knows Tetris and everyone can do puzzles, so don't be afraid to put Project L on the table because it will be a guaranteed success!
Project L draws strength from simplicity. Both the artwork and the gameplay are simple, but well implemented. The game just works. Despite being so simple, we don't feel that Project L lacks a lot. It's just incredibly fun and relaxing to do the puzzles.
Fans of Azul and simple puzzle games should definitely not skip Project L. We can imagine that this will become another classic. You can play Project L with everyone at (almost) any time. We see this game ending up on the table of many people while drinking a cup of coffee, after a long evening of dining, or outside in the sun after a successful barbecue. Enough fun for everyone!
Pros and cons
+ Fast
+ Easy but tactical
+ Relaxing gameplay
- Themeless
