Publisher
Jumping Turtle Games
25-30
minutes
€37
cost
1-6
players
Game overview
Welcome to the Moon is a flip & write game where you can play through a campaign This means that you will turn over cards and be able to use them on your whiteboard.
In Welcome to the Moon there are 8 levels that you can play. These are all on a whiteboard and can therefore be used an infinite amount of times. The essence of the game is still the same. You have 3 piles of numbered cards in the middle which you turn over. You then have to write a number on your whiteboard and optionally use the corresponding action. Numbers must always increase from left to right or in some levels from top to bottom or bottom to top. Each level plays in a completely different way. For example, in the first level (the rocket) you may only write numbers in fields that have the same color as the action. In the second level, actions have a completely different meaning. For example, the robot action can be used to cut the row in half, allowing you to start numbering again from 1.
In addition to being able to play levels separately, there is also a campaign book. This book contains a story where you start at level 1 and have to escape the earth with a rocket. You also have to make choices between every level that impact what goals the game has. Each individual game ends when you have the maximum number of 'system errors', when you have achieved all the goals or when you have numbered all the fields. You get system error when you can't place a number anymore. The player with the most points always wins the game.
Our thoughts
Welcome To... was one of our favorite flip&writes. Last summer we played this game almost daily. In addition, we are big fans of games with a campaign element. So we had high expectations for Welcome to the Moon. It came as no surprise to us that we love this game. Welcome to the Moon immediately moves on to our favorites list. This new version of Welcome To is even more fun than its predecessors!
Welcome to the Moon is unique for a flip&write. The box is filled with no less than 8 different dry erase maps that all play differently. These maps can be played individually, but also as part of a campaign with an ongoing story. This ensures hours of fun in various forms. The campaign is incredibly fun and not intimidating for people who never play campaign games. Each chapter is introduced through a short story. In this story you have to make several choices. The choice you make affects the story and the sequel. The story is not very special, but it is fun to read a bit further each time. The pieces of text are not too long so it is not boring to listen to when your fellow player is reading.
The campaign is as we describe above very approachable. You just play a game like normal, but with the addition of a bit of story. When you're done you write down the winner and the score on the back of your campaign booklet. This way you can easily 'save' the campaign and continue playing the next time. So you can play the campaign at your own pace. We always played a map in the normal way without story to practice and then played it for the campaign. If you have played the campaign, there are still a lot of cards that make each campaign different. You can also add these cards to the base game if you want.
The first few times we played Welcome to the Moon we were amazed at how innovative the game feels. Each map is completely different and brings something new. You will undoubtedly like some cards more than others. For example, we really liked 'the virus' in terms of theme and it worked in an innovative way, but we also found it a bit too much for Welcome To. We quickly lost track of actions in this map. The fact that each map is completely different ensures that you never get tired of playing this game. You want to keep on playing to see what the next map will bring you. The nice thing about Welcome to the Moon is that you can also play the game without the campaign. So do you have a favorite map? Then you can just keep on playing it without the campaign element. All this ensures that Welcome to the Moon has an incredibly high replayability. We are very happy with that, because this game will be on our table often!
Pros and cons
+ Welcome to, but more extensive
+ Whiteboards
+ Lot of diversity between levels
- Some levels are better than others
