Recent Reviews

Goblin Grapple (Silver Gaming Co.) Brothers (505 Games) Pathfinder Card Game (Paizo Publishing) Cthulhu Invictus Companion (Chaosium) Boss Monster! (Brotherwise Games) Murder of Crows (Atlas Games) More...

Archive highlights

GAMA Trade Show 2008 report, part 2 (4/28/08) GAMA Trade Show 2008 report, part 1 (4/24/08) Frag Beta Capsule Review (4/14/01) Battle Cattle Minis Preview (2/28/01)

Cargo Noir

Cargo Noir is a new board game by Days of Wonder's go-to designer Serge Laget. It features a film noir cargo smuggling theme. While this theme is largely pasted on in terms of mechanics, it is firmly entrenched in the look of the product.

Gameplay
Cargo Noir is one part worker placement mixed with one part set collection and a dash of bidding thrown in. Each player is given a player reference sheet, seven coins, and three ships. The board is actually built pre-game from multiple separate location-specific sub-boards. These sub-boards are double-sided, and which side is placed face up is dependent on the number of players playing the game (from two to five). With two players fewer locations are available to visit (keeping competition frequent), while more locations are available with more players.

Your ships function as your "workers" in the worker placement portion of the game. On your turn, you send each of your ships out to a single location on the board. Most locations have face-up cargo tokens of different types. When your ship is placed on a location, you put some of your coins underneath it, representing your bid on the cargo at the port. If anyone else wants to compete for the cargo at a given location, they have to send a ship there and bid more than any other ship currently visiting the port. When your turn comes around again, if other ships are still with you at a given port then you can either increase your bid or leave (taking your bid back). Eventually, only one ship will remain with a bid, and that ship turns its coins back to the game box and takes the cargo tokens. Once cargo is purchased, new cargo tokens are drawn randomly out of a bag and dealt down to replace the tokens that were just claimed.

There are two other specialized locations you can visit in Cargo Noir. The casino simply earns you two coins for each ship you send there. Visits here are frequent, since competitive bidding often drains your coffers dry. The black market gives you two different options. First, you can simply draw a cargo token at random out of the cargo bag. Second, the black market features a variety of face-up cargo tokens and you can swap any one cargo token that you've previously acquired for one of the face up tokens in the black market.

Once you've taken all the actions that your ships grant you, you take back all of your ships that aren't still bidding on cargo. Then you can trade in some or all of your cargo for Victory cards. Each player reference sheet has two rows of contraband values listed on them. The one row is for trading in a set of identically matched cargo tokens (say, for example, seven uranium tokens). The other scoring reference row is for trading in a set where every token is different than every other token. Larger sets of either kind net you substantially more contraband points than a small set or single token. You can trade in as many different sets as you are able to, or hold onto your tokens to build them up to bigger and better sets. Part of the strategy of the game is learning whether, for example, to trade in a set of two weapons and five unmatched tokens (which include a weapon) or to cash these items in as a set of three matched weapons and four unmatched tokens.

If you trade in tokens for contraband points, you must spend those contraband points immediately for Victory cards (they can't be banked). Each Victory card has a cost (in contraband points) and a Victory value. Amassing Victory points is how you win the game. More expensive Victory cards give you a better return on your investment for the contraband points that you spend. Three cards grant you few Victory points but instead grant you a smuggler's edge, a reusable in-game power, like the ability to store additional cargo tokens beyond the usual hand limit, or an extra ship for your fleet.

At the end of each of your turns all your spare ships are placed back onto the board in preparation for the next turn. Each player completes all of these steps before passing his turn to the next player. Player-versus-player interaction is entirely indirect, taking place by outbidding opponents for cargo or taking items from the black market before someone else can grab them. There is no direct "take that" mechanic, and indeed you are not allowed to take any actions at all during your opponents' turns.

Players continue this cycle of turns for a number of total rounds depending on the number of players. Then Victory cards are totaled up and the player with the most Victory points wins the game.

Components & Packaging
The game comes with player reference sheets, plastic game coins, plastic ship miniatures, the game boards, cargo tokens, a bag to draw tokens from, and a full-color rulebook. While the player reference sheets are a little thin compared to the cargo tokens and the boards (which are quite thick and sturdy), the reference sheets are not handled much during the game, and simply serve as a place to calculate cargo trades and to store your tokens. The bag is potentially problematic. My bag is constantly shedding threads and I question how well it is put together. This must be a problem for other players too because Days of Wonder is manufacturing replacement bags of sturdier quality. The full-color rulebook is reasonably clear, easy on the eyes, and has a clean layout.

The art on the game is absolutely stunning. Miguel Coimbra (who also does the art for Small World) created all the art for this product. It is among the most beautiful games I have ever laid my eyes on. The art captures a film noir theme but renders it in a modern comic book style of drawing and coloring.

The packaging is the downfall of this product. This is one of the most poorly thought-out package designs I have seen since Heroscape: Rise of the Valkyrie. The packaging protects the product until it gets to retail, and it holds some of the components very snugly. Unfortunately, once you punch out the cargo tokens and put them in the storage bag you will not find an obvious place to store them. I managed to flatten out the bag and tokens, remove the insert, and place the bag in the negative space under the insert. It was not ideal, but it was the only way that I could get the box lid close to closing with all the components inside.

Conclusions
Cargo Noir is a solid game that features incredible film noir-themed art and simple, sleek core mechanics. When played with fewer players who go about their business efficiently, the turns seem to fly by. However, as you are literally doing almost nothing (other than potentially studying the board) during other players' turns, this might drag a bit with five players if any of the players suffers from analysis paralysis. If players do not drag their heels during play, then this is a good gateway game to get non-gamer geeks interested in Euro-style games. If you are looking for a gateway game or a light filler game, this could be a good fit for your collection. If you are looking for heavier fare with deeper thought, like Ra for a bidding game or Agricola for a worker placement game, Cargo Noir may not be the product for you.

For Retailers
Cargo Noir will likely be viewed as a light filler game for the hardcore board game playing crowd. As such, it may not have as wide of an appeal in the hobby game market as Small World. If you have some space to set up Cargo Noir and demo it, then its looks may help it sell. I do not see this game becoming the next Ticket to Ride-style sensation for Days of Wonder.

If your store attracts families looking for family games, you may be able to hand sell this or setup a display in the family game area to make some sales. Most of the seedier elements of film noir are not overtly present in this game, so I think it will appeal to parents bringing up the next generation of junior gamers.

  Lee's Ratings
Overall: B (those looking for a filler game or a gateway game might rate this a bit higher)
Gameplay: B (a mechanic offering clean, light fun)
Appearance: A
Rules Clarity: A-
Components: B+ (excellent tokens and board, with lighter player reference sheets, and a sub-optimal bag)
Packaging: B- (had I not found some space under the insert to store the bag, this area would rate a C)

Links:

• Cargo Noir motion comic (featuring sample art)
• Cargo Noir rulebook