Draft & Write Records Review

My preferred way of playing blank & writes is solo so I’ll preface this by saying this review is solo only. In Draft & Write Records, you’re assembling the best band that you can by drafting cards and creating combos to create records, go on tour, and be the best damn band in the land (living in Columbus is wearing on me).  In the solo game, you’ll draw two cards and pick one of them to play, discarding the other. Optionally, you can draw a third and either pick any of them if they’re different or pick the one that isn’t the same type as the other two. This also gives you the option to complete one of the goals set out. When you pick a card, you’ll fill in the section on your board. If it’s a band member, write that number in the area and fill in the colors of the circles surrounding. Any time you match a connected color you’ll gain a harmony bonus which can cascade into additional actions. Asset and Agenda cards allow you to cross off the symbol in their respective sections. When you complete those areas goals, more actions. The game ends when you’ve run out of cards to draw, fill your band section, complete 6 objectives, or if you’ve really blown it and hit the -20 section of the failures. You’ll tally each section and get your final score.

The Good: Having only 2 or 3 options each turn felt restrictive at first but as the game moved along you could feel the importance of each one. In the game pictured, I neglected to get a lead singer because I was chasing a perfect harmony bonus. It never happened and I didn’t have a singer. Oops. I also put too many eggs in my touring basket and didn’t unlock more band members which bit me later in the game. To that effect, I loved the harmony concept. Instead of grabbing high scoring cards, it was more beneficial to try and get the extra bonuses for more points in the end.

The Okay: There were some objective cards that I had no idea what they meant so I just had to completely ignore trying to fulfill them. That could have cost me a lot of points in the end, maybe? The deck is enormous so if you can cycle through enough of them, you shouldn’t have too much difficulty finding ones that can be completed. Unfortunately, in the solo game it’s also tough to cycle through them since new ones can’t come out until one has been claimed.

The Not So Good: The overall board feels cluttered. Each section is defined well enough but there’s so many pieces on each sheet. The main card action areas are easy enough to decipher and the tour because it’s obvious but some of the other parts felt cramped and difficult to follow. A nitpick, but I don’t like the use of a yellow colored pencil. It was too light and didn’t show up well on the paper.

Final Thoughts: Blank & writes have never been a genre that’s really blown me away. I can’t say I’ve ever played one I truly disliked, but I also can’t say I’ve played any that feel essential to a collection. Draft & Write Records, while a good one still stayed in that realm of it’s good, not great. The combos are a ton of fun and when you can pull off a big one it’s a great feeling, but it still left me wanting more.

Thanks to Inside Up Games for providing a review copy.