I assumed going in this would be a glorified marketing box for League of Legends, and I was wrong within the first scenario. This is a genuinely excellent cooperative programming game in the RoboRally family, players simultaneously plan a sequence of orders for their mech, then watch the whole plan execute in a delightful cascade of things going better or dramatically worse than intended, all while a wave of minions marches steadily toward whatever you’re defending. The insert alone is a small marvel, every component has an exact home, which after years of baggie-organizing other big box games felt like a genuine luxury.

Where I have to be honest is setup versus play time. Unboxing and organizing the first game took the better part of an hour just learning where things live, and even now, dozens of plays in, a full scenario setup runs fifteen to twenty minutes before a single order gets programmed, which for a game that plays best with a full four isn’t a huge ask, but at two, our usual count, that ratio starts to feel steep against the actual scenario length. The game also plainly wants four players, we’ve made three and two work through the easy mode toggle, but there’s a noticeable dip in how chaotic and fun the execution phase gets with fewer mechs colliding into each other.

None of that changes how much genuine joy this produces at the table, the moment a scenario clicks and four simultaneously programmed mechs execute a plan that actually works despite everyone planning blind is one of the best “engine fires” I’ve felt in this hobby, cooperative or otherwise. Price per hour is excellent once you’ve gotten enough plays in to offset that setup investment, and we’re still working through the campaign a couple years in.

Five stars. Budget real setup time and ideally a fourth player, and this earns every bit of its reputation.