1 Player
Designer: Nuka Zombee
Artist: Nuka Zombee
Publisher: Nuka Zombee Games
In a distant future, you are a lone scientist left behind in a remote planet, where you have to use your wits and science to survive. But is game mechanically solid or does it make you feel like garbage?
How to Play
On each turn, you roll 3 dice. Two will be used to take actions, and the last one will be used to check for accidents.
For the action, each dice gives you action points to use for various actions, or you can combine both to take a single action. Excess action points are lost. The actions are basically build building, either directly or through multi phase for some of them, or to generate resources.
Most buildings generate resources locally, meaning that it will be marked and spent from the building itself, and each building has a maximum capacity, usually 6.
The left over dice is combined with another roll to check for accidents, which will usually drain some resources. The lower the roll the worst the loss.
You win the game if you manage to survive 75 rounds, or if you build and produce everything needed for the rescue. You lose if you ever spend your last food, oxygen, sanity or radiation.
Rules and Components
While not being a rules heavy game, Recycled does have a lot of nuances to the game flow and actions. Luckily, the rule book does a good job in explaining everything and giving examples. The descriptions could be a little more xkmpl te and the examples a little more extensive, but they do good job.
I am not a big fan of the layout, though. While it looks great and it does use the same style of the components, it is organized in diagrams and tables instead of a regular sequential rule book. That might be a personal issue, but to. my neurodivergent brain it’s just a bit too busy.
The components are great. Both sheets are not only well illustrated, but they are easy to consult, and have all the information needed readily. All resources in this game are circles, and the circles mean something different in each building. However, the building symbols are distinguished enough that you can internalize quickly their meanings.
Score: 8/10
Gameplay
Recycled feels very different from most PnP roll and writes. It’s a continuous slow burn where you need to be methodical in your approach and assess the areas of risk and work towards them. Nothing is done quickly and you can’t just turn around and solve an issue in a turn.
The dice mechanism is really interesting. You can either use your big dice to get a lot done, and risk worst accidents, or you can do less actions and be safer. And, what’s best, it’s not a constant choice, it’s all about timing and reading the situation.
This game, interestingly, does not have mitigation. You have to make due with whatever you have. However, double or triple 1s are a safe turn, at least. But that also. mean that you really have to look ahead and plan for worst case scenarios.
The one thing is that 75 turns is quite a lot, and unless I’m required to play for it, like with the pioneer expansion where you cannot build the shuttle, surviving that long does not feel like a good path when compared to the shuttle.
Score: 8.5/10
Theme and Art
Recycled uses a retro-futuristic aesthetic, full of nobs and dials and switches. It has a very grim, mechanic and barren look, which works perfectly with the theme. Even the tjr a are marked with tallies as if written on a wall. Honestly, you could not read a single. line of description and get exactly what is going on.
One thing that is not an issue so much as it is a missed opportunity, but the additional planets have different setup and different starting resources, but they don’t have particular mechanisms. Infected planet does not feel particularly infected or hot planet does not feel particularly hot.
Score: 9/10
Conclusion
Recycled really stands out from other print and play games. The word that defines this game is methodical, and it wears it on its sleeves the entire time. Despite being just two pages, it fills its longer playtime with meaningful decisions and a intensity thinky game arc that requires attention and planing.
And that whole feel ties with its theme. It is deliberately desolate and scenario scientific, and it reminds me so much of many sci-fi books that go to this more realistic approach.
It is not, I believe, a game for everyone, specially on the PnP realm. It’s slow and long, contrary to the norm. But it is smartly designed and it shows from the first play. It is also tough and quite the nail biter.
Rules and Components: 8/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Theme and Art: 9/10
Score: 8.5/10
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