This past week I received my pre-order copy of the new LDecks themed card game, so I made my friends play it as part of our regular game night, then I made a housemate play it, and here are my thoughts.

Gameplay
The game is a fairly straight forward push your luck style game.

You have four different decks of cards: Assignments, Side Projects, Shift, and Alpha Abilities. The Assignment cards have a target number and, frequently but not always, a leisure value on them. In turn, players can flip Shift cards, most of which have an effort value that needs to meet or exceed the target on the assignment, so the leisure points can be scored.

The Side Project cards also have the target number and a leisure value, and can be added to the in play Assignment, making the amount of effort required to score that much higher, but increasing the reward. There is a goal number of leisure points you need to score depending on the number of players, and it would not be possible to meet those goals without adding multiple Side Projects.

The group only has five assignments, and once you're out and the group hasn't met the leisure point goal, you lose. Further complicating things is that there are six officer cards in the Shift stack, each of whom has a rank 1-3, and if officers with a total rank of 4 are in your play area during the Assignment, the Assignment fails, as do any attached Side Projects, and you lose the highest value leisure from your already scored area.

Alpha Shift cards are a pretty rare resource that allow you to do a wide variety of special things, including removing officer cards from the play area, or even adding another Assignment to the available cards. Each player begins with two, and you only gain new ones by being the player to score an Assignment.

Learning the game is simple enough, though everyone whom I played with are fans of games. Even my buddy who hates learning new games got into it after a couple rounds. Games are relatively fast, and it can accommodate two to six players, which is nice. The games I've played have had four, five, and two players.

My biggest complaint would be that the difficulty does feel a bit punishing. Failing an Assignment is already bad enough, but having to lose the highest value card you've already scored does not feel great from a player perspective. Of the five games I've played, my game night group one once, and my housemate and I won the game we played.  

Production
The only components for the game are the cards, so there isn't much to talk about.

The cardstock is nice, and they don't feel flimsy, which is good, because there is going to be a lot of shuffling. That said, the individual decks are small enough that I'm probably going to sleeve my copy, just to make shuffling easier.

Most of the art is simply stills from the show which is a little disappointing, but understandable. The effort icons are Badgey pushing a boulder up a slope, like Sisyphus, so that's fun.

The card backs, which are all really good looking and easily distinguishable, even the Assignment and Side Project cards, which are made to look similar.

The game box is nice and sturdy, looks great, and has a magnetic closure, so that right there is an A++ in my opinion.  

Theme
Let's be honest, the only reason I bought this game is because of the 'Lower Decks' theme, so how does that fit?

Fine. I guess.

The "buffer time" concept comes from the first season episode, "Temporal Edict", which was itself inspired by Scotty's claims in TOS and TNG that he always pads out his estimates of how long it will take him to complete any given assignment. So, the push your luck aspect fits the theme: you're padding out your assignments, and trying not to get caught by the senior staff.

All the cards have titles that relate to things that have actually happened on the show, and the first time I played, I did get some chuckles remember scenes, but the game itself doesn't have any humour aspect beyond stills of Mariner kicking Ransom in the junk or whatever. Which is fine; writing humour is hard, and I do usually hate it when a game tries to cram a humour in.  

Conclusion
Even though I wouldn't have bought the game without the LDecks theme, I'm glad I did because it ended up being a relatively light, quick game, that the people whom I forced to play it with me all said they enjoyed and would be happy to play again.

It's probably not going to hit the table too often during our regular game nights, but sometimes someone's going to be late or you finish the big game of the evening a bit early, so you need some filler, which I do not mean pejoratively despite how it sounds, and I think that is going to be Buffer Time's sweet spot for myself and my group.

Not my OC

• Gwyn records the stardate as 61886.6 in her personal log.

• ”It’s been a long road.” Gwyn references the lyrics of the Federation anthem.

• In the temple they find at the coordinates provided by the mysterious guide, the Protogies find statues of the Traveler’s species, if they’re not of the Traveler himself.

• The voice of the Traveler can be heard as the Protogies explore the structure. Eric Menyuk reprised the role for this episode.

• The vault door the Protogies discover is modelled on the one in Gary Seven’s office, seen in “Assignment: Earth”, as well as the one Tallinn’s apartment in “Fly Me to the Moon”.

• It’s Wesley Crusher! From Star Trek! Wesley is portrayed by “The Ready Room” host, Wil Wheaton.

    • This is the third time we’ve seen Wesley wearing the orange sweater, which was previously seen in “Where No One Has Gone Before”, and “Lonely Among Us”.

• ”As if I needed another reason to dislike time travel.” In “Future’s End” Janeway claimed, ”Ever since my first day in the job as a Starfleet Captain I swore I'm never let myself get caught in one of these godforsaken paradoxes.”

• ”Edward, I only have three rules when captaining a starship: keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.” Janeway echoes the rules for captaining she said to Naomi Wildman in “Dark Frontier”.

• Rok-Tahk recites Wesley’s resume:

    • Member of Nova Squadron - Wesley was shown to be part of squadron of elite cadets in “The First Duty” when they were under review for getting one of their team killed performing a banned flight maneuver

    • Genius of the Enterprise D - Data might cock his head slightly to one side at this

    • Made acting ensign at age 15 - Wesley was made acting ensign in the sixth TNG episode, “Where No One Has Gone Before”

• “When I was a young man on the Enterprise, I met an advanced being called the Traveler. He was part of a secret faction of explorers who watch over the cosmos. Very cool. The invited me to become one of them.” Wesley is referring to the events of “Where No One Has Gone Before” and “Journey’s End” respectively.

• Wesley lists a variety of different alternate universes:

    • Prime universe - First seen in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”

    • Mirror universe - Introduced in “Mirror, Mirror”

    • The Narada incursion - i.e. the Kelvin timeline established in 2009’s “Star Trek”

    • Fluidic space - Home of Species 8472, seen in “Scorpion, Part II”

    • The mycelial network - A subspace pocket first mentioned in “Context is For Kings”

      • Wesley tells the Protogies that they’re not supposed to know about the mycelial network, apparently respecting the fact that it was classified by Starfleet command in “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2”

• ”After the temporal wars, there just aren’t many of us left to repair timelines.” To the best of our knowledge, as per season three of DIS, the temporal wars ended either in the late 31st, or early 32nd century with the establishment of a ban on time travel.

• “My mom lives here!” Also his brother would be around three or four years old at this point, as per “No Win Scenario”, though I agree with Wesley that’s less of a concern.

• ”How do you know about the Supervisors?” The Supervisors were revealed to be agents of the Travelers in “Farewell”.

• Wesley makes it explicitly clear that he was the mysterious figure who was contacting Murf in “Temporal Mechanics 101”

• Wesley transports the Protogies to what appears to be Gary 7’s office as it was seen in “Assignment: Earth”. Presumably in the next episode, we will learn what happened to agents 201 and 347 when Wesley kills them to avoid some messy questions about why he’s there.

Hey, this is a little bit late, but it occurs to me that it's now October, and that means it's also Trektober, the annual Star Trek inspired daily drawing prompt challenge.

There are three sets of prompts which can be found at: https://www.tumblr.com/trektober-challenge. The first is a set of general Trek inspired prompts. The second is Trek specific. The third set is NSFW.

I'll be trying to participate us, and I'll be sharing the results here. I'd like to invite anyone else interested in attempting some or all of the challenge to do so as well. Maybe spoiler tag any of the NSFW entries, though.

Happy Trektober!

• The episode title calls back to the TOS season three episode, “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” which was the first appearance of a Medusan.

• We open with Zero’s personal log, where they record the stardate as 61881.4.

    • Zero also says it’s been a week since the previous episode, which was stardate 61875.9, though how precise they’re being isn’t explicitly clear.

• Zero mentions difficulty in repairing their containment suit, which was damaged in the previous episode. This does raise the question of who created their original containment suit on Tars Lamora, as it seems as though Zero is not involved in the repair process.

• Zero mentions the Paxans as one of the species of non-corporeal beings living at the colony that contacts them. When introduced in the TNG episode, “Clues”, the Paxans were so isolationist that they we going to destroy the USS Enterprise D to conceal their existence until Captain Picard was able to convince them to merely mindwipe the entire crew, except Data who helped to facilitate the deception.

• Upon arriving on Ovidia IV, the Protogies are wearing protective visors of the sort shown in “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” to shield them from the horrifying, madness inducing appearance of any Medusans they might encounter.

• ”I’ve always had this [...] yearning to experience life. To touch and feel as you do.” This yearning has been depicted as far back as the second season premiere, “Into the Breach, Part I”.

• This is the first on screen depiction of parisses squares, a sport first mentioned in “11001001”. The ion mallets the game is played with was introduced into continuity in “Real Life”.

    • The game is being played with uneven teams, with the Nova Squadron cadets only having three players, and the Protogies having five. Though not explicitly stated, in “11001001” it is implied that teams have four players.

    • The holographic Protogies should be careful playing the game. A parisses squares accident is what led to the death of the Doctor’s holographic daughter in “Real Life”.

• The episode title is a reference to the most enduring piece of historical culture in Trek. Who could forget Picard’s line in “All Good Things…” paraphrasing Dom Toretto, ”I don’t got crew, I got family.” Chills!

• Dal records the stardate as 61875.9 in his captain’s log.

    • The Protogies dispute Dal’s status as captain of the Infinity; Dal claimed the role of captain aboard the USS Protostar in “Starstruck”, though he did temporarily turn over the position to Gwyn in “Supernova, Part 1”.

• This is the first mention of a sonic toilet in the franchise.

• The first usage of a Borg transwarp conduit was in “Descent” when the USS Enterprise D was pulled into one opened by Lore’s rogue Borg ship.

    • The conduit seen here appears to be maintained by a piece of hexagonal shaped Borg technology similar to the transwarp hub the USS Voyager travelled through in “Endgame”, though this is only on aperture, whereas the hub was a much larger structure connecting many such gates.

      • In “Descent” and other appearances of the transwarp conduits, no such technology was present.

• ”Borg? Not them again.” Zero was briefly assimilated in “Let Sleeping Borgs Lie”.

• ”I love science so much.” Rok-tahk is much more outwardly enthusiastic than Spock was in “Perpetual Infinity” when he deadpanned, ”I like science.”

• Zero claims the technology that rerouted the Infinity is Kazon. As per “Alliances” most Kazon technology was actually developed by the Trabe, who used the Kazon as slave labour until they were able to stage an uprising.

• Rok mentions the Kazon who sold the Protogies to the Diviner, as seen in “Preludes”.

• Kazon uniforms vary by sect. The uniforms the two Kazon androids who arrive to take the Protogies into custody are not wearing a uniform previously shown. These uniforms also include a mask, which familiar Kazon uniforms have not had.

    • It is revealed that the facility was established by the Oglamar sect, representatives of which were seen in “Maneuvers” an “Alliances”, wearing a different uniform.

    • The Kazon androids are wielding phaser rifles similar in profile to the ones seen in VOY with some distinct differences, such as glowing panels on the conical emitter, and housing on the top of the weapons.

• Crashed in the ice of the planet, we see:

    • A Gorn ship, as seen in the remastered release of “Arena”

    • A Tellarite cruiser, similar to the ones introduced in “Babel One”

    • The Excelsior-class USS Cairo which was the command of Captain Jellico before his temporary transfer to the Enterprise D in “Chain of Command, Part I”, and was thought to have been ambushed by the Dominion and lost in the Neutral Zone, as per “In the Pale Moonlight”. Unfortunately, we know Jellico did not go down with the ship when it was lost.

• The Kazon artificial intelligence is voiced by Debra Wilson, who’s voiced a number of characters, including Lisa Cusak in “The Sound of Her Voice”, Klingon captain Trij in “Supernova, Part 1”, and Orion pirate Z’oto in “Something Borrowed, Something Green”.

• Commander Tysess refers to Doctor Noum as a counselor. He was chief medical officer aboard the USS Dauntless, but presumably that duty has fallen to the Doctor aboard the USS Voyager A.

• Tysess claims the cloaking device aboard the Infinity violates three Federations treaties. We’re aware of the Treaty of Algeron with the Romulan Star Empire. That treaty was first mentioned in “The Defector”, and it’s established in “The Pegasus” that in explicitly prohibits the Federation from developing cloaking technology.

• Rok-Tahk creates a hologram of the bridge of the USS Protostar, which was destroyed in the finale of season one.

• After Rok fiddles with the Protogies holographic duplicates, they believe they’re the real individuals, leading to shenanigans. Other holograms that have believed themselves to be real people include:

    • Cyrus Redblock - “The Big Goodbye”

    • Leonard da Vinci - “Concerning Flight”

    • The population of Fair Haven - "Spirit Folk"

• The Protogies end up getting into physical confrontations with their holographic duplicates -- except Rok-Tahk, who just just does a bunch of science with her hologanger, like a nerd. Trek characters have been fighting their doubles since "The Enemy Within". Fortunately Spock is not around to express to Gwyn that there's a certain allure the aggressive version of Dal.

• Maj’el distracts the Doctor by asking him about his willingness to give opera vocal lessons, and he asks if she’s ever heard him sing “Questa o quella”. The Doctor sang that piece in “Renaissance Man” while returning to the USS Voyager with Janeway aboard a shuttle.

    • Maj’el uses the same tactic to distract the Doctor that Zero did in the previous episode, engaging him in one of his interests.

    • Zero asks Maj’el why she would lie on behalf of the Protogies, and she responds ”Vulcans lie all the time,” which is surprisingly honest.

• Admiral Janeway states the stardate is 61865.1 in her opening log.

• Janeway, the Protogoies, and Maj’el recount the events of the previous two episodes, from their relative perspectives.

• Despite Jankom’s reversion to his more abrasive personality traits in the previous episode, he has restyled his hair with the more clean cut side part that characterized his attempts to blend with the cadets at Starfleet Academy.

• ”If you ask Jankom, it was a g-g-ghost.” While waiting to be debriefed by the senior staff, Jankom lit a candle and read a particularly erotic chapter in his grandmother’s journal

• ”I haven’t seen a crew this dysfunctional since the Cerritos*.”* Apparently the Doctor has never been to Starbase 80.

• I believe this is the first time it’s been explicitly stated that Murf, and presumably all Mellanoid slime worms, are immune to Zero’s telepathy.

• Zero asks the Doctor about his most recent holonovel. The Doctor’s first novel, “Photons Be Free” was featured heavily in the VOY episode, “Author, Author”.

    • The Doctor’s new holonovel is entitled, “Love in the Time of Holograms”.

• One of the humpback whales in Cetacean Ops is named Gillian, presumably after Doctor Gillian Taylor, the whale biologist the crew of the HMS Bounty encountered and absconded to the future with “Star Trek: The Voyage Home”.

    • Gillian is voiced by Bonnie Gordon, who also voices the ship’s computer, and several other incidental characters.

• While going through the Federation database for spirals that match the one Murf constructed in the mess hall, Gwyn and Dal see a Rubber Tree People Symbol matching one that was on a stone Chakotay had among his belongings while serving on the USS Voyager. We first saw the CHAH-mooz-ee in “The Cloud” when he used it as part of a ritual to help Janeway connect with her spirit guide.

• This is the first time we’ve been told on screen that the planet Chakotay grew up on is called Trebus, but the name comes from the novel, “Pathways”, written by Jeri Taylor and published in 1998.

• ”And if we get caught, we might as well have, ‘I love the brig’ signs around our necks.” We learned in “Temporal Edict”, that Mariner loves the brig. It’s her favourite place.

• Among the memorabilia in Janeway’s ready room are:

    • A silver spider which was not part of her costume as Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People in “Bride of Chaotica”

    • Her Starfleet Academy diploma, featuring the Science Department emblem developed for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”.

    • A late 24th century phaser

    • A late 24th century combadge

    • Chakotay’s CHAH-mooz-ee stone

    • A trophy made from Tuvix’s hair

    • A photo of herself and Chakotay.

Not my original content

Not my original content