It's the Sex Bob-ombs! (Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Card Game)

Welcome to the final week of VG Month, a look into Video Games as Tabletop games.  This week, we close off by traveling to the rich, drama filled world of Scott Pilgrim.  But with a successful comic, a well received movie, and a solid actual video game, is there a place in the Pilgrim verse for a physical game?  This is Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Card Game. 



GAME DESCRIPTION:  Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Card Game is a deckbuilder published by Renegade Game Studios for 1-4 players.  Players take on the role of Scott and his friends to defeat the Evil Exes.

SET-UP:  Scott Pilgrim is odd in that all the cards are double sided, and players are able to look at both sides of the card in their hand.  In order to set up, each player places their character card and all cards with the characters face in the top right in front of them, shuffling and keeping it face-down to prevent peeking.  Shuffle the remaining cards and place them in two separate piles.  Take 1 Evil Ex and place it between the two decks, applying any effects to all cards.

PLOTLINE:  Now, place the top card from both decks and place them in a column, making 2 rows called the Plotline.  The first player then adds 1 card from the top of either deck to the right of any card, and may also Eliminate, or remove from the game completely, 1 card from the top of the deck.  The next player then does the same, until there are 2 rows of cards equal to the number of players.  Players may not look at the opposite side of any card in the Plotline.  The first player draws 4 cards to begin, while other players draw 5.



ACQUISITION:  Before the first phase, the current player may Eliminate the top of either or both Plotline decks.  Then, the player may play any cards from their hand.  Each blue Story card generates 1 of 3 resources, indicated the top left of all blue Story cards, on the opposite side of Combat.  Cards with the 3 arrows generate any type of resources.  Any card that generates multiple resources can only be used for 1 resource.  These resources are used to buy cards in the Plotline, with their buying price in the top right.  Any card except Challenges can be bought, with Power Up! cards going in front, and any other being discarded.  Once the player chooses not to buy anymore, they discard their hand and may either continue to the fight phase, or skip it and draw 6 cards.

FIGHT:  Players choosing to fight first declare which Challenge card they are fighting and draw 5 cards, using the Combat side.  If the card has a VS Draw, the player to the right draws the number indicated, and places them next to the Challenge, with any Drama cards drawn giving the challenge the indicated bonus.  The player may then exchange any 1 card from their hand with any drawn card. 

COMBO:  On the back of each card is a list of "Combo's", which is given when you play a particular set of cards in a certain order, with the "Button" hit indicated on the top left.  These will give you a specific amount of points against the Challenge when played in the right order.  Then, when a Combo is shown, players may play another Combo below it.  If no Combo's can be played, the player "Button Mashes" by just playing cards, each one with 1 point against the Challenge.  Any cards requiring a specific card must be played before the required card, not after.  If a player Succeeds in matching or beating the number, or Fails by not matching the number, the player follows the effect on the card.



DRAMA:  Each deck starts with a set amount of Drama.  Drama is used only in VS Draw and cards that require Matching Drama, which is when you play that card, you play a Drama with it.

WINNING:  Players win by gathering Victory Points, indicated by the Black Star of certain cards. the player who gathers the Victory Points indicated on the Evil Ex card in the small star wins, or if another victory condition is indicated by an Evil Ex.

CONCLUSION:  Scott Pilgrim's Card Game is a deck builder, complete with deck construction and thinning, Victory Points for winning, battles, and manipulating luck and RNG for your benefit.  If you'd like my opinion on most deckbuilders, go check out my review on DC Deckbuilder.  As for this one, does it stack up against most deck builders, and does it differentiate itself enough?  There are definitely some interesting ideas, such as the combo's, the elimination phase, and the double-sided cards.  The elimination and double-sided provide speed to a genre that, frankly, could use it.  In addition, the ability to solo or play co-operative, while not original to this game, is still a nice variance to this game.  I will say it's kind of a slog to only have 1 boss per game, and getting unlucky still happens in games like these.  But I think it's a simple game with the right theme, and plays pretty smooth, a nice way to round out Video Game Month.