Light #boardgame with Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension (@Cryptozoic, 2013)

Quiet Sunday night on this President’s Day holiday weekend in the States. The RockyMountainNavy Boys are catching up on a TV series and Mrs. RMN is watching her dramas. The Expanse Season 4 hasn’t started yet so I decided to work off another game in my 2019 challenges. My choice tonight – Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension (Cryptozoic Entertainment, 2013). This game is on my 2019 Origins Challenge because it was the 2015 Origins Awards Winner for Fan Favorite in the Children’s Family, & Party Game category.

Since I was playing by myself I tried the Solo variant. I have never tried Gravwell solitaire before so this was a unique experience. Basically, you have four rounds to win. There is one “ghost ship” controlled by a randomly drawn deck and a single derelict on the map.

The best I could muster in two games was getting to spaces 35 and 38, far short of the exit at space 55. I really didn’t like the solo variant. I feel it is too short and the ghost ship too random to really develop or implement a strategy. It really seems to come down to luck.

On the plus side, the two games passed around 30 minutes of time. Gravwell is a 2014 Mensa Select game so it should be a real “brainburner” but the solo variant is anything but.

Interestingly, I see that Cryptozoic does not have the license for Gravwell anymore. The current IP holder looks to be Renegade Games. I also see an expansion is in the works.

Sorry, Renegade, but I am not drawn to the expansion.

Feature image by self