I’ve already gone on record praising the “The Search For Planet X” and “The Search For Lost Species”, the two predecessors to “The Search For UAPs”. That said, it stands out enough to warrant its own critique, but more on that later. UAPs stands for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena in case you were wondering, I’ve looked it up at least five times now. The term UFO has a lot of stigma behind it and used in a more casual light, while UAP was coined to replace UFO in a more serious, scientific setting (que the “The More You Know” piano jingle). Special thanks goes to Renegade Games for sending a copy for review purposes.
1-5 Players, Ages 14+, Average Play Time = 60 Minutes
Overview
“The Search For UAPs” is a competitive logic / deduction style game that tasks players with finding the UAP in Earth’s orbit. It won’t be as easy as looking up, as the UAP appears as space junk, one of many in Earth’s orbit. By figuring out the locations of other objects in orbit, you’ll be able to deduce where the UAP is and isn’t. The companion app is required as it generates the answer key for you as well as confirms your photo sightings for points. If you’ve played “TSFPX” and “TSFLS” before, this concept will be nothing new.
As is typical of the previous titles, only one object can be in a space. The basic side has 16 spaces while the expert side has 24. The objects you might find include the ISS, Hubble Space Telescope, Meteor Showers, Various Satellites, Space Junk, and the UAP. Luna (Earth’s moon) is always part of your starting information. Like previous titles, you’ll be able to set your difficulty by giving yourself more or less starting information to handicap yourself as appropriate compared to the other players (or the bot, if you fancy solo mode).
The game operates on a time mechanic, where player actions like surveying the night sky for information, moving, targeting, submitting photos for VP, and etc. cost time. The furthest player back on the time track is the next to take their turn, so it’s possible that players can take multiple turns in a row if everyone else jumps ahead. Ultimately, you’re trying to find the UAP first and submit a bunch of correct photo sightings to earn VPs.
What’s Different?
“TSFUAPs” is different from its predecessors in a number of ways:
1. 5 players can play as opposed to 4.
2. Variable object counts instead of fixed object counts. One game may have anywhere from 0-6 meteor showers on the basic map / board, for example.
3. You can take photos for VPs at any time.
4. Research can only be done once satellites are found. Each of the 3 satellites contains 2 pieces of information.
5. Quadrant modifiers change the rules on what players can and can’t do depending on their meeple’s position on Earth.
6. The inner Earth board rotates, adding a bit of chaos to your logical deductions as the night sky changes position.
7. No limits to targeting like in “TSFLS”.
I may have missed a few, but those are the highlights.
Review
One of the first things I noticed was a lack of player logic sheets…rather, we have wet erase markers / boards which I have bad experiences with. I’m just not a fan of dry / wet erase markers. They are typically more messy than using pen & paper and they dry up at some point. In fact, one was dead right out of the box and cleanup post-game was a pain. On one hand, these boards are necessary as they allow the player to rotate their mini board along with the main board – a logic sheet won’t let you do that. On the other, you’re constantly swiveling the board you’re marking up back and forth. I found myself swiveling back to starting position regularly to ensure I was marking the correct spaces and factoring certain things. The rotating Earth mechanic is a cool one, but it’s also slightly more physical work for the player. The tokens themselves were a bit hard for these old eyes to read / make out as well.
That’s not to say I didn’t like the mechanic entirely. In fact, one of the first things Aidalee said when she saw that spaces changes position was “oh my, that’s going to be a mind-screw”. I’m paraphrasing to keep things family friendly, but she was smiling in delight while saying it. The rotating Earth mechanic not only keeps your brain working on an extra level, but it also changes the modifiers present in the four sectors. While I liked the modifiers, I was equally as fine playing without them for a beginner game. Before you ask, YES, you can do that by either changing or removing them in the app prior to starting the game. In all my plays across all three “The Search For” titles, I’ve never once had an issue with their associated app.
Speaking of app…the solo bot is very challenging, I’d say on par with or even smarter than the one in “TSFPX”. My first playthrough, where I choose the 12 clues (novice) difficulty and easy AI, was a close one. Like “TSFPX”, I wish the easy AI mode was easier and the app more transparent as to how many starting clues it gets. You can, to a limited degree, cheat…or errm, give yourself a handicap by moving your meeple back on the timetrack via a time track adjustment in the app. While not officially supported, my home-brewed workaround gives you more time to do things as a new player.
The changes to “TSFUAPs” compared to its predecessors are pretty significant. In “TSFLS”, you always knew there’d be 3 cuscus on the basic side. Here, you’re pretty much in the dark as to how many of something there actually is. That, coupled with the fact that some satellites give you that information, it becomes a matter of prioritizing what you deem more important to find at any given moment. Your starting clues, for example, might lead you to the ISS early if you pursue it…or you can start hunting for satellites to get some extra knowledge about what is in orbit. In that sense, “TSFUAPs” feels like “TSFPX 2.0”.
Along those lines, “TSFUAPs” does a lot of cool new things, despite similar themes to “TSFPX”. I’m never going to say no to a game like this and I sincerely hope there are more games similar to it coming. Given the option though, I’d recommend “TSFPX” and “TSFLS” over this one to new players. “TSFLS” and “TSFPX” are just more accessible and simpler, in my opinion. Still, “TSFUAPs” has its own new mechanics and charm and I’m glad that it’s now part of my permanent collection. Aidalee and I agree that this title is a keeper.
—
Score: 8/10 (Great)
—